Chelsea deserves better than Thibaut Courtois and Willian
By Travis Tyler
Thibaut Courtois and Willian can be, at times, amazing players. But Chelsea deserves more when they are speaking and performing poorly.
Chelsea is at a critical point in its history. Now is the time for players to stand up and be counted. Instead, the Blues still have several that are saying all the wrong things and their play on the field has done little to alliterative their words.
First up is Thibaut Courtois. Courtois has a new contract on the table and has for months. But his children reside in Madrid, which coincidentally also happens to be the city that hosts the two clubs that want him most. Courtois has spoken previously about his admiration for Madrid and wanting to be closer to his children. Both are acceptable things.
But then Courtois goes too deep. Chelsea has, understandably, started the search for Courtois’ replacement. Courtois, for his part, was offended by this. But the Blues have to look out for themselves in a business sense. Courtois will not sign the contract on the table, and with a year to go, he must be sold this summer to make any kind of profit.
It is not personal, it is business. Courtois need not be offended because he was the one who kicked the can down the road on contract talks. And going back to the media and saying he has a preferred destination does little for his case.
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Courtois’ play does little to help him either. Against Japan, he was lucky not to bobble the ball into his own net. The two goals were well taken, but telegraphed. A keeper could see them coming but Courtois reacted late to both. Only after going down by two goals did Courtois wake up. Chelsea can find a better keeper than that and make the good business decision to sell.
Willian’s situation is even worse. Willian was loved by Chelsea fans. Key word: loved. Recent weeks have turned Willian from a player to love to the player to hate on the Chelsea squad.
He carried the Blues through the winter months, but then his form dropped. He acted like a child when Antonio Conte decided to change tactics to get more in form players on the pitch. Having won the FA Cup, Willian made the childish decision to cut the manager from pictures.
And now, when asked what he thinks about Conte, he refuses to talk about him. He could take the diplomatic approach. Instead he acts like a teenager. He is supposedly keen on a move to Barcelona or Manchester United and Chelsea have little reason to keep him.
Chelsea deserves players that are fighting for the badge, not for themselves. And they deserve good, consistent players at that. Neither Courtois nor Willian are either. They gave up fighting for the badge sometime last season and they are hardly consistent.
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Chelsea is better served selling and profiting from both and getting players with better attitudes. Hopefully their replacements show more professionalism and consistency than the players they are replacing.