Thibaut Courtois is outspoken, he always has been, he doesn’t care too much for keeping his thoughts to himself. There’s nothing wrong that, as long as he accepts there’ll be a response.
This has caused controversy this week, after the Chelsea goalkeeper made comments about Jordan Pickford failing to save Adnan Januzaj’s shot.
After Belgium beat England, Courtois said: “The goalkeeper is 10cm smaller than me. I would have caught it. He was too busy throwing his legs in the air.”
That led to a backlash, with Sky Sports quoting Chris Kirkland saying: “I think what people said, especially Courtois, was out of order.
“To say that about another goalkeeper, you know we are in the same position. I think he might be hopefully eating his words in a few weeks team if we meet them in the final.”
The Everton goalkeeper brushed off the comments following his great performance for England against Colombia, but there have been plenty ready to stick up for him and blast Chelsea’s stopper.
In a World Cup column for Het Belang van Limburg, Thierry stated: “Meanwhile, in England they have reacted quite fiercely to Thibaut’s statements about their goalkeeper Pickford. Thibaut said he would have caught Januzaj’s ball because he is ten centimetres taller.
“Whoever saw that interview, must have also noticed that it was a statement with a big wink. It was more to tease Adnan than to put Pickford in a bad light. But apparently they don’t all have a sense of humour in England. Too bad, you cannot say anything anymore to laugh. Ah, with things like this, they do not put Thibaut off balance.”
If an England goalkeeper had jokingly made comments about Courtois after a loss then the Chelsea goalkeeper would have likely been annoyed, whether it was made in jest or not.
Courtois seems to be a footballer who is continually having to have his words explained, whether it be about talking up a move to Madrid or talking down fellow professionals. Maybe, just this time, the problem doesn’t lie with the English media.
