Home   >   Opinion   >   Courtois and Cech – Different, yet equal

Courtois and Cech – Different, yet equal

By on July 25, 2014

Both Thibaut Courtois and Petr Cech broke into their respective local league side’s starting lineups before the age of eighteen.  Two goalkeeping prodigies when they were teenagers, they both had, and still have, brilliant shot-stopping abilities at the height of 6’6 and 6’5, respectively.  Both of them have been given their big break at Chelsea at the age of just twenty-two, by Jose Mourinho.  Now, Courtois’ career is just beginning, while Cech’s is waning.   And both playing for Chelsea, Jose Mourinho, the man who brought both of them to the club, has a big decision to make – either Courtois or Cech.  Mourinho said it himself, he will, and is prepared, to have to make one of the two goalkeepers “unhappy”.  The two goalkeepers could not be more different, yet equal each other.  Mourinho will certainly be in for a hard decision.

The goalkeepers, for all their similarites in careers, are different styles of goalkeepers.  Courtois is a natural born shot-stopper – a 6’6 arm span has helped the Belgian make 1.62 saves per-game last season on loan at Atletico Madrid, more than Cech himself.  Granted, neither of them was forced into an incredible amount of work considering they both featured for defensively minded counter-attacking teams which allowed the least goals in their respectively leagues by a long-shot.  But both can make the crucial save when needed.

At the other end, Cech plays like a more experienced goalkeeper.  While he is less extravagant in his shot-saving – which hardly ever is a downside – he is also more safe in his clearances, taking the safe route of punching the ball clear 15% more than Courtois, according to stats published by Sqauwka.  That, in turn, also helps contribute to his 95% claim success rate last season, 4% more than Courtois’, who’s main, yet still small, flaw may be his relative lack of safety when bringing down crosses.    Cech also has proven himself to be the better penalty stopper.  In Cech, Mourinho will have the experience and safety of someone who has been down the block over and over.  In Courtois, Mourinho will get a goalkeeper with a much more youthful vibe.

Mind, Courtois is still incredibly reliable and flaw-free for a twenty-two-year-old – from just four more appearances than Cech made last season, the starlet had four more clean sheets.  Yet it is hard to argue with the fact that Courtois is the new kid on the block, with a more lanky young figure than the muscular Cech, contributing to the Czech Republic international’s 23.1 BMI, compared to Courtois’ 21.2.  The two are so different, but so hard to compare to a winner.  It will all depend on whether Mourinho would rather welcome the new and release the old, or keep the old and potentially lose the goalkeeper who could serve Chelsea for the next decade, as Cech has done since joining the club in 2004.  Mourinho could install what he and Carlo Ancelotti have both done with Iker Casillas and Diego Lopez at Real Madrid – give one the cups and the other the league appearances.  Eventually, though, Courtois will have to be the one to take over.

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.