“The modern goalkeeper is no longer just there to make saves. Here at Real Madrid, I also have to start moves; I’m the one who, with the first pass, decides how we’re going to set up the attack or how we’re going to overcome the opposition’s pressure.”
Courtois – the best goalkeeper of the 2021-22 season
Thibaut Courtois received the Yashin Trophy on Monday, recognising the Real Madrid man as the best goalkeeper of the 2021-22 season. In an interview, the goalkeeper, who has recovered from injury and is back in the squad for Real Madrid, highlights the importance of goalkeepers in modern football. “Last year, we won the Champions League not only thanks to Vinicius, Valverde, Benzema and Rodrygo. But it was also thanks to Courtois,” he said to the French newspaper. “The modern goalkeeper is no longer just there to make saves. Here at Real Madrid, I also have to start moves; I’m the one who, with the first pass, decides how we’re going to set up the attack or how we’re going to overcome the opposition’s pressure. Today, you are almost a playmaker; goalkeepers are much more important than you think.”
Without a good goalkeeper, you don’t win trophies
Courtois bemoans the fact that goalkeepers go unnoticed among those who vote for football awards. “Without a good goalkeeper, you don’t win trophies,” the Real Madrid goalkeeper said. “And in football awards, sometimes we forget that. “People are quicker to vote for a striker who scores goals than for a goalkeeper. It’s a pity. But we will continue to prove that goalkeepers are really important. It’s often written in big letters (in the newspapers) when a goalkeeper makes a mistake. As soon as he makes a small mistake, they slaughter him and say the game was lost because of him. Sometimes we forget that before that, the striker may also have missed five or six easy chances to score.”
At young age, Thibaut dreamed of scoring
The Belgian also recalled how and why he decided to become a goalkeeper. “I used to play a lot of volleyball,” Courtois recalled. “When I was 7 or 8 years old, I was a left-back for Genk. “One day, we played in an indoor tournament in Germany. The coach was looking for a goalkeeper, and I volunteered to play all the matches. I was voted best goalkeeper. The next year I was still doing both. When I was 11, I didn’t want to be a goalkeeper anymore. When you’re young, you dream of scoring. In 2015, when I had my knee injury, Mourinho and Hiddink made me do a lot of possession work as a spare man, allowing me to read the game better, make better passes, and play quicker. Playing more possession games helped me to think quickly under pressure.”
Finally, Courtois reveals the one thing he would really like to do on a football pitch. “I really want to score,” he said. “A few years ago, I had a header against Valencia, the goalkeeper saved it, and Karim scored. Sometimes I think that being two metres tall, I could score. But then, if there’s a counter-attack…”