A Life Lesson from Thubait Courtois
Courtois' current situation at Real Madrid is a lesson to every human on earth never to give up no matter the amount of criticism hurled at you.
Just few months ago, at the beginning of the season, there were barrage of insults and criticism thrown at the Belgian keeper of which, if I am going to be honest with myself and you guys, I was one of the critics. I mean, you needed to watch Courtois perform in between the sticks, it was unprofessional and annoying. His positioning and confidence was very poor and it is true his defense played a huge part in the criticism he was receiving by not giving him enough coverage, Courtois wasn't helping himself either with his goal keeping abilities.
Take for example, David De Gea of Manchester United few years ago, the defense are not always alert for the whole of every 90 minutes but De Gea will pull off a couple of terrific and mouth watering saves to hand his team at least a point or at best, the three points. Courtois on the other hand seemed not to be a top goalie worthy of the Real Madrid standards with his performances and this mostly made fans regret his signing, hence the criticism.
It got to a point the Belgian goal keeper was at risk of losing his first shirt to Alphonse Areola, a goal keeper exchanged for Keylor Navas with Paris Saint Germain. Areola showed more experience and class in between the sticks and made fans continue calling for him to be handed the number one goal keeping shirt but the man with the final say had other plans.
Courtois has got coach Zinedine Zidane mainly to thank, despite not performing at his very best and with all the media criticism, the French coach stuck by the Belgian. Today, the faith is reaping huge benefits as Thubiat Courtois currently has 9 clean sheets in 12 games with Real Madrid. He went on to break the record of fan's favorite goal keeper, Keylor Navas who went 533 minutes without conceiving a goal.
It is apparent Zidane knew Courtois needed more defensive coverage than he is getting and worked on the team's balance which started to change fan's view concerning the Belgian. Today, Courtois is seen as a wall and no longer an open wheel.
Not only has the Belgian saved goals, he has also helped up front as he is the reason Los Blancos got a point in the game against Valencia at the Mestalla as he rose highest to head a corner kick towards goal which was parried onto striker Benzema for the equalizer.
Last night against Getafe, Courtois was arguably the man of the match as he made sure Real Madrid start 2020 with another clean sheet. A once thought enemy of the fans is currently their favorite.
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