One of the biggest question marks surrounding Jose Mourinho when he arrived back at Stamford Bridge in 2013, was how he would handle the goalkeeper situation at Chelsea. During his initial homecoming, he had to decide how to treat the Courtois situation, along with Cech. Initially, he loaned Courtois out to Atletico Madrid again, which proved to be the right decision. It gave Courtois one more year to develop, which lead to him to earning a spot on the Ballon D’ Or shortlist. He also picked up a solid backup goalkeeper replacement for Ross Turnbull, a keeper that always seemed to underwhelm in his Blues performances. Mark Schwarzer was a great addition to the Chelsea squad last season, adding a veteran leader to the Blue’s locker room. Last season, Mourinho did a brilliant job rotating both Cech and Schwarzer. He started Schwarzer the last group game of the Champions League, a match that meant the difference of first or second place in the group for the Blues. By doing this, Mourinho was able to inspire confidence in Schwarzer. This would prove to be critical when Cech would get injured in the first leg of the semi-final against Atletico. Schwarzer would be called upon in the biggest of moments and despite Chelsea’s overall performance, no one could fault Schwarzer for Chelsea’s elimination from the tournament. Mourinho did well to motivate Schwarzer in the first half of the season, which proved to be vital in the second half.
That brings us to this season. Mourinho was again faced with the decision of what to do with Courtois. He had made public comments about not coming back to Chelsea unless he was guaranteed playing time. The way in which Mourinho has brought back Courtois, installing him as his No. 1 goalkeeper, while also managing to keep Cech somewhat happy as well, is an absolute masterclass by the Special One. The importance of rotating the goalkeepers in this perfect fashion, managing to maintain Cech’s form and confidence, while still showing belief in his No. 1 is absolutely vital to Chelsea’s campaign. Cech has been utilized in big moments of games, due to injury or shear rotation, and the Czech international has not failed to impress. For example, Mourinho allowed Cech to come in and start against Everton, which always proves to be a good test for the Blues. The Czech international would not disappoint, making 2 prolific saves against Chelsea’s former striker Romelu Lukaku. Cech looked like one of the top 2 goalkeepers in the world, a title Mourinho keeps giving his goalkeepers. The ability for the manager to able to keep someone of Cech’s stature at the club as a backup, without it causing problems is absolutely stunning. It speaks wonders for Mourinho’s ability to individually work with each player, and maintaining a locker room full of happy players and post-match selfies.
It should be said that another person who should receive an incredible amount of credit for his handling of this situation, is Cech himself. The professionalism to be able to give up a starting role, when he could easily walk into the first 11 of literally any other team in Europe, except maybe Bayern Munich, is an absolute testament to his leadership as a player and a role model to the young players at the Bridge. Not only has he given up his role without fuss, but he’s also managed to secure a pretty solid working relationship with Courtois, acting as a mentor to the young Belgian. This is above and beyond what anyone could have asked of Cech, but once again he has proved he will give anything for his club. Having Cech as a mentor has done wonders for Courtois’s career and his adjustment into the Premier League. The other factor Cech adds to the equation is genuine competition. Courtois cannot afford to be complacent in his position, because Mourinho will simply replace him with Cech, without even batting an eye. This competition brings the best out of both goalkeepers and has inspired them to be in tantalizing form as of late. This makes Mourinho’s job much easier as a coach, knowing whoever he selects for any given match, will undoubtedly give Chelsea a strong chance to win. Whichever goalkeeper Mourinho decides to select in his first 11 for their League Cup final against Tottenham will most likely have their hands full with English striker, Harry Kane. While I strongly believe it will be Courtois getting the nod, I will feel incredibly safe with either option, and so will Mourinho.
