The deafening silence that followed the Real Madrid road release at the expense of Arsenal in the quarterfinals of the Champions League was broken. And in what way! In an explosive interview granted on a daily basis Marca
This Friday, Thibaut Courtois delivered an analysis
“Demolishing” and put “The finger on the wound“, In the words of the Spanish newspaper.
Far from the usual wooden tongue, the Belgian goalkeeper has faded on the table, pointing the glaring gaps without detour and calling for an immediate, individual and collective reaction. A real verbal electroshoc.
Attacking? Courteous targets the lack of collective and n ° 9
The first sector targeted by Courtois is the offensive animation, too dependent on him of the individual exploits of the stars. “We cannot always wait until the four in front of three players and score a great goal“He said, implicitly targeting too much dependence on the lightning of Mbappé, Vinicius or Rodrygo. He claims more game built : “(You have to do more team games and not all individual. »» He also points to a structural lack: the absence of a real Joselu type 9 type, who left last summer.
“We have put a lot of centers, but this year we don't have a Joselu, an attacker born up there,”
he regrets, emphasizing the ineffectiveness of this strategy against Arsenal (33 centers, 3 shot on framed).
“Not a balanced team!” »: The courteous alarm cry that exposes the Real flaws
Defense and balance: the severe observation of the Belgian goalkeeper
But the attack is not the only one to take it for its grade. Courtois draws up a severe observation on the general balance and defensive involvement of the team. He compares with the opponent: “Arsenal is a team that defends well, organized, the wingers and the striker come back”. And the comparison hurts: “At Real Madrid, neither we defend well, nor the wingers or the attacker come back. »» His conclusion is lapidary:
“We are not a balanced team. »»
A direct criticism of the lack of collective efforts to protect its goal.
Faced with these collective, courteous gaps, who had already raised the tone after the rout at the Emirates (0-3), calls everyone to take responsibility.
“Everyone must look at each other in the mirror and think about what he could have done best.” he asks.
Marca specifies that if he does not name anyone, the message is clear: most players evolve below their level this season, the newspaper even citing Vinicius and Camavonga as “Alarming cases”. Even irreproachable players in the effort like Bellingham or Valverde would be less effective, possibly due to tactical changes.
An electroshock signed courteous to save the season?
This strong and unusually critical media outing on the part of Thibaut Courtois resembles an attempt to cause an electroshock within the Madrid locker room. By also clearly pointing the collective gaps and calling for an individual questioning, the Belgian goalkeeper takes on a leader role and put pressure on his teammates (and perhaps his coach?) Before the last straight line of the season which promises to be perilous. A poker blow to try to wake up a sleeping giant.
