Is Real Madrid’s new goalkeeper a solution or a problem?
The arrival of the Belgian goalkeeper was seen in the first instance as positive. However, when analyzing in detail, the situation is not so good
The best goalkeeper of the 2018 World Cup, Thibaut Courtois, of the Belgium national team, landed in Madrid to reinforce the entangled merengue club, the current three-time European champion. When the news arrived, many said "for 35 million euros and with such quality, it is a bargain and a great decision", I also said it. However, in the team that Julen Lopetegui is now directing is Keylor Navas. An extraordinary goalkeeper who, in addition, was an indisputable and saving figure in those three UEFA Champions League titles.
Leer en español: Thibaut Courtois: ¿Una solución o un problema para el Real Madrid?
In football, there has always been a debate about how necessary it is to hire a foreign goalkeeper having one that is good and that is still in compliance with the contract, such as Keylor Navas. But it is also clear that if there is a team in the world that can afford that luxury, it is Real Madrid. Accustomed to signing in the post-world era the "figurine" of the moment as Ronaldo Nazario in 2002, Fabio Cannavaro in 2006 and James Rodríguez in 2014. In 2010 he could not do it since the figures of the World Cup were Xavi Hernández and Andrés Iniesta, emblems of his archrival Barcelona and it seems that neither in 2018, because the best of Russia was Luka Modric, who already plays with them, and who, on the contrary, was about to leave. So who to hire?
The rumor about the signing of Neymar had fallen since the end of last season (you know why), then went Cristiano Ronaldo, which was already suspected in the Madrid environment for their problems with the Spanish tax office. There was talk of Eden Hazard (also Belgian) and Courtois, who is the only elite that has hitherto arrived. At the time of writing this article, there were 15 days left before the closing of the pass market in Spain and everything seems to indicate, at least from our perspective, that the spiky goalkeeper, ex Chelsea, was a whim, like many others that the Real Madrid And this is where we evaluate if your arrival is as positive in sports, as if it is in marketing.
Real Madrid not only had Navas as its main goalkeeper but also had a fairly reliable replacement as Kiko Casilla. Now, if the goalscorer, the record man (CR7) is no longer there, nor an alternative half-court piece like Mateo Kovacic, would not it be better to invest that money, however cheap, in an attacking player, who could it be an area reference for Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale? Taking IGNORE INTO account that in the arch they have Navas. Maybe not with the same natural conditions of Courtois, but of undisputed talent too.
The merengue team has "badly spoil" its thousands of followers around with their continuous winnings, especially the international tournaments and cups, in this last five years. In the local competitions the reality is different. But this 2018-19, without Cristiano and without the other key element of this dynasty: Zinedine Zidane, started badly with regards to official tournaments, with a 4-2 defeat in the European Supercup against the always difficult Atlético de Madrid . First blow for the "White House".
There is something that we can not assure of Courtois and is how well he can do as a goalkeeper in a competition as demanding as the Champions League, in which he did not play many games with Chelsea in recent years, as if he tired of Do it, Navas. The other question is how well it makes Julen Lopetegui and the squad in general play with two archers who are constantly rotating, which seems a very likely fact, because neither Courtois came to be a replacement, nor Navas deserves to be now after everything he won. Difficult decision, discomfort on the roster and in the two goalkeepers, and the team suffering from a striker that comes close in production to what Cristiano Ronaldo generated.
LatinAmerican Post | Onofre Zambrano
Translated from: 'Thibaut Courtois: ¿Una solución o un problema para el Real Madrid?'
