"The Goalkeeper Starts the Play"

Original article from France Football, published in 2022.

"When you're a goalkeeper, do you feel like you're separate from the rest of the team?

Less so than before. Modern goalkeepers aren't just there to save goals. Here in Madrid, I also have to start the game. It's me who, with the first pass, decides how we're going to set up the attack or how we're going to get out of the opposition's pressure. Today, you're almost like a playmaker. Goalkeepers are much more important than people think. But, of course, it's still a special position.Because your kit is different, you play with your hands, you have your own coach, you have to stop the ball going in when the others have to score...

2022 Yachine Trophy rankings

(In the event of a tie, players are ranked by the number of votes in 1st place, then 2nd, then 3rd, etc.). Previous winners- 2019: Alisson Becker (Brazil, Liverpool). 2021: Gianluigi Donnarumma (Italy, AC Milan, Paris-SG).

Do you sometimes feel like you're not playing the same sport as your teammates?

There are days when I spend an hour and fifteen minutes with the other goalkeepers, it's true. But if we're doing tactical work, we're with the group, and if we're doing possession drills or a small game, we're also with the group. Goalkeepers are becoming more and more integrated into the group. There are a lot of games where I touch the ball more than my teammates. Today, you really have to be well-rounded, because the position is more difficult than before. In fact, without a good goalkeeper, you can't win trophies. And when it comes to football trophies, we sometimes forget that. If you look at the top 10 Ballon d'Or winners in recent years, people are quicker to vote for a striker who scores goals than for a goalkeeper. It's a shame. But we'll continue to prove that goalkeepers are really important. Just as important as forwards.

Thibaut Courtois' bio

30 years old. Born on May 11, 1992, in Brée (Belgium). 2 m; 98 kg. Goalkeeper. Belgian international (96 caps).Career: KRC Genk (2008-2011), Chelsea (2001-2018), Atlético Madrid (2011-2014, on loan), Real Madrid (since July 2018). His 2021-2022 season: Spanish Championship, Spanish Super Cup, Champions League, European Super Cup. 57 matches, 54 goals conceded, 23 clean sheets. Honors: 2018 Club World Cup; 2012 and 2022 European Super Cup; 2022 Champions League; 2012 Europa League; 2011 Belgian Championship; 2014, 2020, and 2022 Spanish Championship; English Championship 2015 and 2017; Belgian Cup 2009; Spanish Cup 2013; English Cup 2018; English League Cup 2015; Spanish Super Cup 2020 and 2022; Yachine Trophy 2022.

Can you really be judged like everyone else?

I think so. But at the end of the day, you've got Karim scoring 40 goals, you've got Lewandowski scoring 40 too, as well as Mané, Salah, and Mbappé. People who vote always gravitate more towards the player who scores. But without a good goalkeeper, your team won't win any trophies. The striker may miss six times, but his team will win 1-0 with his goal and he may be voted man of the match. The goalkeeper may save lots of goals at 1-0 and people won't think the same way. Even defenders are a bit forgotten, for that matter. You hardly ever see them in the award rankings, which I think is a bit of a shame.

Do goalkeepers get less recognition than their teammates?

Things have improved, though. Everyone can see that a good goalkeeper helps his club win. It's up to us to keep fighting to show that we're just as important as the forwards. The biggest change came with Manuel Neuer. He saved deep balls and dribbled a little. People said, “Oh! Look what Neuer is doing.” Then we young players followed suit. What he did at the 2014 World Cup had a huge impact on what came next. The goalkeeper was no longer just the guy who had to stop the ball.

When people talk about formations like 4-4-2, they never include the goalkeeper. Does that bother you?

It's funny you say that. Just last week, I was at my son's training session and brought this up with the youth coaches here at Real Madrid. They're the ones who have to say 1-4-4-2 or 1-4-3-3. Ultimately, it's just a figure of speech. Everyone understands there's always a keeper in the net and that the goal isn't empty. I don't have a problem with it.

Is it true that a striker's mistake is more easily forgiven than a goalkeeper's?

Yes, that's for sure. (Smiles.) When a goalkeeper makes a blunder, it's often written in much bigger headlines in the papers. The moment you make a small error, you get crucified, and people say the match was lost because of you. They sometimes forget that the striker might have missed five or six easy chances to score before that.

"If we won the Champions League, it wasn't just because of Vinicius, Valverde, Benzema, or Rodrygo. It was also thanks to Courtois."

Is being a goalkeeper a thankless job?

Sometimes. But you can see in the media and among the fans that they are appreciating great goalkeepers more and more. Last year, if we won the Champions League, it wasn't just because of Vinicius, Valverde, Benzema, or Rodrygo. It was also thanks to Courtois.

Yet, goalkeepers cost much less than strikers on the transfer market.

There have still been some big transfers for goalkeepers. Kepa (€80m) or Alisson (€62m), for example. I think if Donnarumma hadn't been a free agent, he would have cost PSG a lot of money too.

Is it frustrating to rarely see a fan wearing your jersey?

Here in Madrid, I see some from time to time. But it makes sense; we wear different kits. And a jersey is expensive these days. When you buy one, you want the club's main kit, and you'll always go for Real Madrid's white shirt. I'm not jealous. (Smiles.)

When you're a kid, nobody wants to go in goal. Why did you?

I played a lot of volleyball and loved to dive. At seven or eight, I was a left-back at Genk. One day, we were in an indoor tournament in Germany, and the coach was looking for a keeper. I volunteered to play all the matches and was named best goalkeeper. The next year, I was still doing both. Around age 11, I didn't want to be a keeper anymore. When you're young, you dream of scoring goals. But that's changing now. My son plays for Madrid's under-5s, and they already have a dedicated goalkeeper. It shows that many more young kids want to be in goal, and that's a good thing.

"I've had so many wonderful moments in my life because of this position. I don't regret a thing."

Have you ever regretted choosing this position?

No, never. I worked hard to get where I am today. I've had so many wonderful moments in my life because of this position. I don't regret a thing.

Is it harder to integrate into a team as a goalkeeper?

Here at Madrid, the goalkeepers are often with the main group. It's important to integrate them with the outfield players quickly. In 2015, when I injured my knee, Mourinho and Hiddink had me do a lot of possession drills as a floating player. That helped me read the game better, make better passes, and play faster. Being part of those possession games helped me think and react more quickly under pressure.

Does a goalkeeper really talk with the head coach?

Naturally, you speak more often with your goalkeeping coach, but you can also approach the head coach without any problem. You can share your ideas, tell him how you see things. From my position in goal, I can see things on the defensive side that maybe they wouldn't have noticed. That can help things evolve.

Why is competition considered good for outfield players but not for goalkeepers?

If you have two keepers of the same level, and the starter makes one mistake and you immediately bring in the other, it doesn't help your confidence. Outfield players might play 80 minutes, get subbed off, and then be on the bench for the next game because the substitute scored. That's common and it can work. But you can't do that with a goalkeeper. You can't bring on the backup for 10 or 15 minutes at the end of a match. You need consistency to improve and stay sharp.

“Running fifteen kilometers is not useful for us”

Can you still succeed in goal if you're not tall?

It's still possible, but it's becoming more difficult. Most goalkeepers today are around 1.90m (6'3"). In England, they expect you to command the box on every corner. When you're too small, it's tough because they almost never call fouls on you. I'm two meters tall. On the ground, my arms naturally have a bit more reach than a keeper who is 1.80m. If a club is looking for a goalkeeper today, the minimum height is 1.90m. That's how football is changing, and maybe in ten years, it will change again, and they'll want smaller keepers.

Does a goalkeeper really need to be as physically fit as an outfield player?

Running fifteen kilometers is obviously not useful for us. We have a physique built for interval work. Sometimes, you have to make two or three saves in quick succession or short, fast sprints of five or ten meters. You can train for that, but in a different way. We might cover four or five kilometers, but it's much more intensive.

Why do outfield players often like to end training sessions in goal?

Here, Nacho really enjoys doing that. (Smiles.) I'd love for us to put an outfield player in goal at the end of the season so he can see how hard the position is. In school, I played elite football, and one day, a player did a training session in goal. By the end, he was exhausted and even said to me, "Hey, you guys actually work hard." Of course we do! What do you expect? In training, if you have twenty players each taking ten shots, that's two hundred shots to save. We dive, we get up. The impact with the ground, using our muscles to spring up and push the ball away... In a match, the intensity is lower than for an outfield player, that's true, but in training, it's higher.

Is it possible to do nothing for an entire match as a goalkeeper?

With all due respect to Gibraltar or Andorra, it has happened to me. I remember a match against Gibraltar where I had to make a big save after three or four minutes, and then nothing. But you always have to be ready. There are more and more quality players in these smaller teams. It's not like before when you would win five, six, seven, eight, or nine-nil.

"Twenty years ago, you could be in goal, on your line, and no one would ask you anything."

What does a keeper do when there isn't much action in a match?

We stay focused, keep talking, and watch the game. You think about a potential counter-attack, you're happy to see your teammates playing well, but ultimately, you remain concentrated.

Has the goalkeeper position evolved the most in recent years?

Yes, for sure. Twenty years ago, you could just stand in goal, on your line, and nobody asked anything of you. You had a sweeper in front of you to clear balls out of the space, and that was it. Today, the goalkeeper doesn't just clear the ball; he "starts" the play. Or a defender will pass it to you, and you start dribbling and make the decision. Sometimes, you can have a great game without making a single save. But maybe with all the passes you received and all the right decisions you made, your team was able to attack effectively. That counts.

Does a goalkeeper work less than other players?

When you dive, you take your entire body weight. Then you get back up, pushing with your arms. I weigh 98 kilos. For that, we do fitness and core stability work to be ready. In that respect, football has evolved a lot to allow us to play for longer. And if you're on a team that asks you to play with your hands, your feet, come out for the ball, and control the space, it's a lot, but I love doing it. I'm happy when I receive the ball at my feet and can make good passes. I love the feeling of knowing a goal started from you and your good first pass.

The balls are often criticized for being too light or unpredictable, but no one ever seems to ask the goalkeepers...

Well, they're nothing like the Jabulani from the World Cup in South Africa (in 2010). Now, Puma, Nike, and Adidas make great balls to play with, with better grip. Before, you'd catch one, and it would slip if it was wet; you didn't have the confidence to hold it, so you'd punch it away. Now, even the gloves are good. That's a lot of nice compliments for the manufacturers, isn't it? (Laughs.)

"I talk a lot with my teammates; the crucial thing is to speak at the right moment and use keywords because the stadiums are loud."

Is it possible to take advice from a teammate when you're the goalkeeper?

Sometimes I have to defend goalkeepers against my teammates who often say, "It's the keeper's fault." But no. I talk a lot with my teammates, but you have to know how to do it. If you talk too much, your defenders will say, "Stop talking, it's too much."

The rules have changed very little, except for goalkeepers with the deliberate pass rule, the six-second rule, and the rule requiring a pass to a teammate within 16.5 meters when taking a six-meter shot. Why?

There are rules that improve things. When you could make backward passes, it made the game really annoying. No referee respects the six-second rule. When you reach twenty seconds, the referee will say something to you, but they can remove this rule or increase it to ten seconds. When you're a goalkeeper, you take the ball, go to the ground, stay there for five seconds, stand up, add ten seconds, and no one says anything to you. In the box, it's a good rule. The defender can be with you. They've also changed the penalty rule. You can get a yellow card first if you touch the ball, and no longer a red card. These are good changes.

Can the goalkeeper position really evolve any further?

Good question... (He thinks.) Hard to say. The goalkeeper could join the back four and play very high up with the defenders. But even that is already being done. Maybe thanks to our height, we could score goals from corners. I really want to score. A few years ago, I headed the ball against Valencia, the goalkeeper saved it, and Karim scored. Sometimes I think that with my two meters, I could score one. But then, if there's opposition, it could get tricky. Maybe if we meet again in five years, things will have changed again."