Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois is taking on an increasingly important role in Real Madrid's build-up play this season.
Ruben Martin, a journalist at Cadena COPE radio, made the point on his YouTube channel. Coach Jose Mourinho, he said, has found a formula that gives Real Madrid a better way of playing out from the back, without the need for a player like Rodri in midfield.
The Defensa Central network published Martin's remarks. "Courtois is the key piece in this respect, because he helps the team achieve a numerical superiority while building the play, with Dean Huijsen and Ibrahima Konate positioned in wide-apart positions, while the goalkeeper is positioned in the centre," he said.
Martin went on: "Rodri's replacement at Real Madrid is called Courtois, a goalkeeper two metres tall who plays as a holding midfielder. All joking aside, this is a solution Mourinho will use this season."
He continued: "Teams have to start their play from the build-up zone with one extra player compared to the number of players the opponent presses with. Real Betis pressed with two players, and Real Madrid had to play out with the ball using three players."
"The usual approach is to play out with the ball through the two centre-backs and a midfielder, or through the two centre-backs and the full-back, but Mourinho did not want to exhaust this solution," he noted.
The gamble could have backfired, the Spanish journalist admitted, because Courtois's level with the ball at his feet still has to be tested.
He stressed: "He used two wide-apart centre-backs and the goalkeeper in the centre. I am keen to see the quality of Courtois in dealing with the ball at his feet and to know how things will go with him. It is a solution, and we have to see how it works out."
The Belgian is a rock beneath the crossbar. Playing with his feet is another matter, and it is something many goalkeepers struggle with. Mourinho, though, has complete confidence in a keeper he has known for years, having worked with him at Chelsea.
Few know what Courtois can do better than his coach, and Mourinho has no doubt about his ability to perform this task perfectly and to help the two centre-backs play the ball out more cleanly. Against Real Betis, Real Madrid clearly did not struggle to the same extent under the opponent's pressure. The absence of an organising midfielder to help in this respect, all the same, remains the talking point.
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