We were just a laughing stock says Courtois
THIBAUT COURTOIS says Chelsea have revelled in bouncing back to win the Premier League this season as he admitted they had become a laughing stock last season after the worst title defence in Premier League history.
And the Belgian goalkeeper has reiterated his commitment to the club, despite being on Real Madrid’s wish-list, and is adamantnt that this Chelsea team now needeed to challenge the Euro- pean giants in the Champions League.
Courtois insisted that the club’s second title in three years ought to silence those who questioned the team’s profes- sionalism previously.
He said: ‘It’s amazing, especially after last year, to bounce back in this way, to be champions, having been top for a long time. Obviously, last year we had a lot of critics, a lot of laughter at us. We had a moment when we were 15th, 16th in the league. People laugh and people get criticised — it’s not nice after a season when you won the l eague. Some criticisms were deserved and others not — and if you bounce back winning the title again, th that’s amazing. ‘They‘Th said we didn’t want to play any more, they saidsa we were lazy, that kindk of stuff, and it’s notn true. We tried to winw our games, but last yeary was just an off year,y especially for a teamtea like Chelsea and the playersplay that were here. EverybodyEveryb is used to playing for trophies and last year that was not the case and everybody’s pride was hurt. I think that is why we wanted to bounce back this season. ‘After the Arsenal game [in September] when we lost 3-0 we were in a bad moment again, but we bounced back. And we had an amazing six, seven months. We’re very proud about that.’
Courtois, who is just 25, has now won four league titles in his short career, i ncluding t he Belgian League with Genk, La Liga with Atletico Madrid and two Premier League titles.
Although he is ranked alongside David de Gea as a future Real Madrid goalkeeper by the Spanish press, Courtois has two more years left on his Chelsea contract and says he will be staying at the club which needs to challenge for the Champions League, a competition in which he finished runner-up with Atletico in 2014.
He said: ‘I don’t think now is the moment to speak about that but, of course, I’m committed to Chelsea. I think next season there is a new goal of the Champions League. It’s been a few years since Chelsea won it and I missed out on one [title] in the last minute, so I think a lot of players are hungry for winning that as well.
‘ Obviously you need additions because you play on four different fronts, so I think that’s important, but I guess the club and the manager know what they’re doing. We already have a lot of quality, but maybe sometimes you need a bit more depth because this year we didn’t have injuries and you never know what can happen next year. So obviously I guess they will do their work now and hopefully we can finish the season with an FA Cup win as well.’