Chelsea are represented in the latest Premier League team of the week that has been selected by BBC pundit Garth Crooks.
Actually Garth is now down as a ‘Football Analyst’ these days, a posh term for a pundit then!
The performance by goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois in the two one victory over Leicester City at the weekend at the King Power Stadium was enough to earn them a place in the side alongside the other, in the opinion of the former Spurs striker anyway, most impressive performers in the topflight over the latest weekend.
I think we’ll already know ourselves, and not just based on the latest performance, why Crooks, we’ll also not argue with it, selected Courtois as part of his team but explaining his choice he told the BBC.
‘When there are 27 goals scored in the Premier League during one weekend it is particularly difficult to find a goalkeeper who has had an outstanding performance. However, you do occasionally find some goalkeepers that, during a goal fest, change the face of a game. That’s what Courtois did when he foiled the counter-attack led by Leicester’s Riyad Mahrez in the first half at the King Power Stadium, producing a quite brilliant save at a crucial time in the match. It gave Chelsea time to regroup, continue with their strategy, and pose their own threat. The game was also far from over when Courtois gave away a penalty in the match. Cesar Azpilicueta’s back-pass left the Belgian so exposed and in such a perilous situation that he had little chance of getting to the ball before Leicester striker Vardy, who used every ounce of his experience to take advantage of the keeper’s position. Courtois got a hand to the penalty, which must have frightened the life out of Vardy, but it was not enough to keep the ball out of the net. Nevertheless, Courtois kept his nerve and went on to play a vital role in Chelsea getting maximum points in a game that could have gone very differently had it not been for that outstanding save in the first half.’
It’s always good to see the club represented in this way, and well played to Courtois for his recognition, but the most important thing about the weekend was of course the win.
Full Team:
Thibaut Courtois (Chelsea), John Stones (Manchester City), James Tarkowski (Burnley), Jamaal Lascelles (Newcastle United), Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City), Christian Eriksen (Tottenham Hotspur), Pascal Gross (Brighton), Benjamin Mendy (Manchester City), Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Eric Choupo-Moting (Stoke City), Danny Welbeck (Arsenal)
