As expected, Mourinho showed no sentimentality in dumping veteran goalkeeper Petr Cech on the bench in favour of newcomer Thibaut Courtois, who has been stalling on signing a new contract with the Blues until finding out whether he will be the manager's first choice for the season. That certainly looks likely to be the case, because while Mourinho played the diplomat by stating that he expects Cech to stay and fight for his place, it seems extraordinarily unlikely that he would allow the world's foremost young goalkeeping talent to depart the club in favour of a 32-year old, no matter how beloved. Courtois didn't have a lot to do in the game, not standing much of a chance with the goal and only being seriously called into action once later on, but looked a comfortable fit in the side - the less said about the orange kit the better - and communicated well with the defence in front of him. Even if Mourinho is sincere about giving Cech a chance to fight, he won't be dropping Courtois for anything short of a sustained number of calamities. Given some of the astonishing saves the young Belgian made while holding the fort for Atletico Madrid, that seems unlikely to happen and Cech may have to start seriously considering some of the attention he has reportedly been receiving from Monaco and Paris St Germain.
28-year old English writer with a borderline obsessive passion for films, videogames, Chelsea FC, incomprehensible words and indefensible puns. Follow me on Twitter if you like infrequent outbursts of absolute drivel.
