Tactically, Thibaut Courtois has been removed from the Red Devils WhatsApp group. And it makes him laugh more than anything. Fair enough. At my place, a player dropped from the group turns up on the touchline on Sunday at three, in civvies, asking what time we kick off.
He explains the group is for practical information and training, with few messages. Same here. Except at my place the group is the club delegate (the volunteer who keeps the paperwork). He has a folder, a biro and a list. My dressing room doesn’t need WhatsApp, it has the delegate ringing on Saturday night.
On the substance, Courtois wasn’t available to Mark van Bommel for the Nations League and has made himself available for the Euro 2028 qualifiers. He denies sulking because his starting place couldn’t be guaranteed. He said, according to Walfoot: “I never came to the national team thinking I’d necessarily play. I know my qualities and I know how important I can be, but competition is a good thing. Nobody has to promise me anything, Senne, Mike and Maarten are doing a good job”.
Three keepers doing a good job. I’ve got one. On Tuesday he plays centre-forward because there are nine of us. I run competition on Tuesday. When we’ve got eleven, that is.
He also says he thought about perhaps quitting after the 2026 World Cup, which ended up as one of his favourite tournaments. I know that one. Every June I think about quitting. And every August I buy new bibs with the clubhouse bar money.
A delegate with a biro. Now that was a system that never crashed.
On Monday I checked my folder: everyone’s still on it. Even the one who hasn’t turned up since September.
It’s true, we checked: Walfoot.
