Thibaut Courtois piles more Wembley woe on Tottenham by slamming the lack of atmosphere
Chelsea keeper is an Arch critic after beating Spurs 2-1 and seeing the 'hosts' suffer despite their record crowd of 73,587
THIBAUT COURTOIS piled more Wembley woe on Tottenham by slamming the atmosphere they created under the Arch on Sunday.
The Chelsea keeper accused Spurs fans of staying quiet during their club’s historic, first-ever Premier League match at their temporary new home.
And he gave the hosts stick for bringing in a drummer and amplifying his beats through the stadium’s PA system in a bid to make some noise.
It had little impact as the visitors ran out 2-1 winners courtesy of two Marcos Alonso strikes in front of a record Premier League crowd for Spurs of 73,587.
Tottenham — who played their Champions and Europa League ties at Wembley last term — have won just one of their last ten matches at the national stadium.
Manager Mauricio Pochettino and his players were keen to rubbish talk of a jinx, insisting the hallowed turf will soon feel like home.
But Courtois laid it on the line when he said: “It doesn’t feel like you are playing Tottenham at their home.
“No, it feels a bit different because obviously their home ground is not this one.
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“They have the capacity now to bring a lot of fans into the stadium. If they make more noise it would be better for them.
“But if you have to put some noise over the speakers to make some atmosphere I don’t think it is working very well.”
Courtois was referring to Tottenham’s dreadful decision to bring in a drummer to get the crowd going.
Even worse, they fixed his drum up to an amplifier which blasted his deafening beats out of Wembley’s PA system — before the Premier League ordered it shut down after half-time.
Courtois said: “In the second half they were pressing and 70,000 people started to wake up — obviously more than the 40,000 at White Hart Lane.
“The only difference is that they are more separate from the pitch than at White Hart Lane, when you feel more pressure.
“When they are pressing and the pitch is smaller, that is probably better for them.”
Chelsea have beaten Tottenham on the last four occasions they have met at Wembley, including last season’s FA Cup semi-final.
Pochettino’s men were huge favourites to win on Sunday after the injury and suspension-ravaged Blues lost 3-2 at home to Burnley on the opening day.
Courtois said: “I think we coped well with them in the FA Cup and it is a little advantage we can have mentally over them because we won here in that semi-final.”
And the straight-talking stopper believes Tottenham’s hopes for silverware this season will be scuppered by opponents who follow the Blues’ lead and raise their game at the most famous football stadium in the world.
The Belgium international added: “Wembley is an amazing stadium and these stadiums make you want to play even better.
“It is like a Champions League game where you can rise above yourself.
“I think these stadiums make that and all the teams that come here, instead of being impressed, they will give more.
“So, for Spurs, it won’t be easy — but, if they have their fans, with 80,000-90,000 people they can make it difficult for a lot of teams.”
Alonso’s late Wembley winner helped the champions bounce back after their shock loss to Burnley.
And Courtois warned the Blues’ Prem rivals their victory over Tottenham — thanks to the double strike from Alonso — proves his team should not be underestimated. The 25-year-old insisted: “Chelsea should never be written off.
“We worked very hard in pre-season, it was just a bit unfortunate that we had suspended and injured players and some players left, so it was not easy.
“I think this victory is good to show, as a team, we are working very well and in the next weeks we can continue this way.”
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The loss to the Clarets sparked fears of a Chelsea slump, just like two years ago when their title defence ended with boss Jose Mourinho getting the boot and a tenth-place finish.
Courtois said: “Obviously after last week, it shows it is not going to be the same. We just started bad.
“Maybe as a group we needed a little wake-up call to say, ‘Look, we need to give 150 per cent this year and not 100 per cent’.
“That’s what we did against Tottenham. I think we did very well. You saw that in the end.
“I remember two years ago, we had to go to City and lost there and it was a difficult start for us.
“Now, this victory is good. We don’t have the easiest start but this victory is good for the confidence and to continue the hard work we are doing in training.”
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