Thibaut Courtois Opens Up About His Favourite Trait of 'Improved' Spanish Defender

Thibaut Courtois has praised his teammate Marcos Alonso and said that he doesn't believe people know "how hard" his role in the Chelsea first-team is.

The Spaniard moved to Chelsea in 2016 after impressing with Fiorentina in the Serie A. Having formerly had spells in England with Bolton and Sunderland, Alonso was lighting up the Premier League last season and has earned a reputation for his trademark free-kicks.

However, Courtois has been most impressed at how the Spaniard has adapted to the role of a full-back and insisted that Alonso works tirelessly every single game.

"Marcos plays so many games on that wing and I don't think people can imagine how hard that job is because it's always attacking-defending, attacking-defending," Courtois told the Chelsea website.

"You don't stop, you're running a lot, and he's playing almost every three days. He does very well for us and he's improved very much throughout last season and this season as well.

"His quality of free-kicks is amazing and those situations in football nowadays are so important, so if you can score from that it's very good."

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Chelsea's shot-stopper went on to offer an insight into Alonso's trademark free-kicks, with the Spaniard's goal against Southampton on Saturday proving enough to claim all three points.

"I only saw it quickly on the screen, but I think the wall jumped the other way, so that's why the ball got past on that side," he continued.

"Obviously it's a bit annoying for a goalkeeper if you put your wall and it jumps the other side and it leaves a gap. You see the ball very late and it's hard to save. But from our point of view, it's very good."