INTERVIEW: Maarten Vandevoordt on succeeding club legend Gulácsi at RB Leipzig, Courtois comparisons and Belgium ambitions | OneFootball

LEIPZIG (Bulinews): A changing of the guard took place in goal for RB Leipzig ahead of this season, with club legend Peter Gulácsi leaving for Villarreal CF and handing the torch to Maarten Vandevoordt.

It has taken hard work and patience for the 24-year-old Belgian goalkeeper to finally establish himself as RB Leipzig’s No. 1, two years after joining the club from KRC Genk.

Now that his opportunity has finally arrived, however, Vandevoordt insists he's ready to embrace the responsibility that comes with the role.

“To be honest, I don’t feel a lot of pressure,” Vandevoordt said during a media round in Leipzig attended by Bulinews.com.

“Of course, it wasn’t easy with ‘Pete’ [Gulácsi], who’s a club legend, but I worked hard in the last two years to have this chance, and I still work hard every day. Of course, it’s precious, it’s a big team, but I worked hard for this moment, and I think it’ll be all right in the end.

“If you feel pressure, you might make some mistakes in the end. I always go into a game with the vision of trying to save as many balls as possible rather than thinking that I can’t make a mistake.”

Although Vandevoordt was competing with Gulácsi for playing time, the Belgian shot-stopper insists the pair were always on good terms. Working closely with such an experienced goalkeeper also taught him a great deal.

“'Pete' and I had a really, really good relationship, although it wasn’t easy for me from time to time. But I learned a lot, both as a goalkeeper and in terms of having patience. He told me many times that my time would come. I learned a lot from him," he explained. 

Courtois comparisons at 15

Pressure is nothing new for Vandevoordt, who was first touted as a potential successor to Belgian goalkeeping star Thibaut Courtois by the media when he was just a young teenager.

“I think I handled it quite well. I heard this already when I was 15, and it’s normal that they say so. They put a lot of pressure on you. But as a person, I’m really down-to-earth,” Vandevoordt said.

While the comparisons were flattering, he acknowledged that being labelled a potential successor to Courtois also came with its downsides.

“It felt nice, of course. I watched every Courtois game and saw clips of him playing on YouTube. But it also had some negative sides, like when I was playing a bad game or made a mistake, and the media started questioning whether I’d really be the next guy. But in the end, they say that about every young goalkeeper playing for Genk, so I was just the next in line,” he said.

Vandevoordt has since gotten to know Courtois personally. The Leipzig goalkeeper earned his first call-up to the Belgian national team in October 2024, and while he is still waiting for his senior international debut, he has already gained plenty from training alongside the 34-year-old.

“Of course, it’s nice to train with Thibaut in the national team. He’s an amazing guy just to talk to. We also text from time to time, and I can learn a lot from that. I think he’s one of the best in the world at the moment,” Vandevoordt said.

Despite receiving regular call-ups to the Belgian national team over the past couple of years, Vandevoordt missed out on the World Cup squad, as then head coach Rudi Garcia opted for Manchester United’s Senne Lammens and Chelsea's Mike Penders, who was on loan at Strasbourg at the time, to provide cover for Courtois.

But while Vandevoordt is well aware of the fierce competition for places in the national team, the 24-year-old still believes he's in a strong position to compete for Belgium's No. 1 spot.

“I play for Leipzig. It’s a big club, and I play constantly now. I have to show every game that I’m capable of this, of course, but I think I’m in a good position," he said. 

“Football can switch so fast”

For now, however, Vandevoordt’s focus will be on helping RB Leipzig get back on track.

After starting the season with a 6-0 DFB-Pokal win over Eintracht Trier and a 3-0 Bundesliga victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach, Die Roten Bullen have since suffered a 3-1 league defeat to Werder Bremen and a 4-1 loss to Como in the Champions League.

When Bulinews spoke to the Belgian goalkeeper on Friday, he admitted that the four goals he conceded against Como had been on his mind the night before.

“It doesn’t matter how many saves I made… It will never look or feel good from my side because we lost the game, and I conceded four goals. Last night, the goals were spinning in my head, and I was thinking about what I could have done better. It’s not a good feeling,” he said.

A bounce-back win against Hamburger SV on Sunday would therefore be more than welcome for Vandevoordt and his teammates – as well as for new head coach Martin Demichelis, who is already under pressure.

“The season is still long. We had a good first win against Gladbach. Bremen wasn’t what we expected. But now the third game awaits on Sunday. If we win, we’ll have confidence and keep going again. Football can switch so fast. We have to learn and accept this and really work on things. Then we’ll certainly have a big chance to bounce back," Vandevoordt said.

Vandevoordt admitted that the decision to replace Ole Werner with Demichelis after securing fourth place and Champions League football last season initially came as a surprise to him.

Nevertheless, he believes things are moving in the right direction under Demichelis, pointing out that it takes time for a new-look squad to gel after a summer of significant changes.

“In the beginning, it was a bit surprising that we changed the coach because we qualified for the Champions League with Ole and had a good season at the end. But I think things are going the right way with the new coach. 

"We have a lot of new players, and we still have to find each other a bit more to be more connected. But I’ve seen a lot of progression already, and I think everybody at this club is really hungry," Vandevoordt said.

RB Leipzig host Hamburger SV at the Red Bull Arena on Sunday, with the game scheduled to kick off at 15:30 CEST.