🇫🇷 Kurt Zouma

[Jase 43,479]

4 hours ago, Superblue_1986 said:

One trait Zouma had even before his injury was his positioning was always a weakness but he had an uncanny ability to get back extremely quickly and had one of the best recovery tackles I've probably ever seen but I do think he's lost some of his athleticism and acceleration after his injury and the more space in behind him the harder that recovery can become.

It's obviously great if a defender has great athleticism and pace to make recovery tackles etc but if they have to do constantly do that, then it says a lot more about their weakness than strength. 

[the wes 7,212]

Why everybody targeting Zouma performance against  utd Christensen performance was poor aswell I have been saying this well over a year Christensen needs sold he's not suited for the PL the German league is the place for him I rather have zouma - rudiger partnership than Christensen - rudiger yes Christensen good on the ball but sometimes his defending is poor 

[Superblue 6,372]

19 minutes ago, the wes said:

Why everybody targeting Zouma performance against  utd Christensen performance was poor aswell I have been saying this well over a year Christensen needs sold he's not suited for the PL the German league is the place for him I rather have zouma - rudiger partnership than Christensen - rudiger yes Christensen good on the ball but sometimes his defending is poor 

Because after a bright start the first sniff of momentum for United and encouragement for the fans was from Zouma's misplaced pass in his own box and then just minutes later his rash tackle for the penalty. He never looked comfortable after this both defensively and on the ball.

Christensen wasn't impressive and was obviously part of the defence as a whole which struggled but he didn't make glaring and schoolboy errors which put us massively on the back foot and/or led to goals from what I can remember.

[LAM09 7,056]

Doesn't mean he was great either and maybe, clubs like Everton are his level. 

He was adequate at a top half team, not Cardiff. Sheep in headlights for large parts of yesterday's game.

[Vesper 30,184]

1 hour ago, the wes said:

Why everybody targeting Zouma performance against  utd Christensen performance was poor aswell I have been saying this well over a year Christensen needs sold he's not suited for the PL the German league is the place for him I rather have zouma - rudiger partnership than Christensen - rudiger yes Christensen good on the ball but sometimes his defending is poor 

dont often disagree, but truly do on this

AC is streets ahead of Zouma for me, he has matured nicely and I have seen relatively few errors over the last 6, 7 months

Zouma is a trainwreck atm

hope he buckles it up and comes good quickly

[robsblubot 3,595]

58 minutes ago, Superblue_1986 said:

Because after a bright start the first sniff of momentum for United and encouragement for the fans was from Zouma's misplaced pass in his own box and then just minutes later his rash tackle for the penalty. He never looked comfortable after this both defensively and on the ball.

Christensen wasn't impressive and was obviously part of the defence as a whole which struggled but he didn't make glaring and schoolboy errors which put us massively on the back foot and/or led to goals from what I can remember.

Couldn’t agree more.

That misplaced pass looked just as bad as the pk. United should have scored then and there.

andreas was having a solid game while zouma looked bad from the first minute. His hands sticking out to make the easiest pass is very bakayoko like and a big 🚩 

[Jase 43,479]

48 minutes ago, LAM09 said:

1 hour ago, Jason said:

Doesn't mean he was great either and maybe, clubs like Everton are his level. 

He was adequate at a top half team, not Cardiff. Sheep in headlights for large parts of yesterday's game.

Are you agreeing or disagreeing with me?  

[Jase 43,479]

1 hour ago, the wes said:

Why everybody targeting Zouma performance against  utd Christensen performance was poor aswell I have been saying this well over a year Christensen needs sold he's not suited for the PL the German league is the place for him I rather have zouma - rudiger partnership than Christensen - rudiger yes Christensen good on the ball but sometimes his defending is poor 

Christensen isn't perfect but overall, he's much better than Zouma. Zouma has poor technique (he's like the Lukaku or Bakayoko of defenders), is highly suspect position wise and just looks so cumbersome every time he has to do something. Christensen is technically good (which is important if we're gonna play a passing game), decently quick. Tactically/Mentally, he can be a suspect but it's easy to forget that he was actually good when he started playing under Conte up until that Barcelona game happened. If Lampard can help him regain his confidence and belief, then I believe we have a good, solid defender in him. 

[LAM09 7,056]

Are you agreeing or disagreeing with me? [emoji38] 

Both. Lol!

We played a side that are on par/just ahead of Everton and he looked a nervous wreck. Players at the top shouldn't be so brittle.

[Jase 43,479]

Just now, LAM09 said:

Both. Lol!

We played a side that are on par/just ahead of Everton and he looked a nervous wreck. Players at the top shouldn't be so brittle.

He has looked like a nervous wreck every time he has been put under pressure. 

[Vesper 30,184]

8 hours ago, Superblue_1986 said:

 

This is exactly the problem for Zouma. What Chelsea fans remember is a promising centre back before his injury when he was under Mourinho's management and as a result was protected under a conservative manager. It is easily forgotten too that his run in the team coincided with the mid table season we had (not that I'm blaming Zouma for that).

His loan spell at Stoke went pretty well despite them getting relegated and he obviously had a good season last year at Everton but again he's not being expected to play in an expansive way with a high defensive line. The games I saw last year at Everton where he actually looked good were against big teams like Liverpool and United where they were sitting back and soaking up pressure. 

One trait Zouma had even before his injury was his positioning was always a weakness but he had an uncanny ability to get back extremely quickly and had one of the best recovery tackles I've probably ever seen but I do think he's lost some of his athleticism and acceleration after his injury and the more space in behind him the harder that recovery can become.

 

best analysis yet

[Fernando 6,585]

Let's wait and see how he does when Rudgier comes back. 

He might be better with a leader like Rudgier. 

I know most people say it's going to be AC and Rudgier but who knows we could get a pleasant surprise and Rudgier and Zouma would work great. 

Let's just wait and see. 

[the wes 7,212]

4 hours ago, Fernando said:

Let's wait and see how he does when Rudgier comes back. 

He might be better with a leader like Rudgier. 

I know most people say it's going to be AC and Rudgier but who knows we could get a pleasant surprise and Rudgier and Zouma would work great. 

Let's just wait and see. 

I agree I can see Rudiger - Zouma being the better partnership than Rudiger - Christensen 

[OneMoSalah 8,886]

5 hours ago, the wes said:

I agree I can see Rudiger - Zouma being the better partnership than Rudiger - Christensen 

I hope not. Christensen is better with the ball and was much better than Zouma v United.

In the way of playing Frank is implementing, Zouma would be a weakspot. United targeted him. Other teams will do so too. 

[Vesper 30,184]

32 minutes ago, OneMoSalah said:

I hope not. Christensen is better with the ball and was much better than Zouma v United.

In the way of playing Frank is implementing, Zouma would be a weakspot. United targeted him. Other teams will do so too. 

totally agree

I can see this is going to be a large friction point this season

[robsblubot 3,595]

2 hours ago, Vesper said:

totally agree

I can see this is going to be a large friction point this season

heh yes, but it really shouldn't be.

Andreas and Rudiger are by far our best defenders. Zouma, disregarding last game, is way way below that level.

Passing from the back is kinda important, and Andreas is probably our best passer atm, even if rudiger is fairly good at that too. We don't really have a team to sit back and we have to play with a higher line. Just can't see zouma being comfortable in that type of setup. 

[BlueLion. 21,491]

I can't believe people are writing him off after one (admittedly terrible) game. It's not like the rest of the defence were particularly brilliant. 

I 100% agree he will be a squad player this year, as Andreas and Rudi should be our CB pairing, but give the boy some slack. He was superb for Everton last season!

[robsblubot 3,595]

8 hours ago, BlueLion. said:

I can't believe people are writing him off after one (admittedly terrible) game. It's not like the rest of the defence were particularly brilliant. 

I 100% agree he will be a squad player this year, as Andreas and Rudi should be our CB pairing, but give the boy some slack. He was superb for Everton last season!

I’m sorry, but were you born last Saturday by chance?  

We’ve been watching zouma play for quite a bit of time - at Chelsea and on loan. 

it’s fine if you disagree, but please don’t accuse people for being hasty here. I’ve always thought he’s a poor footballer and united game did not surprise me one bit.

My prediction: he will crumble when under pressure because he does not have the technique to control and move the ball. He will do better against the smaller sides and poorly against the stronger sides who more often employ a high press.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

5 hours ago, Robchels said:

I’m sorry, but were you born last Saturday by chance?  

We’ve been watching zouma play for quite a bit of time - at Chelsea and on loan. 

it’s fine if you disagree, but please don’t accuse people for being hasty here. I’ve always thought he’s a poor footballer and united game did not surprise me one bit.

My prediction: he will crumble when under pressure because he does not have the technique to control and move the ball. He will do better against the smaller sides and poorly against the stronger sides who more often employ a high press.

Were you born last Saturday by any chance?

We've all just watched the lad play a blinder. 

It's fine if you disagree, but please don't be hasty with your criticisms. 

[robsblubot 3,595]

4 minutes ago, BlueLion. said:

Were you born last Saturday by any chance?

We've all just watched the lad play a blinder. 

It's fine if you disagree, but please don't be hasty with your criticisms. 

Heh the irony is lost here... after one game.

yes, and I completely disagree - another mediocre game by him. He’s just not very good playing footy. 

Did not think my comments were nasty, just joked that you started your post by pretty much accusing folks of judging him by a single game. Even though most of us have been watching him play for a very long time... kinda weird actually.