Kurt Zouma

[CHOULO19 24,332]

They're both quite poor on the ball which instantly limits their potential IMO. It's not something you can really improve.

True, but he can learn to not let it limit him. John Terry was almost always the slowest player in the squad, for example; never stopped him from being the best CB in the world at a point in his career.

[The Chels 2,502]

True, but he can learn to not let it limit him. John Terry was almost always the slowest player in the squad, for example; never stopped him from being the best CB in the world at a point in his career.

But JT's mostly played in a low block and with a fast partner (Carvalho, Cahill) so his lack of pace isn't often exposed. My fear with Zouma though is that when he is pressed by the opposition or in a slightly difficult position he will just concede possession because he can't do much with the ball. I noticed that somewhat against Maribor who are hardly great. He seems to have to put in a lot of effort to play even the simplest of passes, never mind when he's under pressure. Personally I'd prefer to see Jose developing a defender who has the physicality and good technical ability like Christensen.

[Styles 9,790]

But JT's mostly played in a low block and with a fast partner (Carvalho, Cahill) so his lack of pace isn't often exposed. My fear with Zouma though is that when he is pressed by the opposition or in a slightly difficult position he will just concede possession because he can't do much with the ball. I noticed that somewhat against Maribor who are hardly great. He seems to have to put in a lot of effort to play even the simplest of passes, never mind when he's under pressure. Personally I'd prefer to see Jose developing a defender who has the physicality and good technical ability like Christensen.

I noticed that too, he was trying to be very precise with his passes and it showed. He doesn't look natural when passing, it looks like he's making a big effort with relatively simple passes. He doesn't have to be a great passer, however, just good enough will do - especially if playing with a partner that can pass well. People seem to love Cahill and he isn't that good on the ball himself. I really hope it's something that can be worked on because Zouma's athletic ability is ridiculous and would be a huge asset in the Premier League. He's a project so we just have to see how it works.

And it looks like Zouma has been nominated for the Golden Boy award:

[Sir Mikel OBE 4,920]

Jose showed a lot of faith putting him on today.

[xPetrCechx 13,563]

Jose showed a lot of faith putting him on today.

and he did his mistake..

[Term-X 7,891]

He was ball watching for the goal, he was only on the pitch for 2 seconds and lost concentration.. how is that possible.

[GhanaBoy 104]

It was Cahill who lost the main culprit in fellaini that's the main issue

[xPetrCechx 13,563]

He was ball watching for the goal, he was only on the pitch for 2 seconds and lost concentration.. how is that possible.

he lost something that he never had...

[The Chels 2,502]

he lost something that he never had...

Van Persie reacted faster than him to the loose ball. Fine margins but his mistake has (in part) cost us the win.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

He doesn't sound "happy" at all!




For the record, I don't like players pulling off things like this at all. Respect for opponents is part of being a professional. Plus, he should really be worrying more about his mistake that led to the equalizer than about who united will be playing.

PS: Could be a fake account though Didier tagged him in a picture on his account using this account name.

[Daniel1980 1,425]

He doesn't sound "happy" at all!

For the record, I don't like players pulling off things like this at all. Respect for opponents is part of being a professional. Plus, he should really be worrying more about his mistake that led to the equalizer than about who united will be playing.

He probably made this comment hoping to make up for his mistake in the fans' eyes.

[Ainsley Harriott 2,732]

He doesn't sound "happy" at all!

For the record, I don't like players pulling off things like this at all. Respect for opponents is part of being a professional. Plus, he should really be worrying more about his mistake that led to the equalizer than about who united will be playing.

I don't think that account's official.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

I don't think that account's official.

Drogba tagged him in another pic using this account name. Though he could be mistaken.

[Jase 43,479]

I don't want to be harsh on Zouma but really, he was partly at fault for the goal. Caught ball watching and allowed Van Persie to get away from him. Poor.

[BlueLyon 9,359]

Young and needs to learn from this.

The best way to learn is through mistakes. If he wont learn, thats another problem.

[The Chels 2,502]

Young and needs to learn from this.

The best way to learn is through mistakes. If he wont learn, thats another problem.

If Jose hadn't subbed him on, Luis would have been marking van Persie and he might have actually got to the ball first. Bringing Zouma on just for his aerial ability wasn't the best idea.

[Rekin 835]

It is exactly the kind of mistake young players make though. Zouma showed in preseason that his weakness is both his technique with the ball but also his positional ability.
In order to truly develop it is essential that he gets to play more. I am not confident with him as right-back, but I think it might be beneficial for him to play there against QPR (which I assume is the case) since it will be a challenge to him.
The best way to develop youngsters is to challenge them, let him play CB against Shrewsbury & Maribor while he can be RB against QPR. If he does well in those games than he is ready to start against mid-table teams more often.
There needs to be a certain kind of progress in the way youngsters are introduced, and the next couple of games are the perfect arena for him.

I am not fully convinced by him yet, but he is still young and have not developed yet tactically to the point where a CB should be.

[Jype 6,398]

The best way to develop youngsters is to challenge them, let him play CB against Shrewsbury & Maribor while he can be RB against QPR. If he does well in those games than he is ready to start against mid-table teams more often.

Ivanovic will serve his suspension tomorrow so he'll be back for QPR and there's no chance Zouma will play RB for that one.

Other than that I agree, playing well against Shrewsbury and Maribor would go a long way in convincing Mourinho he can do the job when called upon and that there's no need to move Ivanovic to CB if Terry or Cahill get injured.