The Chelsea Social

Introduction

At 25, Kurt “Happy” Zouma has already seen the highs and lows of his footballing career.

From lifting the Premier League title with one of the best Chelsea squads in the club’s recent history to suffering a career-threatening injury that could’ve almost ended his time at Chelsea, Zouma has had a roller coaster of a ride so far. However, the Frenchman finally seems to be settling down well and getting back to his usual best in this new-look Chelsea team under Frank Lampard.

While the 2019/20 season saw plenty of criticisms directed towards our centre backs, Zouma was one name that stood out for all the good reasons. Fans were beginning to feel if he was the answer to our issues at the back in the long run – a feeling that his counterparts have previously created as well, but to no long term success. What was encouraging in his aspect though was the fact that despite his young age, he was way more matured in his approach to the game, thanks to his two loan stints at Stoke City and Everton, combined with his ability to rack up sufficient games under his belt at Chelsea before that.

However, his position was still under threat. Kurt Zouma was neither a leader (not yet) nor had one next to him to guide him through, at least not in the last season. It was the missing element in not just him elevating his game but Chelsea as a team going to the next level was dependent on that.

The “Silva” Factor

The arrival of Thiago Silva from PSG is a boost for Chelsea, who have lacked a commanding CB who is a natural leader for years now. The current team is still in its early stage of a massive rebuild and having experienced campaigners like Silva, who has literally seen it all at the biggest of stages, is only going to give the youngsters in the team someone to look up to, learn from and more importantly someone to guide them. Silva seems to be a player exclusively brought in for that purpose as this club has never before approached a player of his age.

In their mid-30s, footballers, most often than not tend to look at the option of reducing their workload by playing in a league that’s less demanding, at least physically. But Silva, 36, seems to have taken a completely contrasting decision by choosing the English Premier League. If anyone, it’s him who knows his body better and going by the looks of it, sure looks like he means business even at this age.

Having Silva in this team is obviously one of the most important decisions by Lampard and co. for obvious reasons. The team is definitely going to reap the benefits of him being part of this setup but one player that will be eagerly looking forward to being able to closely work with him is Kurt Zouma.

The Frenchman finally is working towards stamping his authority in that backline and who better than one of the best centre backs in the modern game to guide him in his quest. Clearly, Zouma was excited at the opportunity. speaking to the media after the Brighton and Hove Albion game he said, “I know he’s going to bring experience. Great guy off the pitch too. He’s been playing big games, playing for Brazil, in the Champions League final recently.”

“He’s going to bring a lot of experience I would say. That’s going to be good to train with him, to learn from him, that will be great,” he added.

So it’s pretty much evident that Zouma is looking forward to work with Silva in this new-look Chelsea team which clearly is heading towards a direction that the fans will be proud about.

The Long Journey

Zouma’s quest to becoming one of the vital cogs in that backline started way back in 2014 when he made his debut in a League Cup match against a very physical Bolton Wanderers side. Jose Mourinho handed the debut to a young Zouma back then and he made full use of it as he looked solid at the back alongside Gary Cahill. He even went on to score his debut goal in the same match, which immediately drew comparisons to the club legend John Terry. The then-assistant manager Steve Holland showered praises on Kurt Zouma for his performance that night.

It was just the start Zouma needed, as he then went on to rack some Premier League games under his belt before he suffered that horrific injury in the 2015/16 season that sidelined him for close to 10 months. A promising journey had been paused. Many thought his career would take a drastic dip but it was his determination and hunger that has got him back to where he is now. Two back-to-back loan spells at Stoke City and Everton, where he seemed to impress every eye that was watching him meant that he was ready to continue his Chelsea career from he had left off. It was a tough journey and Zouma himself acknowledged it.

“It has been a very, very long journey,” Kurt Zouma told Reuters. “I don’t want to talk about that now, because that is the past but I fought very hard.”

“People don’t know, people don’t see but I was in the shadow, working hard to get back because I had a very bad injury. I was off for one year (away from the first team) but people forget that.”

“But I always believed in myself. My family was always there behind me and now I’m back here. I’m very happy to play here, I just want to keep going,” he added.

Zouma has come a long way, slowly but steadily of course. And now, the stage is set perfectly for Kurt Zouma to establish himself in this Chelsea team as one of the most important players for the foreseeable future. With one of Antonio Rudiger rumoured to be falling down Lampard’s pecking order, that will probably leave Lampard with Thiago Silva, Kurt Zouma, Andreas Christensen and Fikayo Tomori as his trustworthy centre back options.

Now it’s fairly obvious that Silva is a mainstay in this team so the other three CBs will have to fight it out for that second CB spot. With Tomori only in his second season in the Premier League and Christensen time and again showing how inconsistent he is, it looks highly likely that Zouma will be the one partnering the Brazilian once the team is settled in. Now there might be shuffling in the domestic cup games and fairly so but based on the current circumstances the combination of Silva-Zouma seems to be our ideal CB pairing.

The Zouma-Silva combo

While Thiago Silva will bring experience and calmness to that backline, Kurt Zouma will be adding muscle and pace. He’s clearly not the one to be bullied by the opposition and has shown time and again that he is always ready for a challenge.

His aerial dominance is one of the best in the league and Frank surely must be aware of that. Pairing him with Silva will hopefully see us have one of the best central defensive pairings in the Premier League. The 36-year-old is exceptional at organising the defence, something that we have missed for quite some time now and Zouma will greatly benefit from this. Silva’s exceptional reading of the game will obviously help his cause but not to forget the impact that’s going to have on Zouma as well. While the Frenchman is a decent reader of the game, having someone superior next to him is only going to serve him and the team well. And not to forget the communication between the two is going to be vital and it really helps that Silva is fairly fluent in French.

The pair started their first match together in the Premier League against Crystal Palace in the 4-0 win at home and looked solid during the entire curse of the match. There were glimpses of what this combination could bring – stability and solidarity coupled with measured aggression.

Lampard seemed to be pleased with what he saw as speaking to the official website he said, “Thiago and Kurt looked very good, very composed. Thiago has that great experience and we saw that. He is still in his early days in terms of fitness, but let’s see how that partnership works.”

“I want to find some sort of stability with the back four, of course I do. Those two showed how well they can do it, but that needs to be sustained,” he added.

It’s no coincidence that the combination of Silva and Zouma are the best of the lot at the club right now, as both compliment each other incredibly well. Over the course of the season, the bond is only going to get better and it will greatly help Zouma in terms of him lifting his game to the next level.

As mentioned already, Zouma has all the ingredients to go on and become one of the best in his positions and now with Silva next to him, it only makes his journey to that destination all the more easier. He’s lacked someone who could guide him for quite some time now, not just on the field but off it as well and in Silva, he not only has a great mentor but a role model to look up to as well.

Concluding Thoughts

At 25, there aren’t many CBs in the market who are of Zouma’s quality and are as experienced as him. Pace, physicality, aerial dominance, decent ball-playing ability and a good reader of the game as well, Zouma has everything in him to be a success at this club for a long time and serve us in a position that we have had issues for quite some time now. The guy just needs to be guided in the right direction before he hits his peak age and with Silva coming in, the scenario is perfect, both for him and the club.

Sources:

1. https://in.reuters.com/article/soccer-england-che-zouma-idINKCN1VA0GY
2. https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/2020/10/05/lampard-praises-thiago-silva-and-zouma-combination

Written by Shyam

Edited by Rob Pratley