Chelsea FC youngster Kurt Zouma suffered a season-ending injury in February, but how did he fare throughout the rest of this disappointing campaign?
Tragic. The knee injury that happened to Chelsea FC prospect Kurt Zouma this year was nothing other than tragic. Finally as he was getting a solid run of games and looking everything like the young Marcel Desailly and Lilian Thuram combo that people have been saying he is, he had this season cruelly taken from him by a serious knee injury.
Zouma had slowly established himself as the principal centre-back, alongside either Gary Cahill and John Terry. His weaknesses were still evident, with some rash challenges and ill-advised decisions peppering his play.
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Nonetheless, the general perception was encouraging from the Frenchman. Guus Hiddink had placed faith him and he was repaying the interim boss during the club’s mid-season undefeated streak. However, his run came to an end during Manchester United’s February visit.
I, like many other Chelsea supporters, watched on in horror when he went off injured against the Red Devils and hoped that it wasn’t serious. However, in the pit of my stomach I knew that it absolutely was.
Luckily, because of his age, Zouma is expected to make a full recovery but too often as a football fan have I seen the youth and vigor of a young player stolen by knee injuries so I am still scared.
Kurt Zouma is a young man blessed with incredible athletic ability and and thus he can afford to lose a little bit of his pace although as a fan one hopes that he truly does not. The manner in which he got injured, in fact, is an example of just how spectacularly athletic he is. Rather than settling for a simple header he was attempting some sort of Kung-Fu kick clearance that would have made more sense in a martial arts film than a football match.
Unfortunately his knee buckled beneath him. There is no doubt that every single Blues fan is awaiting his return with baited breath. Zouma is the best young player that Chelsea Football Club have had in years and it will be interesting to see how he shapes up when he returns. You could argue that this is the most important phase of his career.
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He is currently not slated to make the curtain-raise next season and thus Antonio Conte will need to dip into the transfer market to cover for him. However, will he slot straight back into the starting line-up? That remains to be seen.