Chelsea: Kurt Zouma’s technical ability and his unfair internet critics

There are a lot of myths about Kurt Zouma, but statistics show he is a much better player than Chelsea supporters on the internet give him credit for.

There’s an age-long misconception about Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma and his technical ability, as well as other aspects of his game. While numbers don’t tell the full story, they do not lie, and they definitely do not support these misconceptions. Some of these opinions were formed as early as the Frenchman’s Stoke City days, and the holders have just out of sheer stubbornness refused to acknowledge that Zouma has come a long way from then. The fact of the matter is he’s improved his game tremendously. Returning from the kind of injury that Zouma returned from is not easy. Developing from that point is even more challenging because the centerback had to return to the level he was pre-injury before he could improve further. Zouma has done both remarkably and is now definitively one of the best defenders in England.

It may have been convenient to say Zouma is one of the players that fails the eye test and passes the numbers test, but he doesn’t even fail the eye test, that’s what makes these myths about him baffling. Fans have lauded players like Thiago Silva and even Antonio Rudiger, but refuse to give credit Zouma, even though the former Saint-Etienne man is putting up numbers on par with—and sometimes better—than Virgil van Dijk.

Perhaps it’s worth taking a look at some of these myths, and going as far as to disprove them:

Myth 1: “Zouma is not good on the ball, he can’t withstand pressure”

This is a popular one amongst the Zouma critics. Some say he can’t sort out his feet and that he’s awkward on the ball. Zouma has been Chelsea’s most used centerback since the beginning of last season, and there’s a reason for that. Last season, Andreas Christensen was Chelsea’s second most used centerback for Chelsea. Christensen averaged less passes per game (56.9) than Zouma (65.7). The Dane even completed less long balls per game (2.5), compared to Zouma’s (5.0). Zouma not only attempted more long balls per game, but completed more too, completing 56 percent of his attempts with Christensen completing 48 percent.

Only three centerbacks in the Premier League completed more long balls per game than Zouma last season; van Dijk, Antonio Rudiger and Conor Coady. Of those three, Zouma completed more passes per game than two of them, only Van Dijk completed more passes per game of this group. Zouma made more progressive passes per 90 (3.15) than the next most used centerback, Christensen (2.41), making up 4.2 percent of the Dane’s passes and 4.8 percent of the Frenchman’s.

So far this season, Zouma has completed the second most passes per game at Chelsea (67.9) behind Silva (79.8). He has completed the second most long balls per game for Chelsea (4.9), behind only Silva (5.6). Zouma ranks sixth for most passes per game in the league this campaign, but ranks fifth for most accurate long balls per game. Silva ranks second and third respectively.

Zouma has made 3.07 progressive passes per 90, ranking second amongst Blues centerbacks with nine or more appearances. This ranks behind only Silva’s (3.64), making up 4.5 percent of Zouma’s passes and 4.6 percent of Silva’s. It is worth noting that Silva makes 11.9 more passes per game than Zouma. These numbers clearly show that the arrival of Silva has made the Brazilian Chelsea’s best passer of the ball, with Zouma ranking second. This is not shameful for Zouma because Silva is an excellent passer of the ball. Interestingly approximately 7 percent of the centerbacks’ passes are accurate long balls. Clearly the two centerhalves complete the same proportion of long balls relative to their total passes, yet many rate Silva as being good on the ball and Zouma as being awkward and bad on the ball—it makes no sense.

As for the “he can’t withstand pressure” myth, Zouma made 8.15 passes under pressure per game last season, compared to Christensen’s 8.72 and Rudiger’s 9.74. These numbers would be heavily determined by which centerback is being pressed at any given point in the game. This year, Zouma has completed 6.27 passes under pressure. Silva? 5.0. No Chelsea centerback has made more passes under pressure per 90. Of course, this is heavily influenced by the fact that other defenders have barely taken to the field for the Blues in the league this season.