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Chelsea: Kurt Zouma’s mental strength should be his biggest legacy

By Olaoluwa Nwobodo

LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 05: Kurt Zouma of Chelsea celebrates with teammates Olivier Giroud and Ben Chilwell after scoring their team's second goal during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Leeds United at Stamford Bridge on December 05, 2020 in London, England. A limited number of fans are welcomed back to stadiums to watch elite football across England. This was following easing of restrictions on spectators in tiers one and two areas only. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 05: Kurt Zouma of Chelsea celebrates with teammates Olivier Giroud and Ben Chilwell after scoring their team's second goal during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Leeds United at Stamford Bridge on December 05, 2020 in London, England. A limited number of fans are welcomed back to stadiums to watch elite football across England. This was following easing of restrictions on spectators in tiers one and two areas only. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images) /
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Chelsea is inching closer to a permanent transfer of Kurt Zouma as he looks set to join its west London neighbor, West Ham United. He will be remembered for many things in SW6—some true, some false. There is one thing that is definitely true though, he wasn’t as well respected by the Blues’ supporters as he should have been during his time with the club. Zouma is an example of how long-term injuries can not only change one’s ability, but also the perception around a player. For Zouma, it was just the latter that changed. The one thing that Zouma should be remembered, admired and praised for above all else, is his mental strength.

Zouma ruptured his Anterior Cruciate Ligament while landing awkwardly from a jump in a game against Manchester United in February 2016. He was ruled out for six months and made his next appearance nine months after the injury. The psychological toll long-term injuries take on players does not get enough attention, never mind the physical repercussions. The stage in his career the injury came at was also a crucial point in his career, he was a 21-year-old at the time. Zouma was a regular for Chelsea when it happened and the injury meant he had to start his development again from scratch.

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Zouma made his next competitive appearance 11 months after his gruesome injury. He was loaned to Stoke City, who fought relegation and couldn’t avoid the drop, for the 2017/18 league season. In that season, Zouma made 34 out of 38 appearances for the Potters, this helped Zouma get consistent minutes under his belt. He was one of Stoke’s best performing players, albeit in a relegation fighting team. He led the team in interceptions and clearances, and in fact, ranked top six for clearances in the league.

After that, he was loaned to a mid-table club in Everton for the 2018/19 campaign. Zouma helped the Toffees to an eighth-place finish. Albeit not an improvement from the previous season position-wise, he did help them achieve more wins and points, as well as less losses. Perhaps most importantly, he helped Everton concede 12 less goals. In that season, Zouma ranked third for interceptions amongst Everton players, won 82 percent of his tackles and ranked second for clearances. He also contributed to 10 clean sheets and completed the most long balls, along with the highest long ball accuracy amongst centerbacks for Everton.

Zouma returned to Chelsea for the 2019/20 Premier League season, coinciding with the FIFA-imposed transfer ban under Frank Lampard. In that season, Zouma again made the most appearances of any Blues centerback (28). He recorded the highest long ball accuracy of any defender, completed the most long balls of any defender and had the most interceptions of any Chelsea player overall. He carried this form into the following season, again being preferred over any other centerback alongside new arrival, Thiago Silva. He started 15 league games under Lampard in the first half of the season, keeping five clean sheets.

Thomas Tuchel’s January arrival saw Zouma plummet down the pecking order. He only saw seven league starts under the German, this still was enough to see Zouma finish the season as the out-and-out centerback with the most appearances at the position for Chelsea, scoring more goals than any other defender in the league (5). In the 2020/21 season, Zouma finished the campaign with the second-most completed long balls of all Chelsea defenders, the third most passes, the most clearances, the second most interceptions and he contributed to nine clean sheets in 22 starts. The Frenchman also kept the same proportion of clean sheets to starts (57 percent) under Tuchel as Antonio Rudiger, with whom Chelsea kept the most clean sheets under the aforementioned manager. Zouma would be leaving Chelsea with Premier League titles, one Champions League win, one FA Cup trophy, one Carabao Cup triumph and a UEFA Super Cup—not a bad resume by any means.

Zouma had to work his way back up from the bottom of the league table to the top, and he did this while working on his jumping, the very thing that caused his injury. He did this without any complaints and with the utmost dedication. At this moment, Zouma is one of the Premier League’s most dominant defenders in the air, easily leading Chelsea players in aerial duels and proportion of aerial duels won. He scored four headed goals, also winning duels against Virgil van Dijk and Jannik Vestergaard, who are both taller than him and are aerially dominant themselves. Overcoming the mental block of landing the wrong way and then improving his jumping technique to be even better than he was pre-injury has to take an incredible amount of courage, dedication and hard work. He will be missed; farewell, Kurt.

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