Ahead of the fixture against Manchester united, many Chelsea fans were calling for Kurt Zouma to start, possibly ahead of Gary Cahill in the heart of defence.
As it turned out, Zouma did not play at the back, instead the young Frenchman was given a very specific role, namely to nullify the threat Marouane Fellaini presented in midfield.
Zouma executed his instructions perfectly with Fellaini hardly getting a kick.
Following the win that took Chelsea a step closer to the Premier League crown, Jose Mourinho had this to say about the role the youngster had to play:
I told him I wanted the game to be ten against ten. I don`t want the game to be eleven against eleven.
“So during the week we were working for that and in the game it was ten against ten.”
He is doing amazing jobs for us. He is mentally very, very strong, too.
“Not just physically but mentally he is very strong and he has learned a lot from the tactical point of view from his arrival.”
“So we can imagine at 20 years old, Chelsea has ten years of Zouma,” the Chelsea boss added.
Zouma’s style has, already, been likened to that of another legendary Frenchman, Marcel Desailly, a player who was equally comfortable playing roles in defence and midfield.
Is Kurt Zouma destined for a similar status?
