KURT REPLY
Kurt: I’ve won my place back and I want to repay the trust the boss is showing in me.. we’re working hard and everything is good
IT speaks volumes about Kurt Zouma that, despite winning two titles with Chelsea, he still feels he has to prove himself to Frank Lampard.
To anyone else’s eyes, Zouma looks like he has established himself as one of the pillars of Lampard’s new-look mean defence.
The France cent rehalf has built on his best campaign for Chelsea last season to play in all six games of their current unbeaten run. Yet he is not sitting back and putting his feet up for the simple reason that he feels under pressure to perform every time Lampard selects him. “I’m very happy to have played in the last games because the manager has given me trust and I want to give it back,” he said.
“Every minute
I’m on the pitch I want to prove something to him. It’s been a good run recently and the competition is here.
“I want to keep going because I feel good. Every time you are on the pitch you have to play great. I am trying to do my job. At the minute everything is going well.”
Lampard rejected Everton’s determined efforts to sign him permanently following a loan deal because he believed he could be key y for him.
The Chelsea boss is being proved right – Zouma has helped Chelsea keep four successive clean sheets for the first time in four years.
The 26-year-old was part of their squad back then, December 2016, when the Blues were heading to a Premier League title triumph in Antonio Conte’s first season in charge.
“I feel like I’ve been here for ages,” said Zouma. “But there’s still a lot of work to do. I’m pleased with the clean sheets. Everyone is working hard. Everyone is doing their job.”
The clean- sheet record could easily be extended because, in their next four games, the Blues play Rennes twice, plus Newcastle and Sheffield United.
Zouma is a survivor in a time of upheaval at Stamford Bridge – only Cesar Azpilicueta has been in the firstteam squad for longer.
He will clock up seven years at Chelsea in January and looks finally to have come of age. He is scoring goals as well as keeping them out and his powerful header for Chelsea’s second made him the club’s joint- top Premier League scorer with three.
Timo Werner also has three after completing the scoring in this comfortable stroll at Turf Moor after being set up by the classy Hakim Ziyech.
Ziyech opened the scoring with his second in two games and his first in the league.
Che lsea played with real intensity and the i r £250million jigsaw is slowly fitting together. Zouma claims Lampard’s side is gelling and that there is great trust among the players. “We just focus on ourselves,” he said. “Sometimes we do well and other times badly but everyone trusts each other and the mood is great.
“The mentality is solid and the confidence is high.”
Lampard (above) purred over his team’s performance, in particular his midfield three of N’Golo Kante, Mason Mount and Kai Havertz. He loved the way Mount and Havertz switched effortlessly from defence into attack.
“I like the balance of the midfield,” said Lampard. “N’Golo Kante was fantastic behind Mason and Kai.
“There was a fluidity about it where they would get on the ball in deeper areas, but also be dangerous when they arrived high. There was a lot of energy as well as quality.”