‘Relegation fight is harder than winning the title’
On loan at Stoke from Chelsea, Kurt Zouma tells Matt Law why fear of the drop cuts deeper
Kurt Zouma knows all about pressure. At Chelsea he has lived and played under the knowledge that trophies are a requirement and anything less usually costs jobs. But Zouma, 23, admits the “stress” of a Premier League relegation battle while on loan at Stoke City is different, more consuming and, ultimately, “maybe harder”.
Of course, Zouma can go back to Chelsea at the end of the season – his own Premier League status is not necessarily on the line. But the central defender insists he is in as deep as everybody else at Stoke.
His old Chelsea team-mates will be worried about Champions League qualification and the prospect of a trip to Barcelona, following their recent defeat by Manchester City. But, in football terms, they are first-world problems and another heavy defeat by City for Stoke tonight would heighten relegation fears with games now running out.
“When I was at Chelsea, we were playing for the title, so the situation here is different,” said Zouma. “You are a bit under pressure and you don’t want to lose games or make mistakes, and you have to get points.
“Maybe it is harder because you don’t want to get relegated. The thing is we need to pick up points and we are under pressure, but now everybody is calm, we know that with the quality we have that if we play well like we have done, then we are going to get some points and win games.
“Mentally, you have to be strong. If you win a game you can be out of the bottom three and if you lose you can be down there again because it’s so tight. It’s stressful, but we are confident and we need to keep our confidence high – don’t be too stressed and scared to play.”
After he signed a new six-year contract with Chelsea last summer, it was decided that Zouma, who has two title winners’ medals, would benefit from playing regular football away from Stamford Bridge after recovering from the serious knee injury that kept him out for almost a year.
Zouma has always been clear that his goal at the end of the season is to return to Chelsea and try to re-establish himself as a first-team starter. But, before then, he is giving everything to save Stoke and insists that relegation would hurt him just as much as his team-mates.
“People know that I’m here for one season and it doesn’t matter what is going to happen after, [but] I hope Stoke are going to stay in the Premier League,” said Zouma.
“My target is to go back to Chelsea, but first do it right here. I don’t want the team to go down. Like the other players, we all have to show the fans we want to stay up. After that, I hope to go back to Chelsea and play. They gave me a chance to go on loan and I spoke with the manager [Antonio Conte] who agreed and they helped me a lot with my injury and to find a club where I can play all the time.”
Andreas Christensen has proved that leaving Chelsea on loan can provide a route back to the first team and Zouma is clear that he does not want to find himself stuck on the bench after making 29 appearances for Stoke this season.
“Christensen is a good example because he went on loan and played in Germany, and he’s come back and he’s a big part of the team,” said Zouma. “It’s different for me because I had a bad injury and I used to be in the team before that, so now I want to be back fit and have game time, and then I will go back to Chelsea to play.”
Zouma faces one of the toughest tasks in football in trying to stop City’s rampant attack. Stoke were beaten 7-2 at the Etihad in October, a game the France international has no wish to recall. “This was the worst defeat I’ve ever had in my career in football,” said Zouma. “But it can happen and I don’t want to think about it. Man City are a top side. But our job is to make it difficult. The mistakes we made in the 7-2 we can’t make again and we have to try to win to make the fans happy and us happy as well.”
Jack Butland will also have unhappy memories of facing City, but Zouma speaks highly of the Stoke goalkeeper. Asked how Butland compares to Petr Cech and Thibaut Courtois, whom he played in front of at Chelsea, Zouma replied: “He’s on the same level. He’s one of the best goalkeepers in the world.”