It seems things are finally falling into place for Antonio Conte’s Chelsea. After their 4-0 thrashing of Manchester United last weekend, which saw a terrific performance from the team that was reduced to shambles last year, Conte has now received the positive news of Kurt Zouma returning from an injury.
The 21-year old Frenchman recently played a successful 45 minutes for the Chelsea’s U 23 side. Zouma was sidelined with a serious knee ligament injury since February last season. The injury forced him to miss the Euro 2016 as well as the start of the 2016-17 Premier League season.
He has now shown positive signs of recovery in the match against Derby County. Though he is not even near to his best form as far as his playing was concerned, as he gave away a penalty in the game, the return of a player especially a defender will be a massive boost for Conte.
Conte’s switching to 3 at the back has seen things differently for the club and they have not looked back since then. The question is that with Zouma coming in, where will he fit in?
We have seen Conte sticking with Gary Cahill at the centre even against a big team like Manchester United despite having the experienced John Terry in the squad.
This points to one thing, which is that Conte believes his back trio of David Luiz, Cahill, and Cesar Azpilicueta have gelled in well now with good understanding and he doesn’t want to disrupt that chemistry unless he is forced to.
Considering Zouma is still 2-3 weeks away from any real chance in the first team, we believe the return of the right footed defender will push Azpilicueta up front in the place of Victor Moses.
Zouma’s strengths are his ability to win aerial duels. With Conte playing a stringent back line, his ability might suit Conte. Zouma is also a threat from set pieces, which is what Chelsea are lacking now. Azpilicueta has been impressive, but playing him in a more natural position of a wing back could provide more balance to the team.
Chelsea have been in a dearth of defending options in their squad lately, which forced them to buy back David Luiz from Paris Saint-Germain this summer. The Blues had to struggle a lot despite a solid back line this season conceding many goals in the opening few Premier League games.
