Thursday, 4th December, 2014
Chelsea assistant Steve Holland insists he is not surprised at how well Kurt Zouma acquitted himself last night against Tottenham Hotspur as he has seen rapid improvement from the young defender in training.
Zouma was snapped up by Chelsea in January this year, but allowed to remain at Saint-Etienne to see out the 2013/14 campaign before arriving at Stamford Bridge in the summer.
He is currently providing backup for John Terry and Gary Cahill and was thrown into the action at half-time last night when the latter was forced off through injury.
Zouma performed superbly in the 3-0 win, but for Holland that was little surprise, with the coach having witnessed rapid improvement from the Frenchman.
"Zouma has been training magnificently for weeks and it was clear that it was his time", Holland told Chelsea TV.
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"I thought his performance reflected that, I thought he was immaculate, with the ball and defensively.
"He is a player who has improved considerably since the start of the season.
"I think working with some of the guys that he works with every day, John and Gary, Iva [Branislav Ivanovic], he's picking it up quickly. He's got a very good mentality, good competitor, zero maintenance, just gets on with it and plays. And is improving.
"We expected him to do what he did, which was do a very good job."
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