Chelsea have conceded seven goals in their first three Premier League games and central to the problem seems to be John Terry’s form.
Subbed at Manchester City, sent off at West Bromwich Albion, there is now a debate as to the captain's future in this Chelsea side.
Fans should not be worried though because, in Kurt Zouma, Jose Mourinho has a ready-made replacement.
Zouma is an incredible talent and, at age 20,, he is ready for the physical challenge of the Premier League. It is a bit too simple to compare up-and-coming players to former stars, but Zouma does have several similar qualities to French legend Marcel Desailly – comfortable on the ball to the extent that he can play in midfield, strong and dominant in the air and a good reader of the game.
A couple of years ago, Laurent Blanc, the Paris Saint-Germain manager, bemoaned the fact French academies were focusing on stronger, more developed players at the detriment of smaller, more technical players.
He got a bit of criticism at the time for what some perceived as a racist viewpoint, but his point was the fact that sometimes you get a player who at 18 is the biggest, fastest and strongest in his class but then does not develop.
An example of this might be Yaya Sanogo. The 1.93 metres Arsenal forward was a teammate of Zouma’s in the France Under 20 squad who won the World Cup, but he has not scored a goal in league football for three seasons and has been sent on loan to Ajax, where coach Ronald de Boer says he has “no useful qualities”.
Also part of that U20 squad, though, were Paul Pogba and Geoffrey Kondogbia, two of the best young midfielders in Europe.
Zouma is from the same mould as that pair and will go far.
Shaqiri can shine at Stoke
Former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson once said that Charlie Adam’s delivery from set pieces was worth £10 million (Dh57.9m) alone and the same can be said about his Stoke City teammate, Xherdan Shaqiri.
The Swiss playmaker created his side’s opener in the 1-1 draw at Norwich City on Saturday with a wicked free kick and Stoke have pulled off a real coup in persuading him to join them.
Shaqiri is Swiss football’s great hope. He played his best football when he had a superb Basel team built around him and he seems like a player who needs to be at the centre of play – which is probably why he lost his way in a squad of stars at Bayern Munich.
At Stoke, he can be the main man again in an exciting side assembled by Mark Hughes.
It looks like Shaqiri will play the No 10 role in a 4-2-3-1 formation with two more flair players – Ibrahim Afellay and Marko Arnautovic – either side of him.
This is the same role he played for Basel and Switzerland; he could hit double figures in goals from that position this season.
And that delivery will play into the hands of a Stoke side who traditionally do well scoring from dead-ball situations.
twoods@thenational.ae
