I'm fairly sure Chomsky was born at the age of 35.

 

One of the best e-mails I have ever received came from Chomsky after I wrote him a letter. Amazing man.

Brilliant today, what a beast !!!!!

He will stay and surprise a lot this year. Can be reckless but he is very young and will become a massive player in the future i am sure.

Just the type of player Wenger would never buy. All the more reason to like him.

Looks an interesting player so far from what I've seen of him, personally I would be happy to see him stay involved in the squad this season. 

With the small number(5) and the involvement in the pre-season games I think he is here to stay with the first team. We have not bought anyone since Luiz left.

I hope he head butts Jack Wilshere

I hope he head butts Jack Wilshere

 

Hopefully not when he has a fag in his mouth, that could be messy.

Hopefully not when he has a fag in his mouth, that could be messy.

Or a cigarette...... :)

Or a cigarette...... :)

Phahaha!!

What are people's thoughts on Zouma so far? The Club (or Mourinho) do seem intent on giving him chances which others haven't had previously. When you think Kalas is slightly older but was sent out on loan whereas Zouma has already had a few appearances this season and only just turned 20.

 

Call me cynical, but I can't help but think his sheer size has a lot to do with it. He certainly is a unit but from what I have seen so far, he looks decent but a little clumsy. All centre backs have mistakes in their game and a 20 year old will have more whilst he is learning but it will be interesting to see how he progresses. For me, Christensen still looks the better all-rounder and more cultured player but he's not even 19 yet so he will have to wait a while longer.

Looks a promosing player.

His build is obviously the standout feature but he does seem pretty quick and is a danger at set plays for us.

Can't tell at this stage what he might go on to achieve but he can only improve the more games he get's beside the likes of Terry and Cahill.

I think he looks decent, he is quite conservative in possession, doesn't really try anything risky.

Got a good leap on him but could do with improving his positioning.

He's getting game time so it looks like the club want to integrate him quickly for the coming seasons.

Titus bramble was built like a brick sh!t house... couldn't focus long enough to be a top center back.

 

Even as a youngster JT looked top class to me. Zouma looks to have been caught out positionaly a couple of times, something that didn't happen to kalas. Both sample sizes are tiny mind so not really going to base my judgement on them, just early thoughts. 

 

I keep harping back to JT because we are at the end of his career now and I have no idea how you replace a  JT. these kind of players arn't made, they are born! 

 

Sorry I made it about JT and not Zouma

Zouma has the chance to learn from the best in JT and GC and hopefully he will.He looks a bit green but i am sure he will mature quite quickly.Good luck to him.

Early days but I've not been particularly impressed so far. If he learns fro JT and improves then maybe, but at the moment I don't think he's going to be the answer to replace JT when he retires.

I think he looks decent, he is quite conservative in possession, doesn't really try anything risky.

Got a good leap on him but could do with improving his positioning.

He's getting game time so it looks like the club want to integrate him quickly for the coming seasons.

 

Yep, I'd much prefer that to the other extreme though (a la Luiz). Think Zouma will flourish most next to a ball-playing defender.

Titus bramble was built like a brick sh!t house... couldn't focus long enough to be a top center back.

 

Even as a youngster JT looked top class to me. Zouma looks to have been caught out positionaly a couple of times, something that didn't happen to kalas. Both sample sizes are tiny mind so not really going to base my judgement on them, just early thoughts. 

 

I keep harping back to JT because we are at the end of his career now and I have no idea how you replace a  JT. these kind of players arn't made, they are born! 

 

Sorry I made it about JT and not Zouma

 

Your not the first person to mention Titus Bramble when talking about Zouma (unless it was you before as well!!). Bramble always seemed to play a blinder against us!

 

It's difficult to bed in a young, inexperienced CB. They are not like other positions where you can take a bit of a gamble. If a CB f**ks up, it will often result in a goal so I do feel a bit sorry for all of our promising young CB's as they are unlikely to get too many opportunities. But as others have said, I haven't looked at Zouma and thought "yeah, this kid is something special - he is going to be our CB for year's to come". TBH, I was more impressed with Bruma when he was with us and now Christensen. But time will tell.

I feel like we signed Zouma mostly because of his physique. I haven't seen anything yet to suggest his actual defensive abilities are any better than someone like Kalas.

I don't think he was signed to be a direct replacement for Terry, I still think the plan was to bring in another top CB like Varne in the next year to two. We still have Ivan who will no doubt be a option when JT hangs his boots up but then again he will be in his 30's years at that point too.

Zouma could be a decent back up option and if improved on that to become a top defender then bonus.

Hehe got into some interesting debates with City fans about him after our game at the Etihad. They weren't interested in the whole "grooming" angle and tried to justify Mangala's big money signing after that game...and to be fair he looked like a beast in that game.

 

But since that game he's looked awful...I have to admit, I feel vindicated

What are people's thoughts on Zouma so far? The Club (or Mourinho) do seem intent on giving him chances which others haven't had previously. When you think Kalas is slightly older but was sent out on loan whereas Zouma has already had a few appearances this season and only just turned 20.

 

Call me cynical, but I can't help but think his sheer size has a lot to do with it. He certainly is a unit but from what I have seen so far, he looks decent but a little clumsy. All centre backs have mistakes in their game and a 20 year old will have more whilst he is learning but it will be interesting to see how he progresses. For me, Christensen still looks the better all-rounder and more cultured player but he's not even 19 yet so he will have to wait a while longer.

Waste of a spot if I am brutally honest, said at the time he signed for his name and size more than his actual ability. Ake is a miles better at center back compared to Zouma (Ake is streets ahead than most his age to be fair simply because he has a brain) and that's not even his main position. If we wanted strength then why not give Omeuro a shot? He's certainly more experienced.  

 

I will say though I have been impressed with his passing, it seems to have improved from what I saw him doing in France. He looks clumsy as f**k on the ball when trying to pass but that's just his style, Sahko looks the same and his short passing is top notch as well. 

He's very talented, I like him. I think Jose can start planning on him as replacement for JT in 2 years, maybe next year. He's good header, has excellent passing skills, he actually has whole things which every central defender must have. Of course he has a lot of things to improve as well, but with the time he will gain experience and cover all his mistakes. If I remember right Chelsea were chasing Mangala, but at the end they bought Zouma, they did good in my opinion. I'm fully supporting Zouma, I hope Jose will continue to give him chances and in two-three seasons he will be 1st team player.

For the record I'm sure he will come good eventually, learning from JT does that to a defender, but I'll always be thinking what if Kalas, etc were afforded the same chances Zouma seems to be getting. I would understand if he was miles ahead in development compared to those guys but he's not.

Difference is he cost £12m