On 03/11/2020 at 12:40, Sexyfootball said:

The fact that Silva, Mendy and Zouma can speak a common language has to be helping this year ... basically two people who can natively tell Kurt what to do 🙂

Everyone always forgets poor old Dave speaks French. 

52 minutes ago, Munkworth said:

Everyone always forgets poor old Dave speaks French. 

Didn't forget, but the other two play much closer to Zouma than he does. Hard for Dave to shout at Zouma about his positioning when he's already gone off on a forward run down the flank !

1 minute ago, Sexyfootball said:

Didn't forget, but the other two play much closer to Zouma than he does. Hard for Dave to shout at Zouma about his positioning when he's already gone off on a forward run down the flank !

Everyone always underestimates poor old Dave’s shouting abilities... 

Now taking apologies from everyone that disrespected him ever since he came back from his loan stint at Everton..

1 hour ago, ducavis said:

Now taking apologies from everyone that disrespected him ever since he came back from his loan stint at Everton..

he is a colossal in defense physically.

1 hour ago, ducavis said:

Now taking apologies from everyone that disrespected him ever since he came back from his loan stint at Everton..

Still think we can do better but if you play to his strengths then these are the performances you can get from him. 

8 minutes ago, Remodez said:

Still think we can do better but if you play to his strengths then these are the performances you can get from him. 

What do you mean by play to his strengths? We are not playing counter attacking football, and those stats show he has the most successful passes in our squad.

 

18 minutes ago, ducavis said:

What do you mean by play to his strengths? We are not playing counter attacking football, and those stats show he has the most successful passes in our squad.

 

I mean his personal strengths.

He needs a leader next to him telling him what to do, keep his passing options simple (successful passes doesn't really mean much for this reason) and take advantage of his aerial abilities by making him the focal point when attacking and defending set pieces. 

1 hour ago, Remodez said:

I mean his personal strengths.

He needs a leader next to him telling him what to do, keep his passing options simple (successful passes doesn't really mean much for this reason) and take advantage of his aerial abilities by making him the focal point when attacking and defending set pieces. 

I don't think realistically we can do better than him, the lad is the perfect foil for Silva.

We should be looking to find another player to partner him once Silva decides to hang up his boots.

Playing really well since Silva came in.

He even looked commanding today without him.

He's also timing his jumps much better now so that is making a difference at both ends of the pitch.

Kurt was colossal! Every headar going his way,  you have this confidence that he'll win it. He used to have a poor timing for jumps but it's improving and now he'll get chances in games to score.

Isn’t he still 25 or 26. This could be a defining season for him taking his game up a level. Tremendous contributions so far. Keep it up. 

2 hours ago, Imran_CFC said:

I don't think realistically we can do better than him, the lad is the perfect foil for Silva.

We should be looking to find another player to partner him once Silva decides to hang up his boots.

What do you mean realistically? If we can sign players like Havertz then I don't see why we can't land similar quality at the back.

1 hour ago, Remodez said:

What do you mean realistically? If we can sign players like Havertz then I don't see why we can't land similar quality at the back.

What I meant by realistically is that if you are looking for an upgrade from Zouma you are looking at a handful of CB's in world football and with the demand for quality CB's it'll be difficult getting that replacement in.

With Kai we had a clear run at him due to the stars aligning for us in terms of our ban and the pandemic restricting business for other clubs, I don't think signing an elite CB will be that straight forward.

1 hour ago, Remodez said:

What do you mean realistically? If we can sign players like Havertz then I don't see why we can't land similar quality at the back.

The problem is there are no quality defenders around anymore. That is why your Silva’s & Ramos are still highly rated well into their 30s.  
 

1 hour ago, Imran_CFC said:

What I meant by realistically is that if you are looking for an upgrade from Zouma you are looking at a handful of CB's in world football and with the demand for quality CB's it'll be difficult getting that replacement in.

With Kai we had a clear run at him due to the stars aligning for us in terms of our ban and the pandemic restricting business for other clubs, I don't think signing an elite CB will be that straight forward.

i actually will struggle to name upgrades on Zouma - we can find players to complement him - Ramos/Humels/chiellini/bonucci/

As direct replacements - would only take VVD /Koulibaly who would offer us the dominance he has been providing us.

the other top defenders on current form arent really an upgrade and this includes -  Laporte, Harry, Toby  varane, De lijt, David upamaceno, Demiral, skriniar..etc

if you just look at yesterday's performance.. Joe Linton/Andy Carrol couldnt win a header against him... Every corner that comes in he clears the ball. Our defensive problems last year were a lot to do with a poor GK and a poor partner for him in AC/Rudi/Tomori.. plus a lack of shield in front of the back 4... 

Zouma will get better playing with someone like a Silva..He will play the Euros next year and be a top top CB. the best decision Lamps made early in his tenure was to block his transfer. He is easily a 40/50 mil player.

 

14 hours ago, Imran_CFC said:

We should be looking to find another player to partner him once Silva decides to hang up his boots.

That David Luiz lad at Arsenal might be worth a shout.

3 hours ago, Amputechture said:

That David Luiz lad at Arsenal might be worth a shout.

Nopes.. he is too reckless .. he himself hasn’t learnt to defend .. forget teaching others!

Zouma could be a mainstay for years if he keeps this level up. He looks better than Upamecano, who while younger, people rave about. 
I wonder how the young lad from Barcelona will turn out also. Interesting prospect to replace AC. 

8 hours ago, PhilH930 said:

Zouma could be a mainstay for years if he keeps this level up. He looks better than Upamecano, who while younger, people rave about. 
I wonder how the young lad from Barcelona will turn out also. Interesting prospect to replace AC. 

Upamecano has played a lot more in a back 3 and also is very prone to mistakes.. he makes rash decisions and positioning is suspect. i wouldnt want him in our team unless there is a massive improvement in his play.

On 22/11/2020 at 20:54, Amputechture said:

That David Luiz lad at Arsenal might be worth a shout.

The lad is a midfielder that grew 5cm taller than he should have. 

Had a coach early in his career played him in a defensive mid role and moulded him properly,  he could've been a world class DM. 

No more Willian on corners, and look at how many goals Zouma and the others are scoring from set pieces. It always baffled me how no coach seemed to see what everybody else could see.

Zoum, just one look and then my heart went blue
Suddenly and we were on the moon
Flyin' high in a deep blue sky

Sorry 😂

Edited December 5, 20205 yr by Floyd25

16 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

No more Willian on corners, and look at how many goals Zouma and the others are scoring from set pieces. It always baffled me how no coach seemed to see what everybody else could see.

He's took that skill to the Gooners. Notice how Aubameyang has stopped scoring.

Our corners now look like true goalscoring opportunities and adding Giroud to the front line has increased their potency, good delivery from Mount and Ziyech is all that is needed

Kurt Zouma is the joint-top scorer for the highest-scoring team in the league. This is a most unusual season...