Jose Mourinho is considering playing Kurt Zouma as a right back in Chelsea’s Premier League tie with Aston Villa this weekend, according to Dominic Fifield of The Guardian.
Branislav Ivanovic has been ruled out for a month having picked up a hamstring injury whilst on international duty with Serbia, and Fifield says Mourinho is likely to use Zouma as a replacement, rather than playing new signing Baba Rahman.
Rahman could play at left back with César Azpilicueta moving to right-back, but the Chelsea manager is concerned at the lack of height of both.
Speaking after the loss to Southampton, he said:
Baba Rahman arrived on the last day [of the transfer window] and he doesn’t know what it is to play in this kind of championship. He had no pre-season with us. He needs time to learn and adapt.
At the same time, every team except Maccabi Tel Aviv is a team of giants. If you don’t have a minimum of five tall players good in the air, you are dead on set pieces. When I play Azpilicueta on the right and Baba on the left, I have only three. So we have to think about all the details.
Zouma is a very versatile player, and if he’s selected at right back, the likelihood is that John Terry and Gary Cahill will play together in the centre of defence, with Azpilicueta continuing at left-back.
The game against Villa is massive for Chelsea as they look to rebound from a poor start to their title defence.
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