Chelsea boss Tuchel: I needed to see Zouma in action; I learned a lot | OneFootball

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel was happy with Kurt Zouma's performance for their draw with Southampton.

The Frenchman has slipped behind Toni Rudiger and Andreas Christensen in the pecking order in recent weeks, while Cesar Azpilicueta has been a regular in a three-man defence. Zouma, however, did get the nod to start alongside the skipper and Rudiger against Southampton on Saturday and Tuchel was pleased with what he saw from our No.15.

"It is a process and I've learnt a lot of positives about Zouma," explained Tuchel, when referring to his selection policy. "I was very happy with Kurt's performance.

"We decided very late to put him on the pitch but he put in a very good game. I thought he was solid, he was a presence back there and he was very clear in his actions. He performed his role at a top level, which pleased me."

Tuchel was also pleased with N'Golo Kante, adding: "This guy, wow. He steals every ball that is around 10 metres. We need to use these balls better, when N'Golo steals and wins possession for us, we need to react quicker and use these to our advantage. We need to attack the space behind the last line better and we need to use our speed better to create more chances.

"I've learnt many things and as I said earlier, it is a process. I'm seeing more and more of my squad and where we can improve. But specifically on N'Golo and Kurt, I'm very happy with them."