4 Areas for Chelsea's Kurt Zouma to Improve On in 2015/16 Season

Kurt Zouma's rise continues at Chelsea.

The Frenchman has been a key figure at the back this season and has been preferred over both John Terry and Gary Cahill at times.

It says plenty for his growing reputation that Jose Mourinho is willing to put so much faith in him, especially given the more experienced defenders he can choose.

All that said, Zouma continues to learn his trade, and as you would expect with a 20-year-old, he is far from the finished article.

He has plenty of strengths, notably his physical attributes and pace, but there remain aspects to Zouma's game that need work if he is become a regular at Stamford Bridge.

Let's take a look at four of them.

Positioning

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We praise Kurt Zouma for his powers of recovery, and while it can look impressive when he is making last-ditch tackles, there can be a reason for it.

It's not always Zouma who is to blame, but the Frenchman has a tendency to be caught out of position. That leads to opposition attackers finding more space, which in turn forces Zouma to lunge in to snuff out the threat.

With his pace—Zouma is undoubtedly Chelsea's fastest defender—he can get himself out of trouble. But playing in the latter stages of the Champions League, for instance, it's weaknesses such as bad positioning which the best strikers ruthlessly exploit.

Being exposed against Sunderland, for instance, is a far different prospect to exposure to Bayern Munich and the firepower the Germans have at their disposal.

The teams at that level are those that punish errors.

That's where the concern is for Zouma, and he needs to improve his positional sense to be considered the elite player Chelsea hope he'll become.

He's still only 20, though, which is incredibly youthful for a centre-back. He has much maturing to do, which is where his positional sense will only get better.

It comes with reading the game, understanding the phases of play in front of him. There are few better than John Terry at doing that, so Zouma has the perfect teammate from which to learn.

Decision-making

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Another aspect of Zouma's game that we can put down to his relative youth is his decision-making. He doesn't always pick the right pass or correctly decide when to press or tackle his opponents.

Again, it's something he will pick up with time and the more experience he gets, but until he does, Zouma can't be considered a regular starter for Chelsea.

Indeed, the one mark against his name this season was down to that exact reason.

Fingers were pointed at Branislav Ivanovic in the recent 2-2 draw with Newcastle United, although it was Zouma who was at fault for Ayoze Perez's opening goal.

That's not to make Zouma the scapegoat but rather highlight the fact that his indecision allowed Newcastle's Spaniard to ghost in between both defenders to capitalise on the error.

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Had Zouma not only timed his jump better but also followed through with his attempted headed clearance, there's every chance Perez wouldn't have been afforded the luxury of so much time and space in the Chelsea box to score.

Did Zouma get a call from Ivanovic that made him pull out? Did he misjudge the flight of the ball?

Only the Frenchman has the answers to those questions. What's clear, however, is that it was a poor decision from him that led to the goal.

There are other instances besides, but given that Chelsea conceded directly from Zouma's hesitation, the Newcastle game stands out.

Zouma needs to protect himself against those sorts of errors, to know when to make a decision and stick with it.

Set-piece threat

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For all his defensive ability, Zouma doesn't offer enough of a threat in an attacking sense for Chelsea.

Indeed, he seldom has throughout the early part of his career.

Zouma's been playing senior football since he was 17, but in that time he has scored just seven goals. In a Chelsea shirt, he's scored just three.

Now, a goals return is by no means a barometer to judge a defender, but as we've seen so often in the modern game, the most useful defenders are those who can do a job at both ends.

The fundamentals for Zouma are the same as they have always been for any defender. He needs to prevent goals at the right end of the pitch, yet look at the likes of John Terry, Gary Cahill and Manchester City's Vincent Kompany—they all score big goals at some point.

Terry has made such a habit of it throughout his career that no other defender in the history of the Premier League has scored more goals than him.

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Chelsea can always count on him to get his fair share over the course of a season. Not only that, but Terry has scored some vital goals at different stages for Chelsea, too.

In 2004/05, it was Terry's header that ensured an epic Champions League bout between Chelsea and Barcelona ended in the Blues' favour, while last season he opened the scoring in the Capital One Cup final.

Set pieces are a big part of the modern game, and any team that is a threat from them benefits significantly.

At Chelsea, Terry has set the bar; that's what Zouma should be targeting.

With just three goals in Chelsea colours—his latest coming against Arsenal in September—Zouma needs to improve.

Leadership

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To use the Terry example again, Zouma must look to the Chelsea captain to see how his leadership has been a massive influence at Stamford Bridge this past decade.

Even when Terry wasn't wearing the armband in his younger days, he was still a big figure at Chelsea. He may not have been the man barking out the orders, organising the defence and playing like the senior player, but he still played with that authority for which he has become known.

At just 20, Zouma hasn't developed that side of his game yet. He plays with plenty of confidence in his ability, but there are times when he stands out as lacking that character to help take Chelsea forward.

When there are leaders like Terry around the place, it's not so much of a concern. But Terry's career is in decline, with Zouma being groomed very much as his replacement.

We know he has the ability to live up to that billing, but does he have the character to be a leader?

It may well prove the case that when the time comes, Zouma will step up and take on that responsibility. Right now, though, he needs to play with more authority and show that he is emerging as one of the leaders in the Chelsea dressing room.

Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes