Denis Zakaria’s Premier League debut ended with a Chelsea victory and a clean sheet, though the midfielder was keen to emphasise afterwards that there is still much more to come from both him and the team.
The Switzerland international started alongside skipper Jorginho in central midfield against Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge and played all but the final eight minutes, replaced late on by another recent returnee from the World Cup, Conor Gallagher.
While the Blues were 2-0 victors in the rain in SW6 courtesy of first-half goals from Kai Havertz and Mason Mount, Zakaria felt there was room for improvement in his own display and vowed that hard work was the name of the game to ensure our upward trajectory continues.
‘I’m really happy for the team and for the big win,’ he said. ‘I thought my performance could have been better so I wasn’t very happy with that but we won and that’s the most important thing.
‘I’m pleased to get some minutes in the legs. That was good and important for me. I have to keep working and it will be better with time.
‘We saw that we have to do some things better and it wasn’t our best match but the important thing was the win and we have to work now for the next game.’
Despite that admission that he hopes to produce better in the centre of the field, Zakaria was still involved in Mount’s second goal midway through the first half.
The 26-year-old ventured forward with the ball at his feet in search of an opening before finding Havertz, who eventually teed up Mount for a sumptuous curling finish.
‘I was running to the goal but I saw that it was closed in front of me so I had to go back,’ Zakaria explained.
‘Kai was there and he gave the ball to Mason, who scored a beautiful goal. I’m very happy for him and happy for the team because it was a really important performance.’
While he only played 149 minutes in Qatar for a Switzerland side that were beaten by Portugal in the last-16, Zakaria admitted the hectic schedule of matches on both the club and international stage was becoming increasingly tricky for players to manage.
However, with a trip to Nottingham Forest and a double-header with Manchester City quickly around the corner, there is no time to complain.
‘This year is a bit difficult for the players because we have a lot of games,’ he added.
‘But we are professional footballers and we love to play football so in the end we are happy to do it.
‘We know that we have a lot of games coming so we have do our best to win every one of them and we’re going to work all week to do that.’