7. N'Golo Kante

[manpe 10,624]

Give him a chance, he's never played in a system like this. 2 games in ffs and he's already playing a vital role before the other late WC returnees because he's absolutely crucial to us, let's see at the end of the season before we start picking out who suits where or not. His progress every single season has been staggering, don't think I've seen anything like that before other than perhaps Azpi. I think me and @Unionjack are the only few ones who have great faith in him regarding his new role and think it will elevate him further.

[OneMoSalah 7,739]

44 minutes ago, BlueLyon said:

I dont see the huge love for Kante new position. Yes he is very decent in his new role, but as DM, he was pure world class. To me he is a DM that has good ball control and allround play, which is a bonus. But he isnt better in more attacking role than as DM. Dont know why people want to make him something he is not. He is fantastic if he plays DM but has licence to push forward if he decides to. In current role, we miss his protection infront of back 3 and his allround tackling/marking isnt on same level as DM. I just dont see benefit in his more attacking ability for the sake of his great defensive ability.

Only reason I see for this is that Jorginho is best suited to deep playmaker role and Sarri decided to play him there. He cant play in more forward position, because then he loses his control of play from deep which is his biggest strenght.

Maybe we could play Kante and Jorginho in double pivot, possibly ideal, but ball transition in midfield wouldnt be as clean. In 4.3.3. Jorginho has player next to him on both sides, in double pivot he would only have Kante and if #10 dropped deeper, but that becomes midfield.

Still very good player and maybe with time he will properly adopt. but for now, I liked his DM role under Conte more. He should be given more freedom than under Conte, because as typical DM, his quality is a bit wasted, but current position takes too much of his defensive side away, the side he is world class.

Honestly under Conte I thought he was a more box to box player as well. After he changed from a 4-1-4-1 to a 3-4-3, Kante was a box to box for me and not solely a holder, so I don't get this impression that hes a sitting midfield and has to play there and not as a box to box. Hes given more freedom because Jorginho will be there controlling the play and being in front of the defense. Obviously the team is a lot more attacking than it ever was under Conte so he is going to be more and more involved offensively as he ever was under Antonio but again, he was never really solely a holding player. Even at Leicester he was rarely a sitting midfield player. Maybe because the teams were a lot more defensive minded he was seen as that but I wouldnt go and say hes a pure defensive midfielder who cannot offer anything else except for tackling and interceptions (we all know that anyway). When we press this sort of player is vital too, he is probably the one guy you wouldn't want as an opponent coming near you when your team is being pressed because he is so good at winning the ball back and rarely gets dribbled past. So for me I don't see the issue, other than we conceded 4 or 5 big chances against Arsenal which I'd say had other causes as opposed to Kante not being infront of the defence. Jorginho will get better defensively as he gets more used to the speed of the English game too, hes not the quickest guy in the world but you don't need to be when you know where to stand and understand that PL is not Seria A so the games will be faster in transitions.

[Vybz Kartel 1,613]

I think people are forgetting preseason already. Kante allows us to press up top. Him and Pedro pressing high gave Arsenal so many problems. He is arguably the most important player for us in terms of the high press and high line Sarri wants to play. In the second half we dominated so much position because we won the ball as soon as we lost it thanks in part to Kante and the other mids sticking to their tasks

[Unionjack 7,530]

1 hour ago, manpe said:

Give him a chance, he's never played in a system like this. 2 games in ffs and he's already playing a vital role before the other late WC returnees because he's absolutely crucial to us, let's see at the end of the season before we start picking out who suits where or not. His progress every single season has been staggering, don't think I've seen anything like that before other than perhaps Azpi. I think me and @Unionjack are the only few ones who have great faith in him regarding his new role and think it will elevate him further.

I think Kovacic is going to help the WBM out allot. Hes a great help at pressing defense so will let him have more time to get forward.

Like you said mate its the 2nd game in. Everyone was saying how well he was doing in  this system and all of a sudden its like amnesia.

Once the lads start defending together and some more zing in the passes  this team will be amazing.

 

[Belgiannutt 3,201]

10 hours ago, BlueLyon said:

I dont see the huge love for Kante new position. Yes he is very decent in his new role, but as DM, he was pure world class. To me he is a DM that has good ball control and allround play, which is a bonus. But he isnt better in more attacking role than as DM. Dont know why people want to make him something he is not. He is fantastic if he plays DM but has licence to push forward if he decides to. In current role, we miss his protection infront of back 3 and his allround tackling/marking isnt on same level as DM. I just dont see benefit in his more attacking ability for the sake of his great defensive ability.

Only reason I see for this is that Jorginho is best suited to deep playmaker role and Sarri decided to play him there. He cant play in more forward position, because then he loses his control of play from deep which is his biggest strenght.

Maybe we could play Kante and Jorginho in double pivot, possibly ideal, but ball transition in midfield wouldnt be as clean. In 4.3.3. Jorginho has player next to him on both sides, in double pivot he would only have Kante and if #10 dropped deeper, but that becomes midfield.

Still very good player and maybe with time he will properly adopt. but for now, I liked his DM role under Conte more. He should be given more freedom than under Conte, because as typical DM, his quality is a bit wasted, but current position takes too much of his defensive side away, the side he is world class.

A double pivot would hurt our possession game. The high position BOTH our CM's take is absolutely vital in opening up passing angles. Dropping Kante next to Jorginho would give us more protection but at what cost ? We'd lose a forward option to pass to.

One less player to worry about, one less passing angle the opposition would need to defend. 

We're a high pressing, possession team now. Our first line of defense is our possession and our high press. In the 15 minutes before half time, against Arsenal, we made a mess out of both.

To make matters worse there seemed to be a lot of confusion about who was supposed to support the fullbacks when they were 2 vs 1 on the flanks. (i'm sure Sarri will sort that out)

 

(General note) Honestly i'm a bit annoyed about how many Chelsea fans are asking for Kante to be pulled back next to Jorginho or even people saying Kante-Jorginho should swap positions.

Those are negative solutions. That's not the way forward. Improve our pressing, more and better possession.

Kante and Jorginho stay put where they are. Kante will adapt as will Jorginho.

[Unionjack 7,530]

4 minutes ago, Belgiannutt said:

Dropping Kante next to Jorginho would give us more protection but at what cost

I understand exactly what you're saying about keeping the wee baldy man further forward and I do think that this system will work out great for him amd I see him getting more goals for us too.

But Sarri has said enough times that our defense wont get any better till the team starts to press and defend as a single unit and that wont happen like magic..

You know as well as I do that the WBM runs for fun and hes got no problem in getting back n forth wherever he is needed. Theres got to be a happy medium so that we can make the best use of his strongest skill which is taking the ball from players. We know Whilst Jorgis biggest strength isn't defending (and neither is Luiz's) hes going to need some cover till we get this system fully going and the only option I see is for Kante to help him out. I'm not saying in any way to stop him from going forward cause hes going to be essential further forward but what other option do we have? I dont see why he can't do both.

[Vesper 23,834]

51 minutes ago, Unionjack said:

I understand exactly what you're saying about keeping the wee baldy man further forward and I do think that this system will work out great for him amd I see him getting more goals for us too.

But Sarri has said enough times that our defense wont get any better till the team starts to press and defend as a single unit and that wont happen like magic..

You know as well as I do that the WBM runs for fun and hes got no problem in getting back n forth wherever he is needed. Theres got to be a happy medium so that we can make the best use of his strongest skill which is taking the ball from players. We know Whilst Jorgis biggest strength isn't defending (and neither is Luiz's) hes going to need some cover till we get this system fully going and the only option I see is for Kante to help him out. I'm not saying in any way to stop him from going forward cause hes going to be essential further forward but what other option do we have? I dont see why he can't do both.

I want to this for our press!

Lololol

[Unionjack 7,530]

And hes all ours!!

 

[BlueStorm1003 539]

On 20/08/2018 at 7:09 AM, Unionjack said:

And hes all ours!!

 

That is such a Kante thing to do. He is too precious for this world 

[Tomo 20,966]

On August 20, 2018 at 7:26 AM, Unionjack said:

I understand exactly what you're saying about keeping the wee baldy man further forward and I do think that this system will work out great for him amd I see him getting more goals for us too.

But Sarri has said enough times that our defense wont get any better till the team starts to press and defend as a single unit and that wont happen like magic..

You know as well as I do that the WBM runs for fun and hes got no problem in getting back n forth wherever he is needed. Theres got to be a happy medium so that we can make the best use of his strongest skill which is taking the ball from players. We know Whilst Jorgis biggest strength isn't defending (and neither is Luiz's) hes going to need some cover till we get this system fully going and the only option I see is for Kante to help him out. I'm not saying in any way to stop him from going forward cause hes going to be essential further forward but what other option do we have? I dont see why he can't do both.

I would rather we keep going at the system till it's perfected even if it means a few growing pains, if we go a bit more pragmatic for short term results it would ruin all the good work Sarri has done so far. We have committed to this direction now so we need to see it through with no comprises.

[kellzfresh 7,211]

 

[kellzfresh 7,211]

Fantastic skill

 

[Unionjack 7,530]

13 hours ago, kellzfresh said:

Fantastic skill

 

Got a very light touch.

Cant make out the original passer. Jorgi?

[bluesman2610 891]

12 hours ago, Unionjack said:

Got a very light touch.

Cant make out the original passer. Jorgi?

Rudiger

[Unionjack 7,530]

10 minutes ago, bluesman2610 said:

Rudiger

Doesn't look like a big black geezer!

[bluesman2610 891]

3 hours ago, Unionjack said:

Doesn't look like a big black geezer!

Jorginho is in the middle of the park if you look at jersey number and his boots - its a 2 and white boots which indicate that it is Rudiger cleaning up

[Unionjack 7,530]

After the Bournemouth game, Kante spoke about his tactical changes to RMC Sport:

All in all it’s a good start. Four games, four wins, that’s what we wanted. We’ve started well before the break and taken as many points as possible before September when there will be more games.

(Sarri) is a new coach, it’s a new system. Today we are playing in 4-3-3, the coach makes me play higher in (the number) 8 (role), so in relay.

I try to combine with the defenders and Jorginho and find the attackers. I like this job, it takes time. We’re training for everything to gel, but I think it’s going in the right direction. With this team, we can play well.

[Unionjack 7,530]

The Wee Baldy Man comes across to me like the Golden Child kid in the Eddie Murphy film. Pure of heart. Goodness and light.

I want him to adopt me.

David Luiz declares his love for N’Golo Kanté

Especially after Kanté saved his blushes against Bournemouth!

https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2018/9/2/17811716/david-luiz-declares-his-love-for-ngolo-kante

[Unionjack 7,530]

Our Wee Baldy Man showing his shy side again. And seems the French fans love it

 

[Unionjack 7,530]

Griezmann on the Wee Baldy Man

The reporter then asked Griezmann whether he was impressed by the Chelsea star and the attacker explained how good the former Leicester City man was for France, both during the games and even in training sessions.

“Yes [I was impressed]! One could see [it in] the training sessions. Those who are in his team in small-sided games, they win all the time. Suddenly, everyone wants to be with him…” Griezmann said about Kante.

“The guy is quiet and shy every day, does not want to interfere. And, on the field, he doesn’t like to lose and gives you everything. This is it.”

Antoine Griezmann is yet another member of the N’Golo Kante fan club.