N'Golo Kante

[akgw13 867]

Just now, Chelsea Legend 11 said:

Trust me I hear you, we are examining the finer margins of the game now. For me, Kante is more ball winner/anchor and Allan is more of a Box to box/shuttler type. Is there room for Kante in Sarri's system? undoubtedly. Will we get the best out of him in this system? I doubt it. He's okay in possession but not great at using the ball. 

I would like to see him at chelsea forever but if an offer came in for 100m, I can see the money used to address a bigger need in the club which is striker and RW. In this system Kante won't be a player of the year candidate, he'll likely be a nice piece but not as influential. I think a lesser box to box mid will have more influence in the game over a world class anchor.

I respectfully disagree, I believe Kante can excel in the B2B/Shuttler type as you mentioned except i would classify it as B2B/Ball winner. Go back and watch our Barca game in the Camp Nou, he picked the ball up, beat his man and covered ground effectively moving forward. That is exactly what is expected here. His reading of the game is probably his greatest skill, freeing him up to roam the middle of the park which opens him up to a larger area to roam. Jorginho will sit in behind and can recycle smartly, while also giving Kante an easy passing option to jump start the attack. Without him I fear we would lose balance in the midfield which we will need against real opponents. That money could be used to strengthen other areas of the field but Sarri said the area where we were missing quality is Midfield, Kante is part of the solution not the problem in my eyes. The beauty of a Sarri system is the passing triangles/patterns are so driven into the player that all Kante would have to do is simply lay it off to a nearby creative player if nothing forward is available. 

                Jorginho

       Kante         Barkley(or RLC or Golovin)

That Kante position needs to be more defensively minded or else we will get over run. I think he has the chops to succeed in the Sarri system and continue his run of being integral in every team hes been apart of. 

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

1 minute ago, akgw13 said:

I respectfully disagree, I believe Kante can excel in the B2B/Shuttler type as you mentioned except i would classify it as B2B/Ball winner. Go back and watch our Barca game in the Camp Nou, he picked the ball up, beat his man and covered ground effectively moving forward. That is exactly what is expected here. His reading of the game is probably his greatest skill, freeing him up to roam the middle of the park which opens him up to a larger area to roam. Jorginho will sit in behind and can recycle smartly, while also giving Kante an easy passing option to jump start the attack. Without him I fear we would lose balance in the midfield which we will need against real opponents. That money could be used to strengthen other areas of the field but Sarri said the area where we were missing quality is Midfield, Kante is part of the solution not the problem in my eyes. The beauty of a Sarri system is the passing triangles/patterns are so driven into the player that all Kante would have to do is simply lay it off to a nearby creative player if nothing forward is available. 

                Jorginho

       Kante         Barkley(or RLC or Golovin)

That Kante position needs to be more defensively minded or else we will get over run. I think he has the chops to succeed in the Sarri system and continue his run of being integral in every team hes been apart of. 

You mention Barca when we played almost entirely on the counter, I'm talking about playing with a faster pace with rhythm and continuity in attack. 

Again fine margins, b2b doesn't mean playing Cesc there which is where I see the midfield getting overrun. B2b means just that, someone adept at getting forward, being involved in the build up and also finishing off chances., while still being a force in the game out of possession. If we are to be a possession based team a true B2b is more valuable than a world class anchor... 

Jorginho is at the base of the midfield now, its a completely different way of playing football; one where certain aspects of the game take precedence over others.

[akgw13 867]

1 minute ago, Chelsea Legend 11 said:

You mention Barca when we played almost entirely on the counter, I'm talking about playing with a faster pace with rhythm and continuity in attack. 

Again fine margins, b2b doesn't mean playing Cesc there which is where I see the midfield getting overrun. B2b means just that, someone adept at getting forward, being involved in the build up and also finishing off chances., while still being a force in the game out of possession. If we are to be a possession based team a true B2b is more valuable than a world class anchor... 

Jorginho is at the base of the midfield now, its a completely different way of playing football; one where certain aspects of the game take precedence over others.

Where we differ is I believe Kante can be adept at getting forward and being involved in the build up. Allan has 11 goals in his entire career, in the 7 seasons before Napoli he had 3, at Napoli in 3 seasons he has had 8. He is not a goal machine but he is valuable in other ways, the same as Kante. Also, speaking of B2B you mentioned that if we sold Kante you would use the cash on a striker or RW, my question is who do we currently own that could fill that B2B role you've explained or who would you buy that could perform the role more effectively than Kante? 

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

2 minutes ago, akgw13 said:

Where we differ is I believe Kante can be adept at getting forward and being involved in the build up. Allan has 11 goals in his entire career, in the 7 seasons before Napoli he had 3, at Napoli in 3 seasons he has had 8. He is not a goal machine but he is valuable in other ways, the same as Kante. Also, speaking of B2B you mentioned that if we sold Kante you would use the cash on a striker or RW, my question is who do we currently own that could fill that B2B role you've explained or who would you buy that could perform the role more effectively than Kante? 

Then that is the difference, I don't believe Kante is the type of player who can get forward and effectively be involved. And Allan's game is more than goals, its assists, dribbling, breaking up play... He's an all around midfielder whereas as Kante is a specialist... so not the same as Kante. Yes, I would spend 100m on a striker or around that for a goal scoring winger then use the money from the sale of Morata or Willian to fund a B2B mid.

[akgw13 867]

Just now, Chelsea Legend 11 said:

Then that is the difference, I don't believe Kante is the type of player who can get forward and effectively be involved. And Allan's game is more than goals, its assists, dribbling, breaking up play... He's an all around midfielder whereas as Kante is a specialist... so not the same as Kante. Yes, I would spend 100m on a striker or around that for a goal scoring winger then use the money from the sale of Morata or Willian to fund a B2B mid.

I don't think either of us will agree with the rating of Allan or Kante. Regardless we will get to see how he performs this year in the system.

You still haven't answered my 2nd question: Who do we currently have or who would you buy(that is somewhat available) to be this B2B player? 

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

13 minutes ago, akgw13 said:

I don't think either of us will agree with the rating of Allan or Kante. Regardless we will get to see how he performs this year in the system.

You still haven't answered my 2nd question: Who do we currently have or who would you buy(that is somewhat available) to be this B2B player? 

I'd have to think on it a bit.

[Supermonkey92 1,428]

Kante isn't a DM in my view. His best performances have come in a midfield 2 with either Drinkwater or Matic and both sit deeper. He hunts the ball and presses. 

He is Perfeft for the right cm in a 3 with Jorginho behind. He will not be able to make passes when he is hounded and doesn't have an obvious option and he is ridiculously hesitant when he is in and around the box. Fine. But for the his strengths completely out weigh that. An if just one person presses, I'm becoming more and more confident in Kantes dribbling that I think he'll have few problems. He can play quick simple passes. He will fit fine. 

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

3 hours ago, akgw13 said:

You still haven't answered my 2nd question: Who do we currently have or who would you buy(that is somewhat available) to be this B2B player? 

Mateo Kovacic, Illarramendi, Tanguy NDombele, Sergi Roberto, Luka Milivojevic, Thiago Alcántara, Giovani Lo Celso, SMS

[Sideshow Luiz 2,310]

I don't get how anyone is questioning where Kante fits.  Kante fits in every midfield.  Saw some (not sure if here) people question how whether Azpi can play RB in this system as well.

Kante and Azpi are ballers.  They play under every system.

[Sideshow Luiz 2,310]

I thought it was kind of funny that of all the signing from last season (that played) Morata looked the worst.  Zappa, Bakayoko, Barkley, Emerson all looked better than Morata.  It's just one match, but it wasn't pretty from him.

[Polo7 3,496]

Kante is not only a beast at retrieving lost balls, but I think he is the second best dribbler in the squad. Would do amazing in a midfield 3 with Jorginho and 1 other.

[El P. 1,354]

From one extreme to another. No, he is nowhere near being "second best dribbler", but is not bad at dribbling.

He has no that much close control in his moves with the ball, but has really good acceleration and that is often enough. It's foolish to think that he is on Willian and Pedros' level.

1. Hazard

2. Willian, Pedro

3. Kante, David Luiz, Azpi, Moses, Morata (and Emerson, RLC and Barkley I would say, just need to see more of them - with RLC maybe even leveled with Pedro and Willy)

4, Alonso, Rudiger, Bakayoko, Drinkwater, Zappacosta, Fabregas (he is ok-ish actually, but way way too slow this days), Giroud

So, all in all, he should be enough.

[Jase 43,479]

7 hours ago, Sideshow Luiz said:

I don't get how anyone is questioning where Kante fits.  Kante fits in every midfield.  Saw some (not sure if here) people question how whether Azpi can play RB in this system as well.

Kante and Azpi are ballers.  They play under every system.

If not B2B, stick Kante in DM and move Jorginho further forward? Sarri's got a number of options to play around in midfield.

As @The Skipper mentioned before, Azpi should be fine playing the Hysaj role under Sarri. 

Sarri should be sacked if he doesn't play two of our best players in the starting XI.

[Unionjack 7,531]

1 hour ago, Jason said:

If not B2B, stick Kante in DM and move Jorginho further forward? Sarri's got a number of options to play around in midfield.

As @The Skipper mentioned before, Azpi should be fine playing the Hysaj role under Sarri. 

Sarri should be sacked if he doesn't play two of our best players in the starting XI.

Was waiting to see when the first sack Sarri comment came out.. Thought maybe after the squad were picked tho.

 

[Polo7 3,496]

9 hours ago, El P. said:

From one extreme to another. No, he is nowhere near being "second best dribbler", but is not bad at dribbling.

He has no that much close control in his moves with the ball, but has really good acceleration and that is often enough. It's foolish to think that he is on Willian and Pedros' level.

1. Hazard

2. Willian, Pedro

3. Kante, David Luiz, Azpi, Moses, Morata (and Emerson, RLC and Barkley I would say, just need to see more of them - with RLC maybe even leveled with Pedro and Willy)

4, Alonso, Rudiger, Bakayoko, Drinkwater, Zappacosta, Fabregas (he is ok-ish actually, but way way too slow this days), Giroud

So, all in all, he should be enough.

Lol you are putting Kante with Morata and Moses. No need to even bother with the rest of your post.

[El P. 1,354]

1 hour ago, Polo7 said:

Lol you are putting Kante with Morata and Moses. No need to even bother with the rest of your post.

Lol, got me there.

Put Kante where Morata is, in crowded area between huge defenders, and you will see Ronaldinho... if you guys didn't know.

[Jase 43,479]

6 hours ago, Unionjack said:

Was waiting to see when the first sack Sarri comment came out.. Thought maybe after the squad were picked tho.

Wanna join the bandwagon? 

[Unionjack 7,531]

1 hour ago, Jason said:

Wanna join the bandwagon? 

Nah. I'll give the old boy some breathing room. I think he might need some if we dont get some forwards