N'Golo Kante

[mccg 1,528]

5 hours ago, BlueLyon said:

I dont know why people wanted more from Kante. The man is a destructor. A hard worker that breaks play. Yet people point out he needs to do more in attack. More goals, better passes, more creativity? What the fuck? Did media completely brainwashed everyone into thinking everyone is good only if they score goals and make assists? I dont remember people saying "oh this dude Makelele is ok, but he needs to work on possesion and score more goals". 

Give the man a break. He is a DM beast while he is only allright in this advanced role. But he wont be the great game changer because thats not his style. 

People seriously dont appreciate anything anymore. 

Regardless of what anyone says, Kante isnt suited in this advanced role because his attacking outlet simply isnt that prolific. And his defensive atributes dont come as visible. But that doesnt mean he isnt crucial to the team. He does the hard work, so Jorginho can do his job and Kovacic can do his. Yet all we hear is "Kante man you gotta improve; better passing, better control, more goals, more efficiency, because we dont realy mind about the fact you are destructor so just drop that shit and focus on attack. We dont want you to be who you are, we want you to be more, something else, score goals and make assists because thats what counts"

Think i'd like to see more of Kante as the dm beast than his advanced role , somewhere down the line(sarri needs afew more players Jan/summer) 4231 might be giving a go 

[Dazzy_Vance 454]

I don’t see how he’s going to fit into Sarri’s system. Jorginho, Barkley and Kovacic would be a great midfield moving forward (with Ampadu developing). I wouldn’t be against selling Kante to PSG for £150m if it meant we signed some quality in attack.

[Vesper 29,019]

Blues could LOSE ‘unhappy’ N’Golo Kante due to Maurizio Sarri decision

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/737858/Chelsea-news-N-Golo-Kante-PSG-Maurizio-Sarri-decision-Blues-could-LOSE-unhappy

That’s according to former Blues and Republic of Ireland striker Tony Cascarino.

The pundit reckons Kante is displeased with the more advanced position he is playing under boss Maurizio Sarri.

Kante shone at Leicester in a holding midfield role and has become one of the best in the world since joining Chelsea.

The World Cup winner is now one of the most sought-after players in Europe.

Ligue 1 champions Paris St-Germain are particular admirers and were on the verge of making a bid for the star last summer.

Sarri has deployed Kante further forward to accommodate summer signing Jorginho who shields the defence.

But Cascarino thinks Chelsea are playing with fire because Kante may decide the time is right for a new challenge.

“N’Golo Kante is looking like he is unhappy with the position he is playing in,” he wrote in his column in The Times.

“That is a worry for Chelsea because they could lose him if he is unsettled.

“This is a player who will be wanted by every club in Europe.

“He still looks a quality player, but I’m not convinced he’s suited to this more advanced role on the right of a midfield three with Jorginho in the central sitting role.

“When he plays in that deeper role he glides across the pitch.

“He’s everywhere in front of the back four, robbing the ball from the opposition and running at pace, passing people, feeding the more advanced players.

“In that position, he’s the best in the world, but he’s not in his present one.

“Maurizio Sarri said after Saturday’s draw with Chelsea that United are better in a physical game and I thought that was telling.

“He doesn’t want his midfielders getting involved in battles, but that is what Kante is so good at.”

 

snip

see this repost for geat explanation

Chelsea: Sarrismo has no place for a fully defensive N’Golo Kante

https://theprideoflondon.com/2018/09/24/chelsea-sarrismo-ngolo-kante-midfield/

 

 

 

 

It's pretty simply (the options)

1 (best for all) Kante adapts

2  Kante doesn't adapt and the we HAVE to sell him whilst we still get huge money

or

3 We sack Sarri and go back to trad DMF system (in this case it is INSANE to sell Kante)

 

No, there is no option 4 that will work, we cannot just shove a non-adapting Kante out there for multiple years

that is just both gutless AND stupid from every angle

just because he is the best trad DMF doesn't mean he can fit into the system, and the system prevails every time, as long as Sarri is here

 

we will know what to do by May at the latest

[!Hazard! 3,394]

Exactly the player PSG needs right now. I wonder how much money in addition to Kante would they want in exchange for Mbappe?

[Jase 43,479]

16 hours ago, Vesper said:

Blues could LOSE ‘unhappy’ N’Golo Kante due to Maurizio Sarri decision

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/737858/Chelsea-news-N-Golo-Kante-PSG-Maurizio-Sarri-decision-Blues-could-LOSE-unhappy

That’s according to former Blues and Republic of Ireland striker Tony Cascarino.

The pundit reckons Kante is displeased with the more advanced position he is playing under boss Maurizio Sarri.

Kante shone at Leicester in a holding midfield role and has become one of the best in the world since joining Chelsea.

The World Cup winner is now one of the most sought-after players in Europe.

Ligue 1 champions Paris St-Germain are particular admirers and were on the verge of making a bid for the star last summer.

Sarri has deployed Kante further forward to accommodate summer signing Jorginho who shields the defence.

But Cascarino thinks Chelsea are playing with fire because Kante may decide the time is right for a new challenge.

“N’Golo Kante is looking like he is unhappy with the position he is playing in,” he wrote in his column in The Times.

“That is a worry for Chelsea because they could lose him if he is unsettled.

“This is a player who will be wanted by every club in Europe.

“He still looks a quality player, but I’m not convinced he’s suited to this more advanced role on the right of a midfield three with Jorginho in the central sitting role.

“When he plays in that deeper role he glides across the pitch.

“He’s everywhere in front of the back four, robbing the ball from the opposition and running at pace, passing people, feeding the more advanced players.

“In that position, he’s the best in the world, but he’s not in his present one.

“Maurizio Sarri said after Saturday’s draw with Chelsea that United are better in a physical game and I thought that was telling.

“He doesn’t want his midfielders getting involved in battles, but that is what Kante is so good at.”

Great...another fella trying to pigeonhole Kante as defensive player and one who cannot improve/play in a different position!  At least Danny Higginbotham and Mark Schwarzer offered a better perspective on Kante's role under Sarri.

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1034539/Chelsea-N-Golo-Kante-Sky-Sports-pundit

"I think there's two reasons why N'Golo Kante's role has changed," Higginbotham told Sky Sports.

"One is the simple fact that with him pushing high and pushing the opposition midfield back, you then give Jorginho extra time and space because midfielders are then worried about Kante getting beyond, they are worried about Mateo Kovacic or Ross Barkley getting beyond.

"The worst thing from a defender's point of view is if that gap appears between myself and the midfield.

"That's a real dangerous area there because as a centre-back or a full-back you don't want to step out.

"What that does it creates space for Jorginho because you drive the midfield back.

"Not just that, the pressing is so energetic when they lose the ball they press straight away.

"Kante is finding himself in a position now where he can actually be one of the first ones to press.

"If any teams have ideas of playing the counter-attack against Chelsea because they leave themselves a little bit open at the back, by the time they have that first touch, their second touch is to get it out of harm's way or put it out for a throw-in to give themselves a breather."

But for former Chelsea keeper Schwarzer, the change in Kante's position has actually made him less effective.

"It's still taking him time to adapt to it. There's no doubt he's a top class player and even playing in the position he's playing in, he's still playing really well," he said.

"But I don't think he's playing as well as he probably did last season or the season before in a slightly deeper role.

"However, because he has that ability to get up and back for the whole 90 minutes, he's such an asset to have.

"Part of the danger is the space in between your defenders and midfield, and players like Hazard, Barkley and Pedro find that space, it's also the threat in between. Not from Giroud necessarily - he's the guy who tries to stretch them at times but he is also the guy who comes to the ball.

"It's the threat from Willian, Pedro and Kante in behind with those deep runs that are even harder to defend against."

[OneMoSalah 8,785]

Don't see the problem with Kante. He's still been pretty good, his tackles and interceptions are probably down but still he hasn't been poor which you'd think reading half the shit on this thread and on twitter. He's still getting to learn that role, he isn't as effective in the final third as Kovacic or Barkley perhaps but he posses the speed to cause issues as a third man runner off the ball, as well as pressing the opposition. He still gives us legs in midfield, Jorginho isnt that quick and Kovacic/Barkley at times are caught on their heels also, sure the teams changed style but he's still a vital cog in my eyes and once the team fully adapts to Sarri's philosophy everybody will improve again. Just look at Allan in the Napoli team under Sarri before making stupid assumptions that more defensive minded midfielders cannot thrive in his system, Allan was considered more of a destroyed but he showed he could do more. Anybody who thinks Kante needs replaced seriously should just log out for a month or two...

[the wes 7,212]

Andres Iniesta named N’golo Kante as the one player he would have liked to have played with for many years.

https://talksport.com/football/441054/barcelona-chelsea-ngolo-kante-andres-iniesta/

[Vybzkartel 284]

26 minutes ago, the wes said:

Andres Iniesta named N’golo Kante as the one player he would have liked to have played with for many years.

https://talksport.com/football/441054/barcelona-chelsea-ngolo-kante-andres-iniesta/

Game recognizes game. 

[Magic Lamps 11,668]

34 minutes ago, the wes said:

Andres Iniesta named N’golo Kante as the one player he would have liked to have played with for many years.

https://talksport.com/football/441054/barcelona-chelsea-ngolo-kante-andres-iniesta/

interesting, given their time at the top hardly overleapt and Iniesta had Busquets behind him who was not too shabby at what he did either. Anyway I think the problem with Kante is that while obviously not as good as a box-to-box player than as a DM IMO the tacitcs are the problem. Defensively he is not making as much of an impact also becasue of his positioning. When we get behind the ball it is still Jorginho central which imo is a waste bc Kante belongs in the middle when we dont have the ball. In the middle is where the most tackles and interceptions happen and that is where he is good at. 1on1 situation or doubling down on stationary player, stealing the ball. On the wing play is usually more vertical and thus he is not often enough near the ball to make a tackle. Obviously any of our other in-form mids would be better as a box-to-box player but you dont sit the best dm in the world on the bench or even sell him. We made this mistake before, selling a player just because he does not fit in the coach's system. But players often last longer than coaches. Did not sell Drogs and Lamps under Scolari or AVB either and they still had enough in them to win us some titles. 

[Vybzkartel 284]

26 minutes ago, Magic Lamps said:

interesting, given their time at the top hardly overleapt and Iniesta had Busquets behind him who was not too shabby at what he did either. Anyway I think the problem with Kante is that while obviously not as good as a box-to-box player than as a DM IMO the tacitcs are the problem. Defensively he is not making as much of an impact also becasue of his positioning. When we get behind the ball it is still Jorginho central which imo is a waste bc Kante belongs in the middle when we dont have the ball. In the middle is where the most tackles and interceptions happen and that is where he is good at. 1on1 situation or doubling down on stationary player, stealing the ball. On the wing play is usually more vertical and thus he is not often enough near the ball to make a tackle. Obviously any of our other in-form mids would be better as a box-to-box player but you dont sit the best dm in the world on the bench or even sell him. We made this mistake before, selling a player just because he does not fit in the coach's system. But players often last longer than coaches. Did not sell Drogs and Lamps under Scolari or AVB either and they still had enough in them to win us some titles. 

This notion of Kante playing centrally is a myth, under Conte, Kante played in a 2 and wasnt the seating mid it was Matic in Conte's first season then last year he tried to switch it around and have Kante sit deeper with Bakayoko further forward. it didnt really work and by the end of the season Kante was back in his role as the roaming DM. He is actually influencing our game more, his interceptions are allowing us to win the ball up higher, check Morata's goal against Burnley it came from Kante's interception. If we are going to play a high pressing game we need Kante playing there as he is one of the best at what he does. Because of Sarri's system we have a ot of the ball and Kante is now being asked to contribute more in attack something he is improving each week. Same thing happened under Conte, Kante has such a high football IQ he learns really quickly and by the end of the season he would have fully adapted to his new role. In each of his 2 seasons under Conte he developed and added a different dimension to his game and this year is no less. If you look it up the position his playing is actually closer to the one he played when he came over from France. Also at Leicester it was Drinkwater seating whilst Kante roamed in mid. I low key blame it on football racism (people thinking Kante is only a DM, he is so much more than that) had it been a player with a different skin tone doing what Kante does they would never be labelled just a DM. (Casemiro from Madrid is a DM, Kante on the other hand is not a DM he has so much more to his game)  Look at most of our pre assists and transitional play it comes through him. 

[El P. 1,354]

As I have always been saying - when deciding how much one player is really good, you should analyse him through some different setups.
You put Hazard in Mourinho pragmatic setup, he is world class. You put him in Contes' compact 3-4-3 setup and he is world class too. And now under Sarri, he is world class again.
 

[Vesper 29,019]

14 minutes ago, El P. said:

As I have always been saying - when deciding how much one player is really good, you should analyse him through some different setups.

You put Hazard in Mourinho pragmatic setup, he is world class. You put him in Contes' compact 3-4-3 setup and he is world class too. And now under Sarri, he is world class again.

Poslano sa mog SM-A310F koristeći Tapatalk
 

You honestly think he is putting in world class performances in his Sarriball role?

I love Kante, he is the best pure DMF destroyer in the world by miles, but his performances have been at times downright quotidian in his new position. 

Seems at times like we are using a half-stone sledgehammer to putt on the golf course at Tunbridge Wells.

[El P. 1,354]

20 hours ago, Vesper said:

You honestly think he is putting in world class performances in his Sarriball role?
I love Kante, he is the best pure DMF destroyer in the world by miles, but his performances have been at times downright quotidian in his new position. 
Seems at times like we are using a half-stone sledgehammer to putt on the golf course at Tunbridge Wells.

I am talking about Hazard and how he is WC at every setup. Unlike Kante.

[Vesper 29,019]

2 hours ago, El P. said:

I am talking about Hazard and how he is WC at every setup. Unlike Kante.

Poslano sa mog SM-A310F koristeći Tapatalk
 

Oh, sorry, I misread, lol

[Stats 7,059]

21 hours ago, El P. said:

As I have always been saying - when deciding how much one player is really good, you should analyse him through some different setups.
You put Hazard in Mourinho pragmatic setup, he is world class. You put him in Contes' compact 3-4-3 setup and he is world class too. And now under Sarri, he is world class again.
 

Totally agree and this is why I don't buy when people say it is a change in system and role and he is just doing what is asked, etc. When people describe him as a world class player, I expect to see more from him in the game and have more input in the game.

[manpe 10,861]

We would regret selling Kante. Managers don't last over 2-3 years here, players do. I expect Sarri to be sacked in that timeframe also, possibly earlier. The team will eventually implode like it always does. The next manager would find no real DMs in this squad or somebody half the payer Kante is if we sold him.

[El P. 1,354]

We can dig deeper in history. We can analyse past best midfield destructors with Kante. I am on purpose using term "destructive midfielders", not "defensive midfielders", because Xabi Alonso and Jorginho are too DMF-s, but they are not the Kante mold. I'll list some midfielders in Kantes' mold, and they even don't need to play in same position to be good comparison.

Makelele was close to being WC, IMO. But, for me, he had (almost) all qualities Kante has, but his defensive intelligence was out of this world and significantly better than Kantes'. Never he was at the wrong position. And that made difference.

Vieira was a beast, and was a lot better at holding on the ball and passing. Also, he had height and brute strength.

Roy Keane - almost same as Vieira.

Edgar Davids - destructor with abnormal dribbling skills and shot power. Also, that man could jump sky-high!

Essien - he is (was) for me Makelele level - at the edge of being WC level. His defensive capabilities were not awesome like Kantes', but he was one of the strongest players in the Europe which by itself improves his ball shielding ability. And had rocket-shot and could win headers.

Arturo Vidal (in his prime) - A lot like Essien, but even better I guess. Maybe a bit weaker, but more capable of offensive duties. WC for me.

Duty of those players were similar to Kantes - stop the opposition, and provide us something in attack. Not much, but something.

And there are others too. THOSE are world-class, in my opinion. Kante? I'll put him above Gennaro Gattuso, for example. Kante is very good player, and we should not sell him or anything. We should just accept him for what he is and accept that his shortcomings must be compensated too.

[Tomo 21,733]

27 minutes ago, manpe said:

We would regret selling Kante. Managers don't last over 2-3 years here, players do. I expect Sarri to be sacked in that timeframe also, possibly earlier. The team will eventually implode like it always does. The next manager would find no real DMs in this squad or somebody half the payer Kante is if we sold him.

Not that i would advocate selling Kante but there's away around all of that if Sarriball implodes, which in itself is not as definitive as you think, previous managers tenure's went South due to lack of ability as a coach (Big Phil and i say with a heavy heart RDM) destructive personality (Conte and Jose) or a bit of both (AVB), early days but it doesn't look like either will to apply to Sarri, we would more likely lose to him to an aggressive approach from a Barca or Bayern in my opinion.

If we go for managers with similar tactical ideas that would ease any transition and mean it would be unlikely our next manager would curse a Sarri sale.