I don't think Real Madrid were even chasing Kante, they have Casemiro and he's fantastic DM. They have so many midfielders, Kante won't find himself there. Two options, he joins us or stays at Leicester.

You brought kantés previous club into it yet only mentioned matic having one good seasons at Chelsea. Basically both have had previous good seasons,matic has had one bad one. Matic at his peak was a match for Kante at his peak.

Probably just poor wording on my part then, I was only trying to adress the notion that Kanté has had more then one good season and that Matic had been playing poorly since around Christmas our title winning season. Didnt mean to imply Matic wasnt good before he came here. For me, Kanté at his peak is a superior player in almost every category

Is it actually any good, or did he just have 1 good season last season?

Is it actually any good, or did he just have 1 good season last season?

 

He's bloody great. Next best thing since Makelele.

 

In case it's not obvious, I really want this transfer to happen :)

Irrespective of whether he is better or worse than matic at his peak, he brings far more energy, and to my eyes pace, to the defensive mid field spot. Pace is one of the most under rated aspects of that job.

Ramires brought pace and energy, but technically he wasn't particularly good, barring the odd moment. How is Kante's passing/shooting/crossing/etc..?

Ramires brought pace and energy, but technically he wasn't particularly good, barring the odd moment. How is Kante's passing/shooting/crossing/etc..?

 

Kante isn't a finisher or someone who is great at crossing. He is very good at tracking back, making tackles, interceptions, passing in tight spaces ( something i think most of our current midfielders struggle with ) and setting up attacks. Also, for someone who isn't very big, he is actually really strong, just like Makelele was.

 

I don't see this box to box type player that some are describing him as to be honest, he is nothing like that. He is you typical defensive midfielder. Someone who will sit in front of the defense, protect that defense, hassle the opposition for the ball and pass it on to an attacking team mate to get the team on the attack again.

 

He really is as close to a Makelele type player as i have seen to be honest.

I agree Scott, that said though, I have also seen him run with the ball far more than I recall Makelele doing.

It's amazing how important that first pass out of defence is to get the fast break going. Hazard, Willian and even Costa have enough speed provided they are given a yard of room.

Sky sports saying reports we have agreed a 29m fee for him are 'not true'.

Edited July 14, 201610 yr by Blue Exile

Chelsea hope to find out if £29m Kante bid will be successful by the weekend #cfc

Tbh them stats mean nothing and I can dispute them. There different seasons in different teams against different opposition. The opposition Chelsea faced was stronger, last season was the worst year for premier league quality.

Kante is an Essien type player, box to box so he should have more assists, goals and chances created. Matic is more of a defensive midfielder who allows Fabregas to go forward. You watch Leicester and Drinkwater is the sitting midfielder.

Also when Chelsea won the league they was the attacking team and did much less defending than Leicester, Leicester are a counter attacking team with Drinkwater looking for Vardy, so they will be tackling and defending more.

I'm not defending Matic who was awful last year or saying Kante is rubbish because I don't think that. But to compare them both after one season and then say Kante is twice the player is over the top.

Comparing the stats of different kind of players is also pointless too.

I'm not saying one is better than the other, I'm not getting in to that argument I'm just showing the comparisons. I never said Kante was twice the player, so I'm not sure where you are getting that from.

 

Mate, come off it. The whole league didn't suddenly turn to rubbish in the space of one season, the likes of Spurs, Us, West Ham, Saints all having top seasons and being much better than they were before. You and Man City might have hit the skids, but lets not make out that means everyone did.

 

Drinkwater is not our holding midfielder, he is our attacking midfielder. Hence why he has more goals and assists and Kante has more tackles and interceptions. So I don't know where that notion comes from.

 

I'm well aware stats don't show the full picture... yet people are happy to flag up passing stats of Kante and worry about them.

You probably didn't even know who Kante was before he joined Leicester and yes he has had one good season in the prem.

Stop with the true DM, a true DM is like Pirlo, Makelele or Carrick. Kantes style of football is nothing like that. I don't understand all this true DM rubbish, he plays nothing like that. Drinkwater is the true DM of the Leicester city team.

By the way this is not slagging off Kante or defending Matic, I would really like to see Kante at Chelsea.

Kante plays box to box, along with Drinkwater... they play as a two in the middle so they both have to do a bit of each. But he is by far and away the more defensively minded. They both put a shift in, but Kantes certainly has more of that responsibility.

 

Heat maps of the team might not show this up, as Drinkwater is the guy who often comes back to the defenders to pick up the ball. He's the guy who sets everything in motion, but then he'll move up the pitch and past Kante. He's the guy who we look to do do the prodding and probing with his passes.

 

Kante's strength lies in the defensive side of things. He has all the assets to play a traditional DM if that's all you want him to do.

I'm not saying one is better than the other, I'm not getting in to that argument I'm just showing the comparisons. I never said Kante was twice the player, so I'm not sure where you are getting that from.

 

Mate, come off it. The whole league didn't suddenly turn to rubbish in the space of one season, the likes of Spurs, Us, West Ham, Saints all having top seasons and being much better than they were before. You and Man City might have hit the skids, but lets not make out that means everyone did.

 

Drinkwater is not our holding midfielder, he is our attacking midfielder. Hence why he has more goals and assists and Kante has more tackles and interceptions. So I don't know where that notion comes from.

 

I'm well aware stats don't show the full picture... yet people are happy to flag up passing stats of Kante and worry about them.

 

Tbf the league did go to sh*t though, it was the least competitive and lowest standard in the premier league era. I don't think Spurs West Ham and Southampton had top seasons, more the big players having sh*t seasons. The only team that overachieved is Leicester and fair play to them for taking their opportunity. I honestly do believe if you lose Kante you could be battling to get a top half finish next year though.

He deserves his own title/role in the formation.  The Kante position (Makele 2.0)  He is tireless and relentless.  It's like having an extra player on the pitch, I'm a huge fan of these types of players.

Tbf the league did go to sh*t though, it was the least competitive and lowest standard in the premier league era. I don't think Spurs West Ham and Southampton had top seasons, more the big players having sh*t seasons. The only team that overachieved is Leicester and fair play to them for taking their opportunity. I honestly do believe if you lose Kante you could be battling to get a top half finish next year though.

United got more points last year than the year before.

Arsenal were only 4 points off their total.

Liverpool got exactly the same.

Everton got exactly the same.

West Ham 15 more.

Spurs got 6 more

Saints 3 more

 

The only major difference between last season and this, was you and Man City imploding. Nobody else really tailed off, they were all pretty much as you were. Nobody can seriously suggest everyone in the league was substantially worse all round.

 

Just my opinion of course.

 

What it was missing were its one standout team, yes we benefited from that of course. If you had been close to the levels of the year before we'd not have won it. But we still had to dispatch the other 18 teams in the league.  Our performance this season would have been enough to net us second or third last season.

 

I watched us play every team twice last year as well as this, and I've not noticed that much of a drop off overall in quality in 12 months. The quality has certainly gone down compared to some of the very best seasons with all the big boys at their peak. But certainly not in one season.

Edited July 14, 201610 yr by foxedup

It was the worst season for quality since the premier league started. Chelsea was the worse champions ever. Man Utd had around the same amount of points than when Moyes was there and had spent loads of money.

Arsenal is Arsenal and will never improve till they spend money. City could of walked the league if they had a better manager who also didn't decide to tell the press he was leaving half way through the season. Also got to look at all the English teams in Europe who was dreadful.

Leicester, Spurs and West Ham gained more points due to the standard of the premier league going down.

Big congratulations to Leicester but it was a weird season where everything played in there hands like no Europe, no cup run, being able to play the same team every week.

Going to be interesting to watch Leicester next year when teams should know how they play, playing in Europe and City, Utd, Spurs, Liverpool and Chelsea all improving.

Agreed.

It was the worst season for quality since the premier league started. Chelsea was the worse champions ever. Man Utd had around the same amount of points than when Moyes was there and had spent loads of money.

Arsenal is Arsenal and will never improve till they spend money. City could of walked the league if they had a better manager who also didn't decide to tell the press he was leaving half way through the season.

Exactly what I said then, Man U, Arsenal, Liverpool followed trend from previous seasons. The only difference was you and City also imploded. You're kidding yourself if you think there was much difference between this season and last other than that.

 

 

Also got to look at all the English teams in Europe who was dreadful.

3 in the knockout stage and 1 in the quarters. That's better than the year before, just. So again... not much difference.

 

 

Leicester, Spurs and West Ham gained more points due to the standard of the premier league going down.

Yeah, couldn't possibly be down to us improving. Presumably the league went sh*t three quarters of the way through the 2014/2015 season? As from the 4th April 2015 we were on title winning form.

 

 

Big congratulations to Leicester but it was a weird season where everything played in there hands like no Europe, no cup run, being able to play the same team every week.

Nice back handed compliment.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/jul/14/chelsea-offer-leicester-ngolo-kante

Edited July 14, 201610 yr by summer is coming

 

Everton got exactly the same.

 

That staggers me, they were downright woeful last season and thought they were well below their previous season.  No wonder he got the flick

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/jul/14/chelsea-offer-leicester-ngolo-kante

Can we get some credibility on the guardian in here?  Anyone, has anyone heard of the guardian?

^ Nah, they're lefty bellends, basically the equivalent of the Morning Star.

Always thought they had credibility.

Can we get some credibility on the guardian in here? Anyone, has anyone heard of the guardian?

Dominic Fifield frequently reports on Chelsea.

He's about as reliable as anyone when it comes to Chelsea.

If the reports are true, it seem's like that if we can get Kante in, then Matic is on his way out to Juve......probably their replacement for Pogba.