PSA: 'What is Kanté's natural position?' has officially reached the Top 10 of 'Most tedious Shed End debates of all time'.

I think you're overlooking the fact that Kante's best position can't be equated to an Italian word that ends with 'ista'.

If it could then none of this dilemma would he occurring and there would be recognition that he is the thing the dog likes to lick.

To try and resolve this I urge Lampard to lobby social media sites to back the creation of a role called 'BroOfKantesSista'

That should resolve this complex issue.

1 hour ago, PloKoon13 said:

PSA: 'What is Kanté's natural position?' has officially reached the Top 10 of 'Most tedious Shed End debates of all time'.

His natural/best position isn't a debate, it's in a 442/343 where he's partnered with a more reserved midfielder so he can do what he does best, proactively hunt the ball.

4 hours ago, Argo said:

His natural/best position isn't a debate, it's in a 442/343 where he's partnered with a more reserved midfielder so he can do what he does best, proactively hunt the ball.

Problem with this thinking is bar the top 5 which is about 85% of games where we control possession & teams sit deep, there is barely anything to hunt. 

With Jorginho sitting at the base, we tend to build from the middle not exploiting the flanks. When you have Kante & Mount ahead of him that becomes an issue against the smaller teams (85%) as both players are better pressing than opening up defences. With Kante deeper it means a change of style. We build less from the middle and more from wide areas. We are definitely looking more solid as a unit but it needs better FBs. It also certainly gives more license to attacking 8s like Barkley, RLC and (possibly Havertz) to operate more in attacking areas, which has been Lampard’s style.

 

 

8 hours ago, loz said:

I think you're overlooking the fact that Kante's best position can't be equated to an Italian word that ends with 'ista'.

If it could then none of this dilemma would he occurring and there would be recognition that he is the thing the dog likes to lick.

To try and resolve this I urge Lampard to lobby social media sites to back the creation of a role called 'BroOfKantesSista'

That should resolve this complex issue.

Labradorista is his position....

Kante is average in a three man midfield. Jorginho is useless in a two man midfield. Different players for different systems for me. 

11 hours ago, PloKoon13 said:

PSA: 'What is Kanté's natural position?' has officially reached the Top 10 of 'Most tedious Shed End debates of all time'.

We wouldn’t even be asking this question if we’d not sold De Bruyne, Salah and Lukaku! Can you imagine how good we’d be now? 

I wonder if Lampard is thinking of adopting the 4-4-2/4-2-4 formation for next season, I remember him trying it during pre-season with Batshuayi & Tammy up top but they didnt seem to gel as a combination up top. With the new signings I wonder if Lampard will look to implement the formation against the lesser teams in the league:

                     Kepa

James - Rudi - Christensen - Azpi

             Kante - Kova

Ziyech                             Pulisic

            Tammy - Werner

47 minutes ago, Imran_CFC said:

I wonder if Lampard is thinking of adopting the 4-4-2/4-2-4 formation for next season, I remember him trying it during pre-season with Batshuayi & Tammy up top but they didnt seem to gel as a combination up top. With the new signings I wonder if Lampard will look to implement the formation against the lesser teams in the league:

                     Kepa

James - Rudi - Christensen - Azpi

             Kante - Kova

Ziyech                             Pulisic

            Tammy - Werner

 

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Think this was Conte's preferred formation to begin with too, but didn't have the players for it at the time.

2 hours ago, Munkworth said:

We wouldn’t even be asking this question if we’d not sold De Bruyne, Salah and Lukaku! Can you imagine how good we’d be now? 

At least we've settled the "What would happen if we gave youth a chance" debate this season.

5 minutes ago, Spiller86 said:

At least we've settled the "What would happen if we gave youth a chance" debate this season.

No we haven’t, we’re yet to field a full youth starting 11!

1 minute ago, Munkworth said:

No we haven’t, we’re yet to field a full youth starting 11!

Haha not even Nibs would argue for that and he is still waiting for the second coming of Josh McEachran!

16 hours ago, loz said:

I think you're overlooking the fact that Kante's best position can't be equated to an Italian word that ends with 'ista'.

If it could then none of this dilemma would he occurring and there would be recognition that he is the thing the dog likes to lick.

To try and resolve this I urge Lampard to lobby social media sites to back the creation of a role called 'BroOfKantesSista'

That should resolve this complex issue.

Isn't Kante's best position the one where he plays in the 'Kante role'?  😉

Only joking, he's no Makelele. You have to be quite something to get a position named after you!

Doesn't it make sense to let Lampard try Kanté in a few different places over the rest of the season to see if it is a fit? Kanté does a ton of things really well and seems like a great option against clubs like Liverpool and City who rely on quick passing, aggressive counter pressing, and exploit zonal marking. It seems like Kanté provides a way to neutralize that.

Kanté is not a regista, sure. But when he plays a holding midfield role, he shuts down passing lanes and angles and prevents the team from getting picked apart in the midfield. A ball playing CDM that controls possession is absolutely one way to play and Kanté cannot do that. But he and Kovacic allows Jorginho, Mount, and Barkley to play as eights and to let the fullbacks focus more on attacking than defending. 

https://theathletic.com/1897059/2020/06/28/ngolo-kante-claude-makelele-chelsea/

I think Lampard's aim is to get CL football and if Kante is the best fit he will be selected.

I'm not sure moving him around will help as Frank is unlikely to change his system to suit Kante, rather that Kante  needs to fit within the system.

Things have moved on from when we could afford a true holding midfielder and have Kante also employed in a roaming defensive or ball winning position.

 

 

 

15 hours ago, jking948 said:

Doesn't it make sense to let Lampard try Kanté in a few different places over the rest of the season to see if it is a fit? Kanté does a ton of things really well and seems like a great option against clubs like Liverpool and City who rely on quick passing, aggressive counter pressing, and exploit zonal marking. It seems like Kanté provides a way to neutralize that.

Kanté is not a regista, sure. But when he plays a holding midfield role, he shuts down passing lanes and angles and prevents the team from getting picked apart in the midfield. A ball playing CDM that controls possession is absolutely one way to play and Kanté cannot do that. But he and Kovacic allows Jorginho, Mount, and Barkley to play as eights and to let the fullbacks focus more on attacking than defending. 

https://theathletic.com/1897059/2020/06/28/ngolo-kante-claude-makelele-chelsea/

Only problem is you can’t play Jorginho as an 8.  

And he's 29 and his playing style heavily relies on mobility. Makes you think.

32 minutes ago, abramovich said:

And he's 29 and his playing style heavily relies on mobility. Makes you think.

I know Essien had much severe injuries, but remember how bad he was after losing even a bit of pace? Completely different player. 

Still not fit.

I wonder what Frank and club's thoughts on Kante's future are. If he was a few years younger, it wouldn't be that worrying, but the signs aren't great. Even the games he did manage to feature this campaign, he wasn't his former self, I'd say this was easily his worst season since he came into EPL five years ago.

Will he be able to have a good rest, recover and go back to being the player he once was or are we better off cashing in while his stock is still relatively high? I think the club will keep Ngolo in hope that this was just one of those seasons, but the doubts will remain. What's really bothering me is that it's a number of different injuries, one after another.

3 hours ago, abramovich said:

Still not fit.

I wonder what Frank and club's thoughts on Kante's future are. If he was a few years younger, it wouldn't be that worrying, but the signs aren't great. Even the games he did manage to feature this campaign, he wasn't his former self, I'd say this was easily his worst season since he came into EPL five years ago.

Will he be able to have a good rest, recover and go back to being the player he once was or are we better off cashing in while his stock is still relatively high? I think the club will keep Ngolo in hope that this was just one of those seasons, but the doubts will remain. What's really bothering me is that it's a number of different injuries, one after another.

I'd be seriously concerned if I was a fan of any club buying him for the 70-80m we would insist he goes for. 

I actually don't think we can sell him anymore. If we get 80m for him I think it would be probably up there as one of the top 5 bits of business Marina has done. 

3 hours ago, abramovich said:

Still not fit.

I wonder what Frank and club's thoughts on Kante's future are. If he was a few years younger, it wouldn't be that worrying, but the signs aren't great. Even the games he did manage to feature this campaign, he wasn't his former self, I'd say this was easily his worst season since he came into EPL five years ago.

Will he be able to have a good rest, recover and go back to being the player he once was or are we better off cashing in while his stock is still relatively high? I think the club will keep Ngolo in hope that this was just one of those seasons, but the doubts will remain. What's really bothering me is that it's a number of different injuries, one after another.

If we were to get a really good offer for him, it would probably be wise to take it at this point. But Lampard seems to highly rate him still so I can't see him going. 

27 minutes ago, Slojo said:

If we were to get a really good offer for him, it would probably be wise to take it at this point. But Lampard seems to highly rate him still so I can't see him going. 

If a good offer was to come in i think the club / Lampard would take it.

My guess is that Kante is here next season simply because COVID has made this transfer window a buyer's market and, frankly, I am not sure he has any buyers willing to pay a fair price. He helps when he plays, midfield is probably going to be a little bare until Gilmour gets healthy, and I am not sure that Gilmour is a better addition to the midfield during a season where we want to compete for the title - at least for right now.

Nonetheless, I thin we probably sell him next summer for a nice enough fee, both sides say than you, and we move along.

N'Goalie Kante?

He should stay here - we need world class players and Kante is that.  Just needs to get fit and avoid the niggly injuries.  With consistent game time I hope the mistakes would lesson also.

I thought the injuries were the result of way too much football, but was surprised to see he only has 331 professional career club games to date. For comparison, Willian has 618 - granted he is two years older, but the rate count of games is significantly higher.

If it ain't 100+ millions we should't even consider. We are talking about a world champion, champion of England and winner of so many other trophies as a best player in his position in the freaking world. You are not just selling him like that for couple of extra millions. You take the risk and grab some more trophies or you let him go... ain't gonna be sillier than 80 millions for Arrizzabballagga, 40 milions for Bakayoko or 75 millions for Morata.