13 hours ago, Frankie8Lampard said:

It’s time we start looking for a replacement. Can’t remember the last time he played a string of games for us without getting injured 

Doubt there is a direct replacement out there. Not south of £100m anyway.

22 minutes ago, Kev56 said:

Doubt there is a direct replacement out there. Not south of £100m anyway.

I wish it is that easy to find replacement. Let's just use the last 3 wc player that we have lost. 

Hazard, we have been complaining about all of our fw.

Fabregas, we have been complaining about our midfield passing quality. 

Courtois, we have been complaining about our gk. 

 

13 hours ago, HazardousChoice said:

That was 3 years ago.

I'd argue Kante has had a terrible impact on the squad for most of his time here, absolutely outstanding under Conte and key to our CL win so winning a premier league and a champions league means he's been a great signing.

But we've suffered tremendously in midfield, first through his inability to play in a 3 which led to season long questions under Sarri and Lampard of where his best position actually is followed by constantly trying to shoehorn him into the side and a complete glossing over his flaws in possession and more recently his injury problems where we've left our midfield in Limbo because we've deluded ourselves into thinking Kante can replicate his 5 world class games a season across the full season and brought in loan dross to cover for his injuries rather than targeting the quality we need.

I don't think it's a coincidence we've been much more of a cup team rather than a consistent force in the league while Kante has been one of our key players.

😱😱

Kante won 2 pl

21 hours ago, ducavis said:

You wish.. even limping on 1 foot, Deschamps will call him up.

crazy thing is they don’t need him. They have Camavinga, Tchouameni, Guendouzi, Rabiot, Kamara & Fofana to cover the middle of the park.

 

21 hours ago, ducavis said:

You wish.. even limping on 1 foot, Deschamps will call him up.

crazy thing is they don’t need him. They have Camavinga, Tchouameni, Guendouzi, Rabiot, Kamara & Fofana to cover the middle of the park.

It looks like it is no longer a problem. 

Shame his Chelsea career seems to be petering out with all these injuries. Sad to see. 

8 hours ago, Bob stark said:

😱😱

Kante won 2 pl

That he did.

But only 1 was with us and I'd argue that was the last time Kante had a world class season in which he played at a consistently high level from start to finish.

Since had patches of world class games since then most notably being absolutely outstanding when Tuchel came in up to winning the CL which we don't win without him.

But people gloss over just how inconsistent Kante has been for us and how often he's looked like a square peg in a round hole.

As far as "world class" players go Kante is one of the most inflexible out there, he's incredibly limited to a specific style of play which we've generally tried to move away from since Sarri took over and Kante's been an extremely mixed performer since.

Even before his injuries which should kill any chance of him taking up a squad spot next season.

Edited October 15, 20223 yr by HazardousChoice

Nobody will be able to replace Kante, but that doesn't mean that we can't get a quality midfielder that could improve us.

Someone like Tielemans would be a decent replacement, yes a totally different profile than Kante but a well-rounded midfielder that can contribute all around the pitch.

To search for the "next Kante" would be a mistake, Potter will never find such a player.

there’ll never be the next Kante

9 hours ago, HazardousChoice said:

That he did.

But only 1 was with us and I'd argue that was the last time Kante had a world class season in which he played at a consistently high level from start to finish.

Since had patches of world class games since then most notably being absolutely outstanding when Tuchel came in up to winning the CL which we don't win without him.

But people gloss over just how inconsistent Kante has been for us and how often he's looked like a square peg in a round hole.

As far as "world class" players go Kante is one of the most inflexible out there, he's incredibly limited to a specific style of play which we've generally tried to move away from since Sarri took over and Kante's been an extremely mixed performer since.

Even before his injuries which should kill any chance of him taking up a squad spot next season.

Inflexible? 😱😱😱

He played under Conte who does not care about possession, under Sarri who want to play extreme tippy tappy football, to Lampard full throttle football, back to tuchel tippy tappy football and he has always been our key players. 

 

 

No Kante for 4 months after operation. More game time for others to step up and show they can do a job. Will be interesting to see the main permutations.

He’s had an operation on his hamstring and will be out for 4 months 

Would of missed at least 6 months of a 9 month season by the time he comes back.

A huge miss for us but realistically we have to look at a replacement by next summer .

Needs replacing in January I say. 

The most frustrating thing is i believe his injury record could have been largely avoided if his minutes were managed adequately when things started to become a problem.

Those first few months of Tuchel has been the only time he was getting rotated instead of thrown in any game he was fit and he produced his best performances since Conte and was injury free throughout, it's not a coincidence.

35 minutes ago, Argo said:

The most frustrating thing is i believe his injury record could have been largely avoided if his minutes were managed adequately when things started to become a problem.

Those first few months of Tuchel has been the only time he was getting rotated instead of thrown in any game he was fit and he produced his best performances since Conte and was injury free throughout, it's not a coincidence.

Very true mate 

Not going to help his contract negotiations. Unlike James he has no chance of the world cup.

would break my heart to see him leave on a free and play for another team 

 

On 16/10/2022 at 00:29, Bob stark said:

Inflexible? 😱😱😱

He played under Conte who does not care about possession, under Sarri who want to play extreme tippy tappy football, to Lampard full throttle football, back to tuchel tippy tappy football and he has always been our key players. 

 

 

He played.

He just wasn't very good at all under 2 of those managers and was a mixed bag for the other 2.

Conte was the only manager who experienced a world class Kante for a full season and that was the last season we were in a title race.

Kante has a bit of Pulisicitus where people (though not confined to his own countrymen) take his absolute best performances and see it as his general level regardless of how many poor or inconsistent games he has or how regularly unavailable he is.  Having great PR does wonders.

If you actually look at what Kante has given us over the full season over the last 4/5 years i don't think many would argue he's been close to world class for the majority of that time unfortunately.

Will rightly be allowed to go on a free, should have been moved on earlier and should be shipped in January if we can get a nominal fee.

Edited October 18, 20223 yr by HazardousChoice

your profile pic wouldn't have existed without Kanté though 

8 minutes ago, azpi28 said:

your profile pic wouldn't have existed without Kanté though 

Very true, he was instrumental in our CL win truly sensational.

Just as Drogba was in 2012.

Wouldn't give him a new contract either though we'd likely get more out of Didier than Kante now over the course of a season.

Not really sure what the issue is with thanking Kante for his service, he had some excellent games here and was key to our most recent PL and CL wins but acknowledging their are 1001 reasons why no serious club should be offering him a long term contract now and it's time for him and the club to move on instead of remaining in this strange Limbo where we continue to pretend he's still this world class key player for us while he contributes very little.

Edited October 18, 20223 yr by HazardousChoice

39 minutes ago, azpi28 said:

would break my heart to see him leave on a free and play for another team 

 

Not me. I know that club would only see his best maybe 15-20% of the season. 

2 hours ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Needs replacing in January I say. 

We should have prioritised a replacement a good while ago as his injury record has been a problem for ages.

3 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Not me. I know that club would only see his best maybe 15-20% of the season. 

They may have more if his new manager actually manages his minutes appropriately.

For me this comes purely down to his demands. If he's happy with a modest wage of 150k or 200k at a push (can't believe I've put modest and those figures in the same sentence but it is what it is) alongside a 2 year extension and a guarantee from Potter he'd be managed properly I'd extend him. If he's getting bonafide starter wages and Potter is just going to play him unconditionally then yeah it's best to part ways.

If he does go to a rival and is managed properly then both Tuchel and especially Lampard have a lot to answer for.

56 minutes ago, HazardousChoice said:

Very true, he was instrumental in our CL win truly sensational.

Just as Drogba was in 2012.

Wouldn't give him a new contract either though we'd likely get more out of Didier than Kante now over the course of a season.

Not really sure what the issue is with thanking Kante for his service, he had some excellent games here and was key to our most recent PL and CL wins but acknowledging their are 1001 reasons why no serious club should be offering him a long term contract now and it's time for him and the club to move on instead of remaining in this strange Limbo where we continue to pretend he's still this world class key player for us while he contributes very little.

it's not our money so i don't care if Chelsea keep on paying him 200k a week

rather have that over running a small risk that he might be great for another team

imagine another club getting another 3 years out of him, even if he only plays 15-20 games a season

21 minutes ago, Argo said:

They may have more if his new manager actually manages his minutes appropriately.

For me this comes purely down to his demands. If he's happy with a modest wage of 150k or 200k at a push (can't believe I've put modest and those figures in the same sentence but it is what it is) alongside a 2 year extension and a guarantee from Potter he'd be managed properly I'd extend him. If he's getting bonafide starter wages and Potter is just going to play him unconditionally then yeah it's best to part ways.

If he does go to a rival and is managed properly then both Tuchel and especially Lampard have a lot to answer for.

But how do you manage a sick note like Kantes minutes? Perhaps that was possible in 2019.  It isn't now.

He had a full summer and pre season off, didn't feature at all because he refused to get vaccinated and missed the pre season tour, went through a personalised fitness plan back at Cobham to ensure he was in the best shape to start the season and broke down midway through our 1st home game of the season.

He's simply not worth 150K a week, you could argue he's worth offering a pay as you play deal (which he wouldn't accept) but at 32 with injury record and inability to stay fit he just isn't worth a squad spot at any salary.