I was surprised we’d been playing 4-3-2-1 after the signings we made in all honesty. I don’t think we have a pivot that naturally works really well - even last season our best performances came in a 4-3-3 such as the Liverpool game. Glad to see we went back to it and looked a much better side for it. Both Mount & Kante looked fantastic in it. It felt like Kante was everywhere and he has the engine to patrol in front of that back four, good to see him looking like his old self. Hopefully if we stick with it, we’ll see these performances become the the norm again.

As someone who was in favour of selling Kante, I'll eat some humble pie and say I am very glad to see him coming back to some decent form ... 🙂

3 hours ago, Sexyfootball said:

As someone who was in favour of selling Kante, I'll eat some humble pie and say I am very glad to see him coming back to some decent form ... 🙂

Can you save a slice for me also?  A world class Kante is in our hands in the right position.

Edited November 3, 20205 yr by PhilH930

Currently looking great at CDM. Perfect display again today.

Long may it continue!

A lot better as a lone DM than i have ever seen him before and (most crucially) not negatively affecting the quality of our build up play anymore which means he's either improved his awareness when we have the ball (positioning while playing out especially) or Lamps has worked a way round it. 

No complaints if he keeps this up!

Excellent today.

We’ve now got the creative players everything else we can just leave to Kante.

Flourishing again in a position that suits him. Allows the more creative players to their thing knowing they have a bit of protection behind them.

He looked good in the advanced position as well

Edited November 7, 20205 yr by JM7

Kante>Rice

Kante took away more balls once Jorginho came in and he was more forward, that presence higher up the pitch after he took the position Kovacic was playing resulted in Kante getting an assist as well, we have a really strong team.

Covers so much ground and breaks up play.  Can the debate stop regarding his best position - stick him CDM right in the engine room and let the rest take place.  Makes such a different to the team in that role.  Yes he can also do box to box midfielder, but the balance of the team is much improved when he plays CDM.

Kante got his sharpness back! 

He has to start. It’s simple. 

He's had two good games in that position now which is good to see. This appears to be a system that works. Kovacic was also good going forward, but I'm not sure if he can adapt there? But he did look a different player going forward.

We've obviously had a dilemma for a while in midfield where we've got a bunch of talented midfielders, but it's difficult to find the right balance. And with Kante's form being so piss poor over the last year or so it's not difficult to see why so many people including myself were fine with sidelining him for alternatives. 

This formation is probably the way going forward. Havertz/Ziyech/Pulisic/Mount/Kante is a very deadly setup, and Mount has been exceptional. I just hope there's a way for Kovacic to get into the side, because I think he's one of our most talented players. However, with Kante playing in that role, there really isn't room for someone who plays deep, but I liked what I saw last game from Kovacic. If he can play like that all the time with Kante behind him, who knows? 

4 hours ago, Slojo said:

He's had two good games in that position now which is good to see. This appears to be a system that works. Kovacic was also good going forward, but I'm not sure if he can adapt there? But he did look a different player going forward.

We've obviously had a dilemma for a while in midfield where we've got a bunch of talented midfielders, but it's difficult to find the right balance. And with Kante's form being so piss poor over the last year or so it's not difficult to see why so many people including myself were fine with sidelining him for alternatives. 

This formation is probably the way going forward. Havertz/Ziyech/Pulisic/Mount/Kante is a very deadly setup, and Mount has been exceptional. I just hope there's a way for Kovacic to get into the side, because I think he's one of our most talented players. However, with Kante playing in that role, there really isn't room for someone who plays deep, but I liked what I saw last game from Kovacic. If he can play like that all the time with Kante behind him, who knows? 

The reasons for some of Kante poor performances though were because 1. he got alot of injuries and secondly we were asking him to play too much possession football and sometimes he was too high up the pitch. Playing him infront of the back four simplifies his game in terms of being on the ball, and he can go back to doing what he does best and thats tacking, intercepting etc.

Edited November 9, 20205 yr by jack_super_class

8 minutes ago, jack_super_class said:

The reasons for some of Kante poor performances though were because 1. he got alot of injuries and secondly we were asking him to play too much possession football and sometimes he was too high up the pitch. Playing him infront of the back four simplifies his game in terms of being on the ball, and he can go back to doing what he does best and thats tacking, intercepting etc.

Exactly! He was out of form and the tactics had him all over the place but doing what he does best.

I hope the form continues for at least 2 seasons. He has a lot to offer us still

3 minutes ago, Deino said:

Exactly! He was out of form and the tactics had him all over the place but doing what he does best.

I hope the form continues for at least 2 seasons. He has a lot to offer us still

And by playing him there we dont need to spend £80M on Declan Rice either.

1 minute ago, jack_super_class said:

And by playing him there we dont need to spend £80M on Declan Rice either.

That depends on Lamps though. I do see why Rice would impact the team but I have doubts on Rice's mobility. He does have a nice range of passing and adds a physical dominance to our team though Kante wins just as much aerial balls and secondballs too.

Maybe spend 30-40m on Rice would be a better deal. 80m is too much unless he brings that last cherry on top for us to win CLs 

Always believe in...

Kante scores the winner against Portugal.

He also got a yellow card for winning the ball somehow. Good thing is that it causes him to miss the next international game and gets much needed rest 🙂

 

100% aerials won is a funny stat, he does always put in the effort to win headers despite always having a disadvantage and does win a fair few due to good reading of the ball and positioning.

4 hours ago, DidierDrogbalala said:

 

I'm sorry, didn't you know he can't play as the CDM? His passing isn't good enough or something or other.

Kante highlights v. Portugal.

Ronaldo (@:40) and Jota (@1:52) are both still wondering what happened.

Kante scored because he and Pogba are both authorized to play high, but not at the same time. (Apparently, France has never lost in the 25 games both have started.) Chelsea could well use such a complementary addition. That’s what Conte, Sarri, Lampard (previously) all attempted. And now even the somewhat conservative Deschamps has changed tactics to allow it.