N'golo Kante - We are not worthy!

[Argo]

23 minutes ago, Slojo said:

Absolute unit tonight, best I've seen him and Jorginho play together. 

As i said on Sunday, it's almost as if adequate rotation and selecting him for the appropriate matches is the way to bring his full effectiveness, who'd have knew!

[Slojo]

Just now, Argo said:

As i said on Sunday, it's almost as if adequate rotation and selecting him for the appropriate matches is the way to bring his full effectiveness, who'd have knew!

Is that another Argo post proven correct? 

[just]

4 minutes ago, Argo said:

As i said on Sunday, it's almost as if adequate rotation and selecting him for the appropriate matches is the way to bring his full effectiveness, who'd have knew!

...... or being fully recovered and getting back to match sharpness after a period out injured.

[Argo]

Just now, just said:

...... or being fully recovered and getting back to match sharpness after a period out injured.

He's coming upto 30, been having worrying injury's in recent years and his main attribute is his engine, as we found out the hard way with Essien that is a very delicate position.

Against bus parking sides the Jorgi/Kova has been proven to work, do we really need to run Kante into the ground for the those games when we can instead rest him and unleash a fresher version in games that best suit his skillset? Less is more.

[just]

Just now, Argo said:

He's coming upto 30, been having worrying injury's in recent years and his main attribute is his engine, as we found out the hard way with Essien that is a very delicate position.

Against bus parking sides the Jorgi/Kova has been proven to work, do we really need to run Kante into the ground for the those games when we can instead rest him and unleash a fresher version in games that best suit his skillset? Less is more.

I think it's all a moot point either way Argo. We could have Zidane and Messi in our squad but appears Tuchel likes rotation and that's what he is gonna do. It's all good now but it's a policy that would probably come under a bit more scrutiny if we started losing a few games.

[Spiller86]

Was everywhere tonight. 

[axman2526]

2 hours ago, big blue said:

Didnt know he had been banned, shame tbh, I know he riled people up, but he kept it interesting, so fair play.

Aye he seemed a decent chap, did love his stats and a regular defender of Jorginho, which is second of the seven deadly sins according to Just (behind saying anything nice about David Luiz, obviously lol). Not sure what we missed, why he was reported and banned but the mods on here are very fair and rational people (expect Coco ;)) and do a great job running the site.

Still a pity, found him quite entertaining.

 

Far as Kante goes, first glimpse in a couple of years I think that we have seen him like his old self. Really, really good.

[dkw]

ITs always good when the Kante triplets pay well for us.

[Guest Sindre]

Sensational yesterday. Didn't think that midfield was going to work at all but both he and Jorginho delivered.

[dansubrosa]

I was very wrong about him. I thought he wouldn’t work under Tuchel but damn some of the one touch passing was sublime! Never really saw Kante play like that before.

[weetee]

11 minutes ago, dansubrosa said:

I was very wrong about him. I thought he wouldn’t work under Tuchel but damn some of the one touch passing was sublime! Never really saw Kante play like that before.

He played almost flawless ysterday but I just loved to see him bring James into play again and again and again..seemed rather simple on the surface but so effective and important.

[Deino]

I hope he plays like this for all our games. 

He doesn't need to hunt for the ball or move forward as much anymore. Just add short quick passes on top of his original playstyle and maybe try a long ball once or twice.

 

[Barry Bridges]

Not often I am impressed by Kante going forward as I am by his cleanup/defensive game......but without sacrificing on the latter I think he really was best going forward yesterday.  Fantastic game from him, and didn't think he had passes in him like his assist to Mount.

 

I've noticed teams don't seem to press Kante as much as out other attacking/midfield players (as in dont view him as a threat needing closed down as much)  while in the attacking 3rd....wondering if that will change.  II suspect it will at this rate

[Backbiter]

Good feature here:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2021/mar/05/is-ngolo-kante-long-search-for-form-over-at-the-perfect-time-for-chelsea-tuchel

[just]

I know why teams have never man-marked  Kante. The only person who could possibly do it is Mo Farrah.

[axman2526]

2 hours ago, just said:

I know why teams have never man-marked  Kante. The only person who could possibly do it is Mo Farrah.

Hmm I reckon an Essien before the injuries would give it a good go.

[just]

2 hours ago, axman2526 said:

Hmm I reckon an Essien before the injuries would give it a good go.

Maybe. If he was in his car.

[axman2526]

32 minutes ago, just said:

Maybe. If he was in his car.

Lol, Essien in his pomp was a beast Just, it would have made quite a battle. 

[just]

Just now, axman2526 said:

Lol, Essien in his pomp was a beast Just, it would have made quite a battle. 

Indeed it would axman. 

 

[Slojo]

I loved Essien, but Essien after 2010 just was like a different player. It was knee surgery wasn't it? Then he pulled up again the season after and that was that for his Chelsea career. 

Kante is probably the closest player we have resembling Essien though. 

[axman2526]

3 hours ago, Slojo said:

I loved Essien, but Essien after 2010 just was like a different player. It was knee surgery wasn't it? Then he pulled up again the season after and that was that for his Chelsea career. 

Kante is probably the closest player we have resembling Essien though. 

Yeah his injuries and surgery caught up with him. Bit like Cech and the head injury. Still an amazing players but not quite as amazing.

Why is your name in black with a line through it by the way?

Edited March 6, 2021 by axman2526

[nonotnowjim]

Most frustrating player in the pitch for me today against dirty Leeds. The number of times he broke forward into their half, with the Leeds defenders out of position, and our attackers darting into space, only for him to dally on the ball, allowing Leeds to regain shape, and then choose the lazy/easy pass 5yrds sideways or backwards, was frustrating and Infuriating. Happened over and over again.

Kante is one of the worlds best at winning the ball, but was utterly useless at doing anything with it today.  

[jack_super_class]

Maybe i was watching a different game then but i thought he played really well.

[Scott Harris]

17 minutes ago, jack_super_class said:

Maybe i was watching a different game then but i thought he played really well.

I don't think he was awful or anything, but I understand why people were frustrated with him, I was too. As usual, he was good at recovering the ball for us, but at the same time, he had more space than any of our attacking players and he didn't do anything with the ball. He looked indecisive, his passes forward weren't clean, his touch wasn't great, it's basically the same problems Kante has had for 3 seasons now. 

If any other player had as much time on the ball as Kante today, we would expect that player to contibute much more effectively to our attack, Kante failed in that area today and it's not the first time. The arguments have been done to death at this point, Tuchel is just learning the very same things we already know about Kante. In a possession based team, he is a major weakness to our attacking game and overall control of the midfield.

Leeds played a very similar pressing game that Everton played against us, but there was one big difference. They put more men on Jorginho. They could do this because they knew Kante couldn't hurt them as much. It may seem odd to allow a player to have space on the ball, but it was a calulated risk that paid off for Leeds because they know what Kante's limitations are. If Kovacic is playing today, then it's a totally different game. He is much more of an effective attacking player, he links up much better with the forward players, has a better touch, ball control and pass compared to Kante. He would force Leeds to take a man off Jorginho which gives us more of a chance to dominate the midfield and link up better with the attacking players and wing backs. One player can and often does make a huge differene to the shape of the team.

[jack_super_class]

11 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

I don't think he was awful or anything, but I understand why people were frustrated with him, I was too. As usual, he was good at recovering the ball for us, but at the same time, he had more space than any of our attacking players and he didn't do anything with the ball. He looked indecisive, his passes forward weren't clean, his touch wasn't great, it's basically the same problems Kante has had for 3 seasons now. 

If any other player had as much time on the ball as Kante today, we would expect that player to contibute much more effectively to our attack, Kante failed in that area today and it's not the first time. The arguments have been done to death at this point, Tuchel is just learning the very same things we already know about Kante. In a possession based team, he is a major weakness to our attacking game and overall control of the midfield.

Leeds played a very similar pressing game that Everton played against us, but there was one big difference. They put more men on Jorginho. They could do this because they knew Kante couldn't hurt them as much. It may seem odd to allow a player to have space on the ball, but it was a calulated risk that paid off for Leeds because they know what Kante's limitations are. If Kovacic is playing today, then it's a totally different game. He is much more of an effective attacking player, he links up much better with the forward players, has a better touch, ball control and pass compared to Kante. He would force Leeds to take a man off Jorginho which gives us more of a chance to dominate the midfield and link up better with the attacking players and wing backs. One player can and often does make a huge differene to the shape of the team.

I dont really feel its Kante job to do that though, he kept it simple, and he did his job which was recovering the ball thats the main reason he plays. You even said yourself he was good at that today. We have enough attacking players on the pitch to create and score a goal to win us the game. If we win that game 1-0 today no one would be complaining about Kante. We had Pulisic, Mount, Ziyech, Havertz, Chilwell bombing forward and Jorginho passing from deep to find a goal and none of them did. People are criticising Kante for something that isn't his fault. We all know his limitations on the ball. 

We won a league title playing this system with Kante and Matic playing in it, scored 85 goals, no one was complaining about Kante then. Its our attacking players letting us down.