he said he was Leicesters best player and the prems best player when they won the league iirc
N'Golo Kante (appreciation thread)
- Thread starter Bastian
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Becks is a great shout!
Yeah it seemed he had his heart set on Chelsea.
Shame, out of all the players who we missed out on who would have singlehandedly improved us the most in these past 8 or so dire years I would say it was him.
No doubt in my mind.
Watch the 2nd goal from last night. He reads where the ball is going to be while it's in the air, and gets to it first beating 5 players who were ahead of him on the pitch. Unreal.
Yeah, he's kinda ridiculous when he's playing like this...
I said it in the other thread but he gets no "assist" when that goal is all his really.
Yup, and even if he gets a pre-assist for the pass, it would still ignore the key interception which started it all.
Maybe under Sarri who played him out of his best position because of Jorginho. But overall, not only he is better than Fred and Herrera he is also better than all of the CDM in the world plus you are a Chelsea fan you should know better.
Unfortunately even some Chelsea fans make the same mistake as Perez did with Makalele. They don't recognise the engine that makes the fancy car work to paraphrase Zidane.
Absolutely. Good example. When Perez sold Makalele it took Madrid to be solid in that position for more than a decade.
He is like Ramires.. but can actually play football.
He's not a CDM!!!
He's a high-pressing fast-recovering box to box midfielder. If you play Kante at CDM he has to sit deep and can't press high - this hugely limits what he can contribute. It should be mentioned that Lampard had some success having him sweep horizontally rather than vertically, but fundamentally the turnovers he generates are of lesser value when they're closer to your goal vs. the opposition's.
If you limit Kante to sitting deep you are essentially driving a Ferrari in the slow lane. The fundamental crux of Kante's value is that he allows you to play 2 midfielders against 3 midfielders yet lose very little in terms of duels, second ball recoveries, etc. Playing him as a CDM where he's part of a midfield 3 just doesn't take full advantage of his unique skillset. He has always been best suited to playing in a midfield pair alongside a sitting midfielder who can distribute (aka a CDM) - Leicester with Drinkwater, Chelsea with Matic, Chelsea with Jorginho, etc.
You are half right, but He is not a playmaker. Most of box to box midfielders are playmakers, do long pass and a less defending, for example Yaya Toure, Lampard, Gerrard, Ballack and Seedorf.
Kante always do run after the opponents to get the ball from them and pass to the next teammate rather than go forward score a goal or make a killer pass. I am 100% sure most of his job is to defend. He is also compared to Makalele for a reason. But you are right he sometimes go from box to box which kind make him more offensive than Makalele.
There is literally no evidence for this bolded claim. Also, I never said Kante was a playmaker.
Kante is compared to Makelele because pundits are stupid and lazy. They're completely different players and the fact that you are apparently "100% sure most of his job is to defend" is very strong evidence that you haven't actually watched Chelsea of late. How on earth anyone could watch the second leg vs. Real Madrid and come away with a notion that Kante is a defensive midfielder is beyond me.
He defends on the front foot. Football has evolved in the short space of time and managers are seeing that it's better to win the ball higher up the pitch in your opponents half than in your own.
He's always been best as a box to box midfielder. Every time he's played as a 6 it limits him. It's not hard to understand but some coaches and pundits just don't get it.
Has surpassed Makelele for me. Moves more.
Didn't have his heat set on Chelsea. They contacted him first and he had already given his approbation by the time United came in.
Bizzare to see people still labelling him a CDM considering that he covered plenty of ground to win the ball outside the opposition's box. I think giving him freedom to run box-to-box and press all over the pitch brings out the best in him. He needs to play with another midfielder who is more positionally disciplined and safer in his passing.
Yeah thought somebody might say that. But your pretty much describing a world class CDM right there.
And I never said I wouldn’t pair him with another DM. I would.
Hmmm there was a lot of chatter at the time and since about him being a Chelski fan (I don’t know how that happens but still.)
I’m pretty sure we and a few others came to the table but as soon as he heard Chelsea were interested he didn’t entertain other offers.
Disclaimer; I’m also inclined to believe this narrative because if we were so inept that we lost out by arriving late with a bid then that will only make me hulk level angry because he would have been perfect for us and would have improved us as much as any single player over these dire years. So even if it’s fake news let’s pretend eh.
Not to go all Inception here but those who say Makelele was a DM who just sat and defended are kind of lazy too:
You can say he is a defensive midfielder because his main strength is in ball winning but positionally he really isn't because he plays box-to-box. Someone like Makelele is classified as a DM because of the qualities he bring and the positions he take up on the pitch.
You're not wrong in saying Kante is a defensive midfielder. Its just more loosely defined.
One of the key positions for us. Of course we won't get him, but this is the type of a player we need
I was joking.
While they have a lot in common, in particular their main strength of winning the ball, Makelele and Kante are quite different players.
Makelele would operate between the middle line and his own box. When he won the ball, he would usually push forward with it, often dribbling past one or two players (he's an underrated dribbler) then trying to find a deep pass or releasing the ball to a nearby partner, rarely pushing past the middle line, since he played in a team with 2 centre backs, him as CDM and 7 offensive players. But this ability of winning the ball and then pushing forward was what differentiated him from most CDMs, especially in an offensive team like RM at the time. Kante, when he wins the ball, usually releases it fast and then sprints forward to create a passing opportunity for his teammates. He also covers a much bigger area than Makelele. His engine is bigger but Makelele had much better technical and playmaking abilities.
As a french fan, I'd have loved to see them play together, our national team would probably average 80% possession since the opposition wouldnt be able to keep the ball with those two.
Makelele would operate between the middle line and his own box. When he won the ball, he would usually push forward with it, often dribbling past one or two players (he's an underrated dribbler) then trying to find a deep pass or releasing the ball to a nearby partner, rarely pushing past the middle line, since he played in a team with 2 centre backs, him as CDM and 7 offensive players. But this ability of winning the ball and then pushing forward was what differentiated him from most CDMs, especially in an offensive team like RM at the time. Kante, when he wins the ball, usually releases it fast and then sprints forward to create a passing opportunity for his teammates. He also covers a much bigger area than Makelele. His engine is bigger but Makelele had much better technical and playmaking abilities.
As a french fan, I'd have loved to see them play together, our national team would probably average 80% possession since the opposition wouldnt be able to keep the ball with those two.
I'm honestly happy for him. Deserves to win a CL.
Crazy to think that under the Italian manager he seemed unimpactful and there were talks about replacing him and that he was passed it, too limited etc. Had an amazing career
Incredible player, won the league with fecking Leicester, won it with Chelsea, won the world cup with France, now won the Champions League with Chelsea. Up there with the top 2 players in each of these. Going to go down as an absolute great defensive midfielder.
Absolutely love this lad. Looking forward to watching him play more football this summer.
Incredible player. What a find by Leicester and what a signing by Chelsea. He has bossed it in title winning sides, in WC’s and now in CL final. He really will go down as one of the best in his positions. Also a incredibly likeable guy who just loves football
The only Chelsea player I am happy for. Man of the match tonight. World class.
He's in a class of his own, haven't seen a player like him before.
It's funny how many times he was in Man City's box tonight too. You watch City attacking he's in the defence tackling, you watch the midfield he's carrying the ball, and then somehow he's up there in City's box too trying to get on the end of balls.
It's said a lot but he really is just everywhere. And unlike some players that excell at one of two things, his base level in pretty much everything is very high.
It's funny how many times he was in Man City's box tonight too. You watch City attacking he's in the defence tackling, you watch the midfield he's carrying the ball, and then somehow he's up there in City's box too trying to get on the end of balls.
It's said a lot but he really is just everywhere. And unlike some players that excell at one of two things, his base level in pretty much everything is very high.
Player of the season in CL
Really frustates me how people like Joe Cole get jobs as pundits, he said Kante is better than Makelele was as a ‘holder’.
Kante is literally anything but a holder, his main asset is going box to box and pressing high to win back the ball.
Kante is literally anything but a holder, his main asset is going box to box and pressing high to win back the ball.
Kante is a beast. When fit, there's no better defensive midfielder in wold football at the moment. Period.
Anyone remember the lunatics claiming Fred is just as good?