Since Leicester's title winning season in 15/16, Kante had established himself as one of the top midfielders in the world. He's phenomenal defensively - vertically covering most of the pitch and recovering the ball almost effortlessly. Despite being dropped in the knockout stage of Euro 16, he's still deemed to be a cornerstone to Leicester's miracle and he later joined Chelsea where he enjoyed another successful campaign with a league title. Whenever people talked about a defensive midfielder, the name "Kante" came to mind.
Things started to change when Conte started to deploy 3-5-2 instead of 3-4-3 in 17/18. Kante looked limited and redundant in a 3-man midfield and he offered very little to the team. The problem was further intensified when Sarri took charge in 18/19, as he adopted 4-3-3 as a regular formation and played possession football. Kante's lack of passing and antipressing ability made him incapable of playing as a 6, and he posed no threat at all playing as an 8. On many occassions, you just saw him stepping aside and hiding from responsibilities when the team had the ball.
What makes me create this thread, however, is his terrible performance this season. The pattern is so obvious that since he returned from injury, Chelsea had struggled to break down smaller sides such as Everton, Bournemouth, Southampton and Newcastle. The fluidity and creativity from midfield demonstrated in his absence had been gone whenever he's in the team. Their poor form had sustained until he was out due to another injury in February. Even Barkley and Gilmour offered more than him.
Many appreciate Kante's strengths, but few discuss about his weaknesses. It's true that he wins a lot of possessions back but he also gives the ball away cheaply. He's technically so poor that he struggles to hold onto and bring the ball forward. Many of his passes go sideways or backwards, and put his teammates in danger as well. He looks pretty limited in the modern game which emphasizes in all-round ability.
That said, I think Kante is still pretty useful playing against a stronger side. However, if a player only finds himself useful in 5% of the games throughout the season, I personally wouldn't rate him so high. A true top player should be versatile enough to adopt in different roles and perform in different tactical setups, and Kante certainly doesn't fall into that category.
Things started to change when Conte started to deploy 3-5-2 instead of 3-4-3 in 17/18. Kante looked limited and redundant in a 3-man midfield and he offered very little to the team. The problem was further intensified when Sarri took charge in 18/19, as he adopted 4-3-3 as a regular formation and played possession football. Kante's lack of passing and antipressing ability made him incapable of playing as a 6, and he posed no threat at all playing as an 8. On many occassions, you just saw him stepping aside and hiding from responsibilities when the team had the ball.
What makes me create this thread, however, is his terrible performance this season. The pattern is so obvious that since he returned from injury, Chelsea had struggled to break down smaller sides such as Everton, Bournemouth, Southampton and Newcastle. The fluidity and creativity from midfield demonstrated in his absence had been gone whenever he's in the team. Their poor form had sustained until he was out due to another injury in February. Even Barkley and Gilmour offered more than him.
Games | Points | Points/game | Goals | Goals/game | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
With Kante | 18 | 19 | 1.06 | 21 | 1.17 |
Without Kante | 11 | 29 | 2.64 | 30 | 2.73 |
Many appreciate Kante's strengths, but few discuss about his weaknesses. It's true that he wins a lot of possessions back but he also gives the ball away cheaply. He's technically so poor that he struggles to hold onto and bring the ball forward. Many of his passes go sideways or backwards, and put his teammates in danger as well. He looks pretty limited in the modern game which emphasizes in all-round ability.
That said, I think Kante is still pretty useful playing against a stronger side. However, if a player only finds himself useful in 5% of the games throughout the season, I personally wouldn't rate him so high. A true top player should be versatile enough to adopt in different roles and perform in different tactical setups, and Kante certainly doesn't fall into that category.