N'Golo Kante (appreciation thread)

[Zlatan Ibrahomovic]

Most dominant display from a player I've seen in a while. Absolutely everywhere

 

[tomaldinho1]

Can't think of anyone who does what he does better. I swear he can teleport.

 

[Guy Incognito]

Love the little guy.

 

[Eendracht maakt macht]

Can't think of anyone who does what he does better. I swear he can teleport.

This. He was everywhere.

 

[redshaw]

Super performance

You have to give credit to Chelsea, they generally recruit very well hence why they often bounce back.

 

[Ecstatic]

I like the person who is full of humbleness so wish him all the best for the final.

If this WC winner also wins the Champions League, then he will be considered as a worthy successor to players like Vieira and Makelele.

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

Isn’t Fred meant to be better than Kanye?

 

[Champ]

Isn’t Fred meant to be better than Kanye?

Fred can't rap

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

Fred can't rap

I even corrected it once…

 

[jakko]

Good performance but i don't think he's any better than Fred or Herrera if im being honest.

 

[duffer]

He can surely do better than a 2015 Mini...

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[Gringo]

The turnover in football is vital, and Kante is the player you want in your side to make it happen. He nicks balls away in high areas of the pitch and you're under the cosh. Just a brilliant player.

 

[The Corinthian]

He's been fantastic in the last few months. Absolute class player.

 

[RUCK4444]

The one that got away.

We should have emptied the bank for him from Leicester. For some reason he’s a Chelsea fan though.

 

[lost7]

What a player. And the thing is, you just cannot dislike him even if he plays for a team of twats

 

[TheMagicFoolBus]

He can surely do better than a 2015 Mini...

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Is there another professional athlete with as universal an approval rating? Not trying to WUM or anything but I cannot for the life of me think of another player in any sport who is as beloved (and for good reason obviously).

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

Is there another professional athlete with as universal an approval rating? Not trying to WUM or anything but I cannot for the life of me think of another player in any sport who is as beloved (and for good reason obviously).

Rashford.

to be fair, I don’t think he’s beloved. He’s acknowledged as a top player by fans of all clubs of course.

 

[Pow]

Is there another professional athlete with as universal an approval rating? Not trying to WUM or anything but I cannot for the life of me think of another player in any sport who is as beloved (and for good reason obviously).

Like I heard rudiger once say. You can't hate ngolo. If you do. There's something wrong with you. Ngolo kante is a gem.

 

[Irrational.]

Even more impressive if he had been fasting as expected. Incredible athlete, human, powerhouse. The one that got away. What I would do for a Kante in our team.

 

[hubbuh]

What a player. And the thing is, you just cannot dislike him even if he plays for a team of twats

This isn't a Chelsea side that elicits much emotion either way, is it? From a neutral's perspective that is.

 

[shahzy]

Is there another professional athlete with as universal an approval rating? Not trying to WUM or anything but I cannot for the life of me think of another player in any sport who is as beloved (and for good reason obviously).

Juan Mata is a good shout too

 

[TheMagicFoolBus]

Rashford.

to be fair, I don’t think he’s beloved. He’s acknowledged as a top player by fans of all clubs of course.

Yeah Rashford is a good shout, though I think he might suffer due to some of the toxicity and tribalism around the England squad though - and to be completely fair I don't speak French so if similar dialogues have taken place over Kante then I've completely missed them.

 

[TheMagicFoolBus]

Juan Mata is a good shout too

Oh great shout and completely agreed. Mata is an absolute gem - hard to be a better person than he is/was a footballer but think he managed it.

 

[The Corinthian]

Is there another professional athlete with as universal an approval rating? Not trying to WUM or anything but I cannot for the life of me think of another player in any sport who is as beloved (and for good reason obviously).

I've never heard anyone in all of my years of following footy say a bad word about Zidane (as a player).

I've veered into the Zidane manager thread, so that's all I'll say about that!

 

[Kentonio]

Is there another professional athlete with as universal an approval rating? Not trying to WUM or anything but I cannot for the life of me think of another player in any sport who is as beloved (and for good reason obviously).

Zola was probably the obvious one previously. I think Ngolo might be even nicer though!

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

I've never heard anyone in all of my years of following footy say a bad word about Zidane (as a player).

I've veered into the Zidane manager thread, so that's all I'll say about that!

Except Materazzi!

Players don’t have to be perfect in their career. I’d say the likes of Beckham are universally loved as well.

 

[awop]

It looks like firing Lampard gifted you a Kante 2.0. He was so useless at the start of the season, the change is massive.

 

[Synco]

The turnover in football is vital, and Kante is the player you want in your side to make it happen. He nicks balls away in high areas of the pitch and you're under the cosh. Just a brilliant player.

Yeah, his reading of these situations is outstanding, like for that late goal today. He's tenacious and athletic, but a lot of his ability to win balls is about timing and skill.

 

[TheMagicFoolBus]

Yeah, his reading of these situation is outstanding, like for that late goal today. He's tenacious and athletic, but a lot of his ability to win balls is about timing and skill.

Yeah 100%. His ability to win the ball cleanly and avoid fouls is second to none - especially when he's unleashed up the pitch and can press seemingly out of nowhere. Caused Madrid (and Kroos in particular) all kinds of problems today by haring after any and all midfielders in his zone as soon as they received the ball.

 

[RooneyLegend]

Slightly better than Fred.

 

[Gringo]

How hyperbole should we, or can we go about this man ? He just put in two back to back MOTM performances in a European Cup semi final.

 

[Karel Podolsky]

I like him (as a human), I wish him win the Champions League and win Balon d'Or.

 

[non profit football]

I have no idols and much less in football, but if I did, that guy would be N´Golo Kanté!
World-class.
And what a humble guy.

 

[LilyWhiteSpur]

He can surely do better than a 2015 Mini...

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Didn't he come from an incredibly poor background, I remember reading somewhere he sifted through dumps and rubbish looking for things he could sell to help his family? Probably values money more than most.

 

[harms]

He can surely do better than a 2015 Mini...

Tweet

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A lot of players drive those to be fair. The funniest has to be De Gea, I have no idea how he fits into one, it really looks like a classic clown car trick.

Bruno drives one as well.

 

[harms]

The one that got away.

We should have emptied the bank for him from Leicester. For some reason he’s a Chelsea fan though.

It wasn’t about our offer to Leicester, sadly, for whatever reason he had his eyes set on Chelsea and haven’t even considered other options. He said that United contacted him iirc.

 

[SirMattBugsby]

His ability to tackle and intercept is unmatched. Watching him, it seems like he's magnetically drawn to the ball. When he's zeroing in on an opposition player, it's like watching slow death.

Great player, a manager's dream. I remember SAF praising him as well?

 

[Bondi77]

Isn’t Fred meant to be better than Kanye?

No chance;

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Criminal that we didn't go all out for him back when he was at Leicester. Such a great success story and we didn't bother signing their Kanye or even Mahrez, both in the CL final. But Kante is the one, brilliant player.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

I'm sure someone will bring up stats to show how Fred is amazing as his numbers are similar, or some shit when he plays like a 15 year old novice every other game.