Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante has outlined his plans to improve in his new midfield role.
Maurizio Sarri’s arrival as new Chelsea manager has seen Kante shifted forward from his usual holding role.
Is Kante getting the hang of his new role at Chelsea? Five key things to know…
- N’Golo Kante is widely regarded as one of the best defensive midfielders in the world, having won two Premier League titles and the World Cup in the past three years.
- However, under new manager Maurizio Sarri, Kante has been assigned a new role which requires more offensive thinking.
- Both Sarri and Kante and received criticism for this, with Match of the Day host Gary Lineker describing the Chelsea manager’s reasoning as “nonsense”.
- But after recording an assist in Chelsea’s 2-0 win over Fulham, Kante insists he is happy with his new role and focused on improving.
- Kante has been directly involved in three Premier League goals this season (one goal, two assists), more than he has managed in each of his previous campaigns with Chelsea.
Kante, 27, was the subject of much criticism following Chelsea’s 3-1 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur at the end of November, having struggled to adapt to the attacking responsibilities of the new role.
But, after recording an assist for Pedro in the win over Fulham which saw the French midfielder press high before running to the edge of the opposition box, Kante expressed his belief that he is capable of carrying out Sarri’s tactical instructions.
“It was the order from the manager to press them,” he told Chelsea’s official website.
“I saw there was an opportunity to press, I took the ball and passed to Pedro who used great skill and hit a good shot.
“I like this position. The manager has given me the confidence to play this position since the beginning of the season.
“I am trying to do my best and I will get better at it, and I hope to have success in it this year.”
The 2-0 home defeat of Fulham saw Chelsea return to third in the Premier League, five points behind second-placed Liverpool and seven behind leaders Manchester City, who they play next weekend.
Analysis: Kante’s new Chelsea role
Kante is a wonderful defensive midfielder but the main problem this season is that the Frenchman has not been caught between the dual demands of his new role at Chelsea, with Jorginho occupying the deeper position in Sarri’s midfield.
It is something Sarri is adamant on sticking with, even after the criticism received and Kante’s defensive instincts. The former Napoli coach told reporters after Chelsea’s defeat to Spurs: “I think as you know I want to play a central midfielder who is a very technical player, for me the centre midfielder is either Jorginho or Fabregas. I don’t want Kante in this position.
“Kante wanted to solve the match [against Tottenham] in the first 15 mins but in the wrong way, he attacked the other box too much, I think this one is not one of the best characteristics of Kante, but it was only a reaction to the difficulties.”
READ MORE: N’Golo Kante’s new role at Chelsea explained
Playing on the right of Chelsea’s midfield trio, Kante does occupy the more defensive role of the two more advanced central-midfield positions but is required to behave almost as a box-to-box midfielder without seeing too much of the ball.
As Brazilian midfielder Allan did under Sarri at Napoli last season, Kante is expected to hold back and stay close to Jorginho when Chelsea are without possession to stop opposing players from breaking through. But at the same time, he is expected to shuttle forward himself when the Blues have the ball, moving into positions yet to be truly taken advantage of by the Frenchman.
Compared to last season, Kante is some way off performing either side of his role to his maximum ability, potentially suffering due to fewer defensive requirements. In the Premier League last campaign, Kante averaged 2.31 tackles won per 90 minutes in the holding role, while this year he has just one per 90.
The Frenchman also averaged 2.55 interceptions per 90 compared to just 1.36, though Kante has managed slightly more blocks with 0.21 to 0.12
Remarkably, despite the more advanced role, Kante has also completed fewer passes per 90 this season at 50.64 compared to 57.61 under Conte last year while also creating fewer chances at 1.21 to 1.23 – though he has recorded one more assist already.
The post N’Golo Kante shows signs of improvement in new role under Maurizio Sarri at Chelsea appeared first on Squawka News.
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