Three reasons why N’Golo Kante will make Chelsea better this season
Is £30m a lot of money in football anymore? Here at the Shed Ender, we’re genuinely unsure. It sounds pretty huge, it is pretty huge, but this season in the Premier League is a season like no other.
What’s interesting, though, is that arguably last season’s best player – N’Golo Kante – cost £30m: a similar price tag to Liverpool misfit Christian Benteke and much much less than Manchester City paid to last season’s error magnet John Stones. Some might say that’s a bargain in the current climate.
In any case, Kante’s arrival at Chelsea looks to be a step in the right direction for the west London Blues. Last season’s nightmare is well and truly over with the arrival of Antonio Conte, and a couple of new players add fresh impetus to a club where it looks like the only way is up.
We know what Kante will bring to the team in terms of the position he will play, but we also know that he’ll improve Chelsea in a way that no big-name attacker ever could.
Here are three reasons why N’Golo Kante will improve Chelsea…
Energy
Sitting in front of the back four isn’t quite what N’Golo Kante is known for. In reality, anyone with a bit of discipline (well, ok, a lot of discipline) can sit in front of a back four. Kante, however, isn’t Claude Makelele.
His job is similar, of course. His job is to win the ball back and distribute it carefully and to protect his back four at the same time. But Kante brings an energy to the midfield and an energy in front of the defence. That’s what differentiates him from so many immobile, tough tackling defensive midfielders.
And it’s Kante’s energy that will bring so much to Chelsea – especially to a back four that might very often include John Terry, Gary Cahill and Branislav Ivanovic. It’s hardly the paciest, and Kante’s mobility will help a lot.
Enthusiasm
It seems like a no-brainer, but enthusiasm for the game will get you further than you think.
We often seem to forget that football is a job for footballers, and even if you’re obscenely well paid to do the best job in the world, you’re still going to have the odd day where you just want to sit in bed and watch Netflix and eat chocolate. There are plenty of footballers who look like they want to do just that when they’re trotting around on the pitch.
But N’Golo Kante always looks genuinely enthusiastic on a football pitch. It’s like he loves the game and just wants to play it, and that type of enthusiasm is infectious – expect that to transmit to his team mates, too.
Selflessness
If there’s one thing Kante brings to a team it’s his utter selflessness. He doesn’t want the headlines, he just runs around plugging holes and sniffing out danger.
And that, in turn, allows the more creative players in the side to roam a little more freely.
The game isn’t as binary as it looks. There’s attack and there’s defence, but there’s something intangible in between that managers spend years pondering and trying to get right. Kante’s game is all about that bit in between – he’s not just there to defend, he’s there to start counter attacks, and to allow his team mates to think about how to break the opposition down rather than think about their defensive positioning.
You don’t see the engine of the car, but in reality, that’s the only bit that really matters.