Tuchel convinced of Kante’s enduring quality despite season blighted by injuries
By Liam Twomey
As a sweat-soaked N’Golo Kante reached the Stamford Bridge touchline with 72 minutes on the clock and headed towards the substitutes’ bench, the warmth that greeted his arrival from Chelsea players and staff was palpable. He slowly made his way through a gentle swarm of palm-slaps and back-pats before taking his seat between Kepa Arrizabalaga and Mateo Kovacic, who immediately engaged him in conversation.
But his mind was still in the game to the degree that, rather than immediately pull on a training top, he simply sat in his full kit watching intently as his teammates pushed in vain to break Leicester City’s resolve in the final minutes.
Kante leaving the pitch before full time is a sight that has become demoralisingly common at Chelsea this season; he has completed the full 90 minutes only 15 times across all competitions in a season that began with serious discussion about whether he would be a worthy Ballon d’Or winner. His personal campaign has been a cyclical story of injury recoveries and setbacks, and at the end of a low-stakes match that provoked few strong emotions, his broader availability was the press conference topic that got Thomas Tuchel worked up.
“I think he is our key, key, key player, but key, key, key players need to be on the pitch and he plays only 40 per cent of the games,” Tuchel said. “It’s maybe a miracle that we arrive in third place (in the Premier League), because he is our Mo Salah. He is our (Virgil) van Dijk. He is our (Kevin) De Bruyne. He is simply that player. He is our Neymar, he is our Kylian Mbappe.
“He is our guy who makes the difference. If you only have him 40 per cent of the time, it’s a huge problem. Given that percentage, it’s maybe a miracle how consistently we produce results. It puts everything in perspective, because I saw Liverpool last season without Van Dijk and they struggled heavily. You see the difference. N’Golo is our key player and he needs to be on the pitch.”
Tuchel’s figures were not entirely accurate; Kante has actually been on the pitch for 50.6 per cent of Chelsea’s minutes in the Premier League this season and 45.6 per cent of the Champions League minutes — but the fact that Chelsea’s head coach rounded down perhaps provides an insight into just how much it has been weighing on his mind.
Kante’s body has been persistently fallible ever since he defied medical predictions to play 94 magnificent minutes in Chelsea’s 4-1 victory over Arsenal in Baku to win the Europa League final in 2019. Frank Lampard paid a heavy price the following season, with the France international registering a career-low 2302 minutes on the pitch across all competitions. He has surpassed that total in 2021-22, but not by much.
Last season was, in physical terms, something more like the Kante of old, and peak performances followed — more for Tuchel than for Lampard, which proved good news in the Champions League from February to May. “Last year in the last five (Champions League) matches he got the (man of the match) trophy,” Tuchel added. “They handed him the trophy before the match, it was so clear that he was man of the match. It was like this.
“And this guy, who gets man of the match in every Champions League game, he’s only here for 40 per cent of the matches (this season). This is huge for us. We do everything to solve it, and of course him as well. I don’t blame him, it’s just a concern and a fact that we miss him a lot. He brings something that is unique in world football. He has that ability to lift everybody up and make the difference. This is the challenge for him and for us.
“It’s hard to live with, because it’s important for him to be there and have the rhythm. I think he played OK (against Leicester) but he can play so much better, but when was the last game he started? It was weeks ago. He constantly starts getting rhythm and once he gets some, he has a little injury and he’s out again.”
Kante’s previous start had been on April 28, in a 1-1 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford. He was partly culpable for the goal Chelsea conceded that day, giving the ball away in the seconds before Nemanja Matic scooped a pass over the visiting defence for Cristiano Ronaldo to lash in. Earlier in the month, there were also two costly errors at Santiago Bernabeu that led to vital Real Madrid goals. It was hard to tell, on the surface, whether they were ominous signs of lasting decline or the unwelcome consequences of a relentlessly disrupted campaign.
Tuchel is convinced of the latter explanation and, above all, of Kante’s enduring quality. Asked if the Frenchman belongs in the top tier of Chelsea’s modern legends, he replied: “For sure, but because he is not that obvious, because he is not in the spotlight, he is even more important for the team. If you have in this position a guy like N’Golo with the mentality of a helper, a water carrier, this makes the difference.
“Big teams, successful teams need exactly this. That’s why we love him so much and everyone wants to play with him, and that’s why we miss him so much when he’s not on the pitch.”
The clear hint in Tuchel’s words after the Leicester draw was that he would like to see Kante remain at Chelsea beyond his current contract, which expires in June 2023. The player himself was non-committal when asked by Sky Sports about his future this week, stating only that he will “think about it at the right time”. When the time comes, it is unlikely to be an easy decision for either party.
Kante is 31. He is unique, and only one year removed from being spectacularly decisive at the sharp end of the Champions League. He is also one of Chelsea’s highest earners, with a salary of £290,000 a week. Extending on anything like those terms seems dangerous to the point of folly for the club’s incoming, more business-minded ownership group, particularly in light of the health concerns. But how much would it cost to find another midfielder that Tuchel rates this highly?
Whether it is this summer or further down the line, Chelsea’s transition beyond the Kante era is likely to be painful — a reality that stares Tuchel in the face whenever his midfield talisman isn’t on the pitch.
https://theathletic.com/3322597/2022/05/20/tuchel-convinced-of-kantes-enduring-quality-despite-season-blighted-by-injuries/
Tuchel convinced of Kante’s enduring quality despite season blighted by injuries
By Liam Twomey
As a sweat-soaked N’Golo Kante reached the Stamford Bridge touchline with 72 minutes on the clock and headed towards the substitutes’ bench, the warmth that greeted his arrival from Chelsea players and staff was palpable. He slowly made his way through a gentle swarm of palm-slaps and back-pats before taking his seat between Kepa Arrizabalaga and Mateo Kovacic, who immediately engaged him in conversation.
But his mind was still in the game to the degree that, rather than immediately pull on a training top, he simply sat in his full kit watching intently as his teammates pushed in vain to break Leicester City’s resolve in the final minutes.
Kante leaving the pitch before full time is a sight that has become demoralisingly common at Chelsea this season; he has completed the full 90 minutes only 15 times across all competitions in a season that began with serious discussion about whether he would be a worthy Ballon d’Or winner. His personal campaign has been a cyclical story of injury recoveries and setbacks, and at the end of a low-stakes match that provoked few strong emotions, his broader availability was the press conference topic that got Thomas Tuchel worked up.
“I think he is our key, key, key player, but key, key, key players need to be on the pitch and he plays only 40 per cent of the games,” Tuchel said. “It’s maybe a miracle that we arrive in third place (in the Premier League), because he is our Mo Salah. He is our (Virgil) van Dijk. He is our (Kevin) De Bruyne. He is simply that player. He is our Neymar, he is our Kylian Mbappe.
“He is our guy who makes the difference. If you only have him 40 per cent of the time, it’s a huge problem. Given that percentage, it’s maybe a miracle how consistently we produce results. It puts everything in perspective, because I saw Liverpool last season without Van Dijk and they struggled heavily. You see the difference. N’Golo is our key player and he needs to be on the pitch.”
Tuchel’s figures were not entirely accurate; Kante has actually been on the pitch for 50.6 per cent of Chelsea’s minutes in the Premier League this season and 45.6 per cent of the Champions League minutes — but the fact that Chelsea’s head coach rounded down perhaps provides an insight into just how much it has been weighing on his mind.
Kante’s body has been persistently fallible ever since he defied medical predictions to play 94 magnificent minutes in Chelsea’s 4-1 victory over Arsenal in Baku to win the Europa League final in 2019. Frank Lampard paid a heavy price the following season, with the France international registering a career-low 2302 minutes on the pitch across all competitions. He has surpassed that total in 2021-22, but not by much.
Last season was, in physical terms, something more like the Kante of old, and peak performances followed — more for Tuchel than for Lampard, which proved good news in the Champions League from February to May. “Last year in the last five (Champions League) matches he got the (man of the match) trophy,” Tuchel added. “They handed him the trophy before the match, it was so clear that he was man of the match. It was like this.
“And this guy, who gets man of the match in every Champions League game, he’s only here for 40 per cent of the matches (this season). This is huge for us. We do everything to solve it, and of course him as well. I don’t blame him, it’s just a concern and a fact that we miss him a lot. He brings something that is unique in world football. He has that ability to lift everybody up and make the difference. This is the challenge for him and for us.
“It’s hard to live with, because it’s important for him to be there and have the rhythm. I think he played OK (against Leicester) but he can play so much better, but when was the last game he started? It was weeks ago. He constantly starts getting rhythm and once he gets some, he has a little injury and he’s out again.”
Kante’s previous start had been on April 28, in a 1-1 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford. He was partly culpable for the goal Chelsea conceded that day, giving the ball away in the seconds before Nemanja Matic scooped a pass over the visiting defence for Cristiano Ronaldo to lash in. Earlier in the month, there were also two costly errors at Santiago Bernabeu that led to vital Real Madrid goals. It was hard to tell, on the surface, whether they were ominous signs of lasting decline or the unwelcome consequences of a relentlessly disrupted campaign.
Tuchel is convinced of the latter explanation and, above all, of Kante’s enduring quality. Asked if the Frenchman belongs in the top tier of Chelsea’s modern legends, he replied: “For sure, but because he is not that obvious, because he is not in the spotlight, he is even more important for the team. If you have in this position a guy like N’Golo with the mentality of a helper, a water carrier, this makes the difference.
“Big teams, successful teams need exactly this. That’s why we love him so much and everyone wants to play with him, and that’s why we miss him so much when he’s not on the pitch.”
The clear hint in Tuchel’s words after the Leicester draw was that he would like to see Kante remain at Chelsea beyond his current contract, which expires in June 2023. The player himself was non-committal when asked by Sky Sports about his future this week, stating only that he will “think about it at the right time”. When the time comes, it is unlikely to be an easy decision for either party.
Kante is 31. He is unique, and only one year removed from being spectacularly decisive at the sharp end of the Champions League. He is also one of Chelsea’s highest earners, with a salary of £290,000 a week. Extending on anything like those terms seems dangerous to the point of folly for the club’s incoming, more business-minded ownership group, particularly in light of the health concerns. But how much would it cost to find another midfielder that Tuchel rates this highly?
Whether it is this summer or further down the line, Chelsea’s transition beyond the Kante era is likely to be painful — a reality that stares Tuchel in the face whenever his midfield talisman isn’t on the pitch.
https://theathletic.com/3322597/2022/05/20/tuchel-convinced-of-kantes-enduring-quality-despite-season-blighted-by-injuries/
