Chelsea are two different teams with and without N’Golo Kante

Chelsea are a top-four club when N’Golo Kante is out of the lineup. They are Premier League title contenders when he is in the side. Antonio Conte needs to shrink the difference between the two Chelsea’s.

N’Golo Kante’s return was everything Chelsea hoped and needed it to be. As much as what he did on his own, he enabled Cesc Fabregas and Tiemoue Bakayoko to be their most effective selves. By extension, then, he made the midfield of the 3-5-2 work as it should.

With Kante absorbing the defensive duties, Tiemoue Bakayoko played his most forward and offensively-minded game of the season. He took four shots – none of them on target and none particularly good – from dangerous positions. But if Bakayoko can apply the finishing touch – namely, the accuracy and power he so clearly has – he will easily have a career-best goal-scoring season.

Kante likewise relieved Cesc Fabregas of his defensive duties, creating the space for Fabregas to find the passing lane. Fabregas returned the favour by completing two of his three attempted tackles.

More importantly, though, with Bakayoko moving forward Kante would open himself up for a short horizontal pass from Fabregas. This drew some of the attention away from Fabregas, creating a nearby pocket of space for the Spaniard to slide into. Fabregas would collect the return pass from Kante, and have his sights already set on his target. Kante provided something akin to hold up play to allow Fabregas to size up the pitch without having to protect the ball. This minimized Fabregas’ time on the ball before passing, one of his known liabilities.

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N’Golo Kante has been at the centre (literally) of the last two Premier League titles. He is the catalyst, the sine qua non, the rug that really ties the room together (in a tactical sense). That is smashing good luck for the team that has him. But for a team like Chelsea that has the pressures and ambitions of challenging in several competitions each season, Kante is too much a single point of failure.

Antonio Conte must develop tactical and personnel options to ensure Chelsea can not just weather but continue to win without N’Golo Kante. Conte may have opted to sacrifice the AS Roma game to preserve Kante for Manchester United. But he will not have that luxury if Kante is re-injured during the Champions League knockout rounds.

Danny Drinkwater will mitigate the effects of any future Kante absences. But the Blues cannot simply slot in another midfielder and continue to play as they would with Kante. His absence may necessitate a series of changes to the starting XI, or a broader tactical change.

Tiemoue Bakayoko may not be able to flow into the attack if Kante is not there to provide cover. He and Danny Drinkwater will need to be as aware as N’Golo Kante is of his position when he is bringing the ball up. Kante knows when to lay it off and retreat towards his defensive post. He does not seek offensive opportunities or glory, and anyone occupying his role must do the same.

Chelsea’s wing-backs also need to adapt to a Kante injury. Manchester United did not attack Chelsea’s flanks with speed the way Manchester City, Tottenham or Liverpool could. United played more narrowly and slowly than these other rivals. This reduced the impact Kante and Bakayoko had in backing up Marcos Alonso and Davide Zappacosta.

But when Kante is available, he or Bakayoko can back-up the wing-backs knowing that the other is minding the middle. When Kante is not around, it is too risky for a central midfielder to shift out wide. This means the wing-backs and the centre-back need to be more conscious and protective of that space between the lines, which several recent opponents have exploited.

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Chelsea dealt better with Eden Hazard’s absence than they did N’Golo Kante’s. If a team can better weather being without a potential Ballon d’Or winner than a box-to-box midfielder, both the team and the Ballon d’Or voters need to reevaluate how they do things.