One of the surprisingly rapid innovations of Sarrismo was N’Golo Kante’s deployment and performance as a box-to-box midfielder. But now the fun is over, and Chelsea need him in a true defensive role.
Few managers could come up with such an effectively clever solution to a predicament entirely of their own doing sprung from one of the most enviable opportunities in football. Maurizio Sarri inherited the world’s best defensive midfielder when he took the job at Chelsea. But rather than rejoice in his good fortune and craft his squad and tactics around N’Golo Kante, Sarri wondered if he had a place for his two-time Premier League champion and World Cup winner.
Chelsea signed Jorginho as a condition of Sarri’s hiring, and Jorginho would take the only deep midfield role in Sarri’s turnkey 4-3-3. Of the remaining two places, the box-to-box midfielder required a bit more defensive nous. Rather than sit or sell Kante, then, Sarri made him his box-to-box midfielder.
N’Golo Kante quickly took to this role. Kante has not attained world-class levels as a box-to-box midfielder as he did in the defensive role, but he is well above average. He also seemed to be enjoying himself. When he returned to the defensive midfield slot with France during the first international break, he looked a bit forlorn in the more protective, limited role. He saw the spaces opening up ahead of him, but knew he could not run forward into this spaces as he had to set the platform for Paul Pogba to work there.
If N’Golo Kante was “just” a box-to-box midfielder, he would be good enough for what Sarri needs in his first season. But Kante as a box-to-box midfielder denies Chelsea what they need most right now: a midfielder who can protect an oft-shaky backline, and who can provide a deep midfield presence if Jorginho needs to move forward to evade his markers.
In Sunday’s game against Crystal Palace, N’Golo Kante was part of a three-man unit assigned to guard Wilfried Zaha. Along with Cesar Azpilicuta and Pedro, Kante kept Zaha under wraps for most of the game. Zaha still completed a season-high six dribbles, but they were well away from Chelsea’s danger zone. Azpilicueta’s defensive tenacity slowed down Zaha’s runs, while Kante’s speed and tackling ability forced Zaha into more footwork than even the Ivorian can handle. Pedro, then, could drop in to assist Kante in the tackle.
Chelsea could just barely get away with assigning three players to mind Zaha. Even against Crystal Palace, this left far too much space open around the pitch for counter-attacks.
Ten minutes after Palace equalized from a high-line defensive error, Maurizio Sarri made a double substitution to send on Mateo Kovacic and Eden Hazard. Kovacic helped lock down midfield and break up Crystal Palace’s attacks and counters. But think about it: Chelsea needed Mateo Kovacic to provide defensive reinforcement when they already had N’Golo Kante on the pitch. This was not because Kante was underperforming or insufficient. It was because he was not able to provide the defence Chelsea needed.
Throughout the season Chelsea’s defence has been the least consistent part of their game. They went from a clean sheet against Burnley to defensive chaos against Derby County to conceding a cheap goal against Palace. They should not have needed Eden Hazard’s influence up top to secure the win because they should have had a strong enough defence to hold 1-0 against the low-scoring Eagles. With David Luiz an apparent mainstay in the defence, the Blues need extra protection in midfield. If Kante is close to the opponent’s penalty area, even he can only do so much to prevent the opportunity for a defensive error in his own penalty area.
In a purely defensive role, N’Golo Kante should be sufficient against all but the top two or three opponents. He is used to playing in a double-pivot system at Leicester City and in his first season at Chelsea under Antonio Conte. However, he is more than capable of being the sole defensive midfielder.
Maurizio Sarri would need to revise his tactics to accomodate his two undroppable midfielders, Jorginho and N’Golo Kante. Shifting Kante to a deep defensive role would actually help Jorginho against the tactics Chelsea’s opponents have deployed recently.
Manchester United and Burnley both man-marked Jorginho to disrupt his tempo-setting. Derby County used much the same tactic against Cesc Fabregas in the same role. Jorginho overcame Burnley’s marking scheme by moving 10-15 yards forward from his usual spot. This stretched Burnley’s forwards and allowed Jorginho to control the rhythm further up the pitch. Meanwhile, the wingers dropped back towards the full-backs to connect play.
A more offensively-capable team than Burnley could have turned the tables back on Chelsea. By moving forward, Jorginho left an open patch between himself and the backline. Better teams would exploit this space, much like how the area behind the wing-backs became Chelsea’s greatest vulnerability in the 3-4-3.
If N’Golo Kante returned to a defensive position, he could allow Jorginho to side-step his markers without leaving this space behind. Jorginho could go wherever he needed to establish Chelsea’s passing rhythm, while Kante played off him a few yards to protect him, protect the defence and clean up any loose balls.
The most likely formation for this system would be a 4-2-3-1 / 4-1-4-1. Depending on where Chelsea were in transition and possession Jorginho would either come alongside Kante for the double pivot or move up towards the base of the attacking five.
We were enthusiastic supporters of Maurizio Sarri’s vision of N’Golo Kante as a box-to-box midfielder because we believed in Kante’s ability to thrive in that role. We still do. But Chelsea need him elsewhere and they need him where he is best. If the Blues had a more reliable defensive shape and structure perhaps they could give Kante more freedom and broader responsibilities. But they don’t.
It’s been a fun ride and a glimpse at what an extraordinary footballer N’Golo Kante is. The time for fun experiments is over, though. Maurizio Sarri must change his way of doing things rather than changing N’Golo Kante.