N’Golo Kante sat out Chelsea’s game against Brighton, in part to ensure he would be able to face Lille in the Champions League. Frank Lampard confirmed that plan worked, so Kante should play tonight and then go right back on the shelf.
Ten games into the season, Chelsea are still nowhere close to seeing what their best XI will look like with everyone injured. As Reece James and Callum Hudson-Odoi returned to the squad, Emerson went onto the injury table. Antonio Rudiger and Ruben Loftus-Cheek are getting closer, but are still some ways away. And most concerning of all, N’Golo Kante is becoming a week-by-week or game-by-game decision.
N’Golo Kante is the one player Chelsea cannot afford to take any risks with. The team struggles enough with him not in the lineup for a single game. The Blues simply do not have a one-for-one replacement for him in midfield, nor has Frank Lampard so far developed any tactical system that can compensate for the one man who plays like two (or more). Their ambitions will take a serious hit if at any point he misses an extended string of games.
The prudent decision is to make a template out of Lampard’s plan this week. Kante was questionable for the Brighton game. If necessary, he could have played, as he did in the Europa League final. But it was not necessary – it was Brighton. Lampard kept him out of the matchday squad, and now Kante can play in a much more important game in the Champions League.
This should be the approach. Whenever Kante picks up a knock, strain or niggle, while the sports medicine team assesses his readiness and prognosis Lampard should consult his match calendar.
Within whatever timeframe the physios say Kante will be fully healed if he is allowed rehab and training and no game time, Lampard should only use Kante if he is absolutely necessary for a win, or if the win itself is absolutely necessary: top-six or top half Premier League teams, cup ties against Premier League opponents and non-dead rubber Champions League matches. If Chelsea do not need him to ensure a win, or if a win is not “necessary,” Kante should not play.
In a way, this is putting Kante on the “aging star” program a few years earlier than usual. Given his frame and style of play, the 28-year old Kante has absorbed the game stresses of a player in his mid-30’s. While we like to think he is unstoppable and truly indefatigable – and his performances certainly affirm that perception – he is, lest we forget, still human.
Chelsea will have many games where they need N’Golo Kante. They will have spells where they need Kante three times in eight days and four times in 14 days. Depending on how things shape up, they may need him for the entirety of March through May.
And when talking about Chelsea and Kante, “need” means need. That’s not to say they cannot win without him, simply that the importance of some games and the quality of the opponent demands they remove all question marks and vulnerabilities, and do everything possible to maximize their chances of winning.
For the other games, that’s what Billy Gilmour is for, or maybe Cesar Azpilicueta’s long-awaited Javier Zanetti-esque transformation into a defensive midfielder, or even Andreas Christensen stepping into the next line. Of course, those latter two possibilities depend on Reece James and Antonio Rudiger being fully bedded into the squad and avoiding re-injury themselves. Or Lampard can devise a midfield set-up that does through several players what Kante usually does himself.
The Blues have had an easier time adapting to life forever more without Eden Hazard than games transiently without N’Golo Kante. Kante never needs to worry about getting enough playing time. If he is available, he will get it.
Frank Lampard should ensure Kante is available when Chelsea need him most by basing his playing time on the team’s needs rather than Kante’s availability. If Lampard doesn’t need Kante for three points or the next round, we should be happy not to see him for that day.