Chelsea have been very impressive since Thomas Tuchel’s arrival in January.

The German boss has brought with him a focus to succeed and the squad have bought into that as they’ve secured a place in the final of the FA Cup and in the Champions League. The Blues are also on course to finish in the Premier League’s top four positions.

At the heart of this resurgence has been frantic French midfielder N’Golo Kante.

The World Cup winner has made twenty appearances for Chelsea since Tuchel has taken the managerial hot-seat at Stamford Bridge.

Kante was sensational when he helped the club to a Premier League title in 2017. But the Frenchman seemed to lose his way somewhat under coaches Maurizio Sarri and Frank Lampard.

Yet, so far, in 2021 Kante has once again started to really dominate the engine-room. That was very evident as Chelsea dumped Real Madrid out of the Champions League this week (BBC Match Report).

The thirty year old seemed to cover every blade of grass as he pounded his opponents into the ground with his harrying and battling. He also surged forward whenever possible to keep Madrid on the back foot. N’Golo played his part in helping create for both of Chelsea’s goals on Wednesday night.

Fellow French World Cup winner Zinedine Zidane was in the opposition dugout but he must’ve spotted it was Kante that seemed to break down his team!

Manchester United Champions League winner Andrew Cole was full of praise:

‘He’s a joke. Seriously, he’s a joke. Watching Chelsea last night, both the goals have come from him breaking play up and slipping someone in.’

‘People didn’t think he could do that but I think he’s proven he can do all that now.’

Via The Metro

Thomas Tuchel was also quick to state his admiration for the midfielder, even before the second leg was decided:

‘He is the guy you need to win trophies and that’s why we’re are so happy he’s here and he’s at our club.’

‘I was dreaming about this player and fighting for this player, dreaming about this player in any club I was coaching so now he’s my player. ‘He’s won every trophy except for Champions League, hopefully he will do everything that we get this trophy and for me he’s an example he’s an unbelievable input for any team in the world.’

‘We are so happy he plays for us’

Via The Metro

Kante’s stats have once again been extremely impressive this term. The tireless middleman has a passing success rate of over 86%, no Blues player has bettered N’Golo’s 2.7 tackles per game and leads the way in terms of interceptions (Stats via Whoscored).

It’s no surprise to see N’Golo Kante at the heart of things as Chelsea surge towards a great ending to their current campaign. He’s an influencer and a leader, all due to his wonderful attitude and his energetic combative style.

If The Blues are to find silverware in the next few weeks, then they’ll once again have to thank King Kante!

Posted on May 7th, 2021 by scott
Filed under: Article