It is quite a no-brainer in footballing circles that when Sir Alex Ferguson says something about football, you got to listen to him with wide ears. It is like a sermon being delivered by God, that is the quality of his footballing talks.
Recently, Sir Alex said that Leicester would win the league this season easily, with three games to spare. And in the smaller print at the end, he also added that N'Golo Kanté has been the best player in the League this season. Not Jamie Vardy, not Riyad Mahrez, not Harry Kane, but the diminutive French holding midfielder, N'Golo Kanté.
Let us try to analyze what makes this Frenchman so special and why he is truly a Jamie Vardy like footballing breakthrough story. We also try to look in depth into how Ranieri has returned to the Premier League with vengeance and a rockstar brand of football.
Who is N'Golo Kanté?
Well, Kanté was born in Paris and started his youth football at US Boulogne (Ligue 2 side). After his first season, Boulogne got relegated and went down the third tier of French football. Nothing extravagant. Another modest 2012-13 happened for Kanté but he was later snapped up by Ligue 2 side SM Caen.
There, his rise was metronomic playing a key part in their promotion. Kanté had the scouts compiling data on him. Even Real Madrid enquired about him but Florentino Perez didn’t see the star power in Kanté when he wanted to sign global superstars like Toni Kroos and David de Gea (P.S. The printer machine is now working fine at Bernabeu, my mate just got it checked).
Anyways, newly appointed Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri had a talk with his number two Steve Walsh. Walsh was glowing in his reports about this young Frenchman and all was sealed on 3 August 2015 with a £5.6 million fee agreed for his services from Caen. Kanté became Ranieri’s first signing at the King Power Stadium.
Gameplay
Now Kanté isn’t your traditional looking defensive midfielder, neither did he have a stellar career. He is 5 ft 6 1⁄2 inches tall, i.e. the same height as Lionel Messi, has no youth team appearances for France and was touted as a standby for new big money Foxes’ signing of Gokhan Inler.
Esteban Cambiasso went and Ranieri felt that he needed to have a solid pivot at the helm of his team, and in case Inler didn’t have a good season, he can bank upon Kanté. This is the important part. Ranieri’s teams have always had a strong midfield, because unlike other Italian coaches, he believes at the centre of the field is where the battle is won. Take a look at all of his signings; Lampard, Petit, Zenden, Grønkjær, Makelele and Veron at Chelsea, Moutinho and James Rodriguez at Monaco and many others.
Anyways, moving on to Kanté, he has had such a stellar season that the Swiss captain was displaced from the squad by the duo of Kanté and Danny Drinkwater. And to be fair, Inler hasn’t had the kind of impact Kanté and Drinkwater have had.
Both of them play as a battling duo giving the likes of Okazaki, Mahrez and Vardy license to play their brand of football. Kanté has made more tackles (119) and more interceptions (116) than any other Premier League player in the season so far.
Out of all the midfielders in the league, only Danny Drinkwater (257) and Idrissa Gueye (269) have recovered possession more often and only Etienne Capoue (207) and Gueye (224) have won more duels. So, it quite a no brainer why Sir Alex has touted him as the best player in the league this season. To Ranieri, he is just another Makelele. Maybe a better one?
P.S. He should look at his transfer dealings now, letting go off Pogba and Drinkwater in the same season for peanuts! What a dynamic duo they would’ve been for the Old Trafford Club.
The Gaffer (Boss)
Now technically, Ranieri is a new signing this season. He came after Leicester endured a topsy-turvy season. A thrilling start to the 2014-15, a flurry of woeful performances, a manager (Nigel Pearson) unable to cope up with the media, and a stellar end to the season. Quite a rollercoaster ride for the club and when Nigel Pearson was sacked, many pundits expected Leicester to crumble.
They expected them to go down. Even the club hero Gary Lineker doubted the signing of Claudio Ranieri. But well, they can all eat their words now. The Foxes line up in a standard English 4-4-2, but with a mix of Italian footballing structure.
The notion of classic Italian tactics throws up images of ‘Catenaccio’ and a devotion to defence at expense of all other phases of play, but Ranieri’s approach is a bit more advanced than that. His football is more like hard rock (not Klopp’s early games), which is why he played local rock band Kasabian’s songs in the dressing room.
This Leicester team seems to be highly influenced by Arrigo Sacchi’s tactics at Milan. His tactics were complex but needed disciplined players. A 4-4-2 in which the highest players chased opponents in their own half (aggressive pressing) and made it difficult for their defenders, with a libero holding the structure firm defensively.
As the rival defenders build out from the back, wingers Mahrez and Albrighton run in towards the middle, enticing wide play. Once the ball moves sideways, the near-sided forward (Vardy/ Ulloa) and winger can close down and win the ball back or force a long ball that Leicester’s defenders can win.
The fullbacks prevent players from turning with the ball in midfield, and the centre-backs follow runners into the middle because the team’s compactness means they’re never far away. And who is there to connect the two aspects of attack and defence? Kanté and Drinkwater.
Verdict
Well, this team isn’t designed to play attractive football like Barcelona and Arsenal. Neither to play solid defensively like legendary Italian teams. This is a different brand of football, something unique.
An average possession of 46% isn’t the greatest in the league and Leicester’s 72% passing accuracy sits dead last. The funny thing is that they crossed the 50% possession mark only once, that too in a 3-2 win over West Brom.
Summarizing the gameplay, it is simple. Vardy chases from the front, Kanté and Drinkwater protect the middle and all four in the back are comfortable defending one-on-one if the ball gets that far. Looks complex, isn’t it? But if the players are disciplined enough, it is quite simple.
All in all, what I can say is that perhaps this is like a Moneyball fairytale. Leicester may not win at the home stretch, they may crumble. But what Ranieri has given us is hope. Hope that perseverance and discipline can overcome immense talent.
Even as a Manchester United fan, I have to admit, that all these years I felt that signing big money players brings instant gratification. How wrong have I been! It is the players’ motivation, their tenacity to be consistent over the season and be disciplined to whatever the coach tells them. That is what ‘Real Football’ is. That is ‘Football, Bloody Hell’.
Credits for the stats: Sky Sports, Squawka
