A certain joke surfaced social media a few months back after Leicester City's magical Premier League win, which went something like this: Two-thirds of the earth's surface is covered by water. The rest is covered by N'Golo Kante.
Leicester’s win was indeed magical- a once in a generation story which went into footballing folklore and made us believe in fairy tales if there was ever one. And N’Golo Kante, in the midst of that victory, was indeed the difference for the Foxes (as we know well by now) – dominating opponents with his calm, yet tactically brilliant performances match after match, leaving his footprints on that miraculous year of football for Leicester City.
Fast forward eight months and it looks like Kante is well on his mission to cover the rest of the watery world as well. The diminutive Frenchman, an epitome of energy and hard work, has arguably been the best, if not the best player in the Premier League for the past two seasons.
The enigma that is N’Golo Kante
If N'Golo Kante were to win the title with Chelsea this season (which very much looks like he will), he will only become the second player ever to have won back-to-back titles in the Premier League era (the other being Mark Schwarzer with Chelsea and Leicester City) and one must admit how well deserved it will be considering Schwarzer only played a handful of matches for Chelsea and none for Leicester.
Such has been Kante's impact that in just a year Chelsea have gone from 13th after 24 games last season to 9 points clear at the top at present. While Foxes’ fortunes this season stands testimony to what the midfielder brought in the Leicester side just a season ago. In striking contrast, the Premier League fairytale champions hover dangerously close to relegation at the 16th spot with only five wins in 24 games.
Only when we look in retrospect, do we realise what the prototype was when they said, “Judge not a book by its cover”. Standing at only a little over 5’6” tall and weighing 150 pounds, Kante is unlike anything your regular central midfielder should be. He’s not tall, not especially strong, nor does he have the exceptional guile and creativity of the Regista to break apart defences.
But what separates the former Caen man from the rest of the pack is his exceptional reading of the game backed up by a motor that runs on, as it seems, cans of caffeinated drinks and his ability to cover space like none other.
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How the endless motor works
Sitting in front of Antonio Conte’s three-man defence, Kante does the work of not one, but two players, foraging all over the midfield, immaculately sensing danger and nipping them in the bud. There seems no space at all when he is on the pitch who, like a python, strangulates every opponent for space, then winning the ball and, as the Makelele role warrants, passing it into space on either side of him.
Work rate and movements off the ball often go unnoticed and unapplauded in the game of football. What one does with the ball at his feet generally grabs the eye, and even though Diego Costa and Eden Hazard have rightly received the plaudits for their attacking prowess, it is Kante's brilliance which has shut shop on many occasions for the Blues this term so that the attackers play with less pressure on their back.
And the numbers speak for themselves. In the Premier League, this season he has averaged 3.6 tackles and 2.4 successful interceptions per game, with a pass success percentage of 88. These stats show how the Frenchman has been a vital cog in the Chelsea setup who went on a 13 game winning streak after a humbling 3-0 loss at the hands of Arsenal in September.
That isn't to say that the 3-4-3 system hasn't helped Kante with his exploits. The Italian, as the self-proclaimed tailor to Chelsea's suit, introduced the 3-4-3 system after that devastating night at the Emirates Stadium which has changed the fortunes of most, if not all, players playing for the blue outfit. David Luiz has made the libero position his own, supported capably by Azpilicueta and Cahill on each side.
However, the impact Kante has had in this team is arguably the most evident, if not the most documented. What the French international does essentially, with his tireless running and reading of the game is that he frees other players in the 3-4-3 setup. The stability lent to the front three because of the indomitable Kante ensures that Eden Hazard, who was often bound by the shackles of defending during Mourinho's reign, can play a more free role and tear apart defences at his will like he did at Arsenal with his brilliant solo goal.
The iron fist in a velvet glove
Kante’s partnership with Nemanja Matic is especially important in Antonio’s Conte’s system. Collectively, they do the work of the destroyer, box to box attacker as well as the creator. One gets to see Kante at his best when he is running, running all the time, instead of sitting deep in front of the defenders. With Matic as his partner in crime, Kante often pushes up the pitch, chasing and closing down opponents with tackles, interceptions and sometimes just with his presence.
Teams are forced to pass sideways in order to attack where they are met by the wing-backs, retreating wingers and also the side centre-backs. It was most aptly seen in Chelsea’s 1-1 draw against Liverpool at Anfield last week, where Jurgen Klopp’s men, in spite of dominating the majority of possession simply couldn’t find any way through the little Frenchman, and as a result were forced wide where the wing-backs dealt with threat impeccably.
Kante’s stats against Liverpool was a testimony to itself. While Liverpool as a team made 15 successful tackles, N’Golo Kante alone made 14, a record in the Premier League this season.
The Frenchman, like all men of power in the history of the world, does what he does not by brute force of action, but by striking fear by what he could be. In a role, whose importance is often not talked about as much as it should, N’Golo Kante continues to do his work silently and superbly.
The player lets his football do all the talking for him, while opponents stare dumbfounded at how devastating he is as he takes them apart. He is the iron fist in English football, but behold, it’s covered with a velvet glove which makes him all the more dangerous.
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