Tuchel’s patience gets Kante back to his dominant best

N'Golo Kante, Chelsea, touches, Atletico Madrid
By Simon Johnson
Mar 18, 2021

N’Golo Kante’s long wait to cause a buzz on the European stage again is finally over.

After Chelsea coasted to a surprisingly comfortable 2-0 victory over Atletico Madrid (and 3-0 on aggregate) to book their place in the last eight of the Champions League, it is Kante’s performance that has got everyone talking.

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This was Kante at his very best, the player often cited as the finest in his position, the one who helped France win a World Cup and lifted successive Premier League titles with Leicester City and Chelsea.

He was top of the team rankings for gaining possession (13 times) and passes in the opposition half (55), and second only to captain Cesar Azpilicueta for touches (97) and passes overall (81). His touch map backed up the feeling that he was here, there and everywhere.

N'Golo Kante, Chelsea, Atletico Madrid, touches

When Chelsea go into the quarter-final draw on Friday, they will not be regarded as one of the favourites. However, if Kante can maintain this form, anything is possible.

You have to go back to Chelsea’s Europa League final triumph over Arsenal in May 2019 or the club’s loss to Liverpool on penalties in the UEFA Super Cup three months later for the last times the midfielder caused such a stir at this level.

There have still been good displays domestically but Kante’s standards differ from mere mortals. When the 29-year-old is at his peak, he turns promising teams into great ones.

That is why former coach Maurizio Sarri picked Kante to play against Arsenal in that Europa League final despite the Frenchman suffering a knee injury in training only four days before. It is understood Chelsea players feared he’d suffered a serious problem when he left that session early and he was barely mobile while going through drills with the rest of the squad on the eve of the contest in Baku.

Therefore, it was a big surprise when Kante was named in the first XI to face Arsenal, as was his ability to dominate the north Londoners’ midfield for the full 90 minutes. With their diminutive talisman running the show, Chelsea cruised to a 4-1 victory and lifted the trophy.

But it came at a price.

Former coach Frank Lampard subsequently suggested on more than one occasion during his 18-month tenure that Kante suffered fitness issues because of complications from the injury sustained ahead of that Arsenal encounter. Transfermarkt shows 11 different periods where he has been on the treatment table since that Europa League triumph. It seemed to be overlooked that he started just 20 Premier League fixtures during 2019-20.

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Lampard’s successor Thomas Tuchel has been patient. The German, who wanted to sign Kante from Chelsea for Paris Saint-Germain, didn’t rush the player’s return from a hamstring strain picked up in January.

Kante didn’t start in Tuchel’s first five Premier League games. When he walked off the pitch following a late substitute appearance at home to Newcastle last month, his demeanour didn’t look great. The new Chelsea manager’s attempts to hug and cajole him seemed to be ignored.

But looks can be deceiving. As fans started to worry that a departure at the end of the season was a possibility, Tuchel was merely figuring out how to rejuvenate this prize asset.

Significantly, Tuchel is using him in a two-man midfield just as Antonio Conte did to great effect — often next to Nemanja Matic — during their title-winning campaign in 2016-17. He is not being employed as the right-sided midfielder in a 4-3-3 like Sarri and Lampard often chose to utilise him. The latter also opted for him to be the deeper one of a trio operating in front of the back four.

Tuchel admitted Kante’s game time would have to be managed and has gone on to do just that. Mateo Kovacic (10 starts, 863 minutes) and Jorginho (eight starts, 824 minutes) have featured more regularly than Kante (six starts, 617 minutes) under the new manager.

This tactic is clearly paying off. Atletico will certainly think so. What few attacks they mustered at Stamford Bridge were often thwarted by Kante’s speed of thought and speed across the ground. His positioning was impeccable.

That, as well as his remarkable stamina, were most notable during the nine extraordinary seconds in stoppage time that led to Chelsea’s second goal. First, it was Kante who ensured a long throw-in from Mario Hermoso didn’t find an Atletico shirt in the box and his headed clearance went to Callum Hudson-Odoi.

Hudson-Odoi’s first-time pass to Christian Pulisic bypassed Koke, putting the USA international in space. Kante is still in the Chelsea area as the former plays the ball.

As Pulisic begins to sprint forward, Kante has made up ground. He is already overtaking Hudson-Odoi and referee Daniele Orsato.

With Emerson, who had just come on as a substitute, galloping forward to the left, Chelsea soon find themselves creating a three-v-one situation, helped by Kante bursting past Koke.

Hermoso is trying his utmost to catch Pulisic but suddenly finds Kante darting in front of him and to the right of his Chelsea team-mate, who then goes more central.

Now there is just one Atletico player, Marcos Llorente, to beat. Pulisic has the option to play a pass left or right, to Emerson or Kante.

Llorente seems more concerned about Kante’s run, which leaves Emerson in space and he finishes smartly after Pulisic slides the ball into his path.

Kante only touched the ball once, at the start of the move, but his role in the goal was vital throughout. This display of energy was all the more extraordinary because it came after 93 minutes of hard labour.

“It is a pleasure to coach him,” Tuchel said afterwards. “A big gift for me, such a big helper on the pitch, and don’t underestimate his quality in using (the ball), escaping the pressure. If you play with him, you play with half a man more because he gives intensity that is outstanding and is unique.”

Kante will be 30 when the next round of the Champions League takes place. Encouragingly for Chelsea and thanks to Tuchel’s man-management, his age won’t be a factor. Kante looks back to his best.

(Top photo: Stats Perform)

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Simon Johnson

Simon Johnson has spent the majority of his career as a sports reporter since 2000 covering Chelsea, firstly for Hayters and then the London Evening Standard. This included going to every game home and away as the west London club secured the Champions League in 2012. He has also reported on the England national team between 2008-19 and been a regular contributor to talkSPORT radio station for over a decade. Follow Simon on Twitter @SJohnsonSport