Chelsea vs Leicester: Antonio Conte must give N'Golo Kante freedom to be more than 'the new Claude Makelele'

Settling in at Stamford Bridge: N'Golo Kante
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Tom Doyle14 October 2016

Take a look at N'Golo Kante's Twitter profile and it will show you the measure of the Chelsea midfielder - tracksuit on, hood up, ready to go to work.

Kante's debut season in the Premier League could not have gone better, with the 25-year-old playing a starring role in Leicester City's midfield as the 5,000/1 outsiders won the title in one of the greatest achievements in sporting history.

That form earned the France international a £32million summer move to Stamford Bridge, with Antonio Conte identifying the Parisian as one of the key men to reshape a Chelsea side still reeling from Jose Mourinho's disastrous exit last year.

Leicester's trip to west London this weekend will see Kante reunite with his former team-mates. While it is clear that Claudio Ranieri's men are missing the 25-year-old's presence, there are also doubts over whether Chelsea are using the midfielder to his full potential.

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Dubbed 'The Rat' by Eden Hazard for impressing everywhere on the pitch earlier in the season, Kante's reputation took a knock in Chelsea's 3-0 drubbing at Arsenal. The Gunners' mesmeric build-up play caused Kante to fall over in the build-up to Theo Walcott adding the second goal, and worse was to come.

Kante was badly caught out for Arsenal's third as he committed himself to a failed challenge too far up-field on Alexis Sanchez, before referee Michael Oliver beat the midfielder back in tracking the Gunners' counter-attack - a turn of events that brought the midfielder plenty of post-game criticism.

But it would be unfair to lay the blame squarely with Kante, especially since he is being asked to perform a different role to the one in which he excelled at Leicester - a position which Nemanja Matic knows all too well.

"Since Kante came, he’s worked more behind me and his job is what I have done for the last two years," Matic said, admitting the job is "very hard" given how much running is involved.

Matic spoke like a man who is relishing "a little bit more freedom" that having Kante behind him affords, given it was not long ago that the Serbian was the fall guy for Chelsea's woes under Mourinho.

Oscar (15) is the only Chelsea player to win more tackles than Kante (13) in the Premier League this season
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But while Kante is providing his fair share of perspiration for the Blues, his ability to inspire is being overlooked. The 25-year-old has been favourably compared to Stamford Bridge legend Claude Makelele, and is now being tasked with performing the same role.

To write off Kante as purely a defensive midfielder does him a disservice, as Leicester fans will recall his thrilling drives forward as being integral to not just points, but - perhaps just as crucially - the sense of belief that their title challenge could be sustained.

Kante is making far more passes for Chelsea than he did for Leicester (64.4 per game compared to 39.2, according to WhoScored.com) and at a higher accuracy (91.1 per cent to 81.6%), but is carrying the ball less with one dribble a game as opposed to 1.6 with the Foxes.

While Kante is occupying a more defensive role, the Frenchman's actual interventions have dropped from 4.7 tackles a game at Leicester to three at Chelsea, with his interception rate dropping from 4.2 to 2.1.

In fairness, Leicester's breathless counter-attacking style is not typical of usual champions - that element of surprise was itself crucial to their charge. One would expect Kante to be making fewer tackles and interceptions at Chelsea, and his improved passing accuracy a result of a deeper role and new responsibility.

But Kante has gone from being a dynamic midfielder to a player who sits deeper, keeps possession ticking over and looks for long passes. The fact that he is now playing 4.4 long balls a game compared to just 1.7 at Leicester shows Kante is still being tasked with building play from the back, but not driving forward with the ball at his feet - a key feature of his game.

With Cesc Fabregas falling down the pecking order, Oscar and Matic are driving Chelsea forward from the middle - but asking Kante to just sit back is like tying his shoelaces together.

Kante dominated Leicester's title-winning team by turning defence into attack through interceptions, but neither Riyad Mahrez nor Jamie Vardy shirked their defensive responsibilities despite their lethal output - a charge eaily levelled at Chelsea's Hazard.

Mourinho and Conte both demand huge commitment despite their differences, though Hazard's lack of appetite for defending put pressure firstly on Matic last season, with Kante now suffering the same fate.

Leicester recruitment chief Steve Walsh joked that Kante played on "either side" of Danny Drinkwater in a three-man midfield; in Chelsea's 4-2-3-1/4-1-4-1 formation, Kante is expected to work hard but without the tireless team efforts.

However, Conte's recent switch to a 3-4-3 may be the making of the midfielder at the Bridge.

Although the coach's tactical change may be down to a lack of top-class centre-backs, an extra body in behind will allow Kante to step forward as he did at Hull, playing more passes in the final third and creating two chances.

He may never be a true playmaker, but Kante can be a marauder like Roy Keane was at Manchester United; he can help to open up the pitch and then has the stamina to close it down.

Kante appeared to be doing the work of two midfielders at Leicester, but Conte will get the best from the midfielder if he affords him that "little bit more freedom", as Matic puts it, to be his own man.

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