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Tbh, I think Ndidi has got the potential to be more of an all-round player than Kante. Kante, bless his size 8 cotton socks, couldn't shoot for toffee and wasn't the best passer of the ball. I think Ndidi is more of an attack minded player with an eye for goal and the confidence to have a go.

If it weren't for that tackling stat above, I would have said Mendy was more like Kante. They both share that busyness. The midfield of Ndidi and Mendy that I like the look of allows Ndidi to be more attack minded and doesn't limit him to defensive duties. I think I need another look at Mendy though.
 
Have to agree Ndidi potentially better than Kanté

Gray potentially better than Mahrez.

We have some great young players. Time to release them.
 
Kante is the best midfielder in the Premier League, possibly the world, at this point. Certainly, if you were building a side, he would be the first name on your wish list.

NDidi looks very very good, but comparisons are daft. He's one of the absolutely critical reasons we need to stay up, along with Gray, and Chilwell. None of those boys will be playing championship football next year.
 
"best", hmmm, I dunno about that. I'm not sure he'd be the majority's first name on a team sheet either. A great deal depends on the balance of the side you're building. France dropped Kanté to include Griezzman, for instance.

Don't get me wrong, I rate the guy immensely and I would certainly agree that he's on the (short) list of best midfielders in the EPL but there are differing abilities and strengths across all. My point is that it's a matter of balance.

Sorry, I don't agree that comparison is daft either! Sure, it's subjective and arguably moot but it provokes discussion! Just know to take it with the prerequisite pinch of salt ;)
 
"best", hmmm, I dunno about that. I'm not sure he'd be the majority's first name on a team sheet either. A great deal depends on the balance of the side you're building. France dropped Kanté to include Griezzman, for instance.

Don't get me wrong, I rate the guy immensely and I would certainly agree that he's on the (short) list of best midfielders in the EPL but there are differing abilities and strengths across all. My point is that it's a matter of balance.

Sorry, I don't agree that comparison is daft either! Sure, it's subjective and arguably moot but it provokes discussion! Just know to take it with the prerequisite pinch of salt ;)
That is true, and the balance in the side we had depended so critically on the abilities of Kanté, leaving us with a huge Kanté-shaped hole to fill (please behave)
 
Maybe I'm looking at it too simply but even with Kante in the team I couldn't see see our current tactics of Drinkwater passing to the opposition or defenders just booting it working out well for us.
 
Maybe I'm looking at it too simply but even with Kante in the team I couldn't see see our current tactics of Drinkwater passing to the opposition or defenders just booting it working out well for us.
Kante tidied up in front of the defence incredibly efficiently and retrieved the ball for the midfielders, meaning they could concentrate on getting forward instead of winning tackles; the loss of his presence is a massive factor in our demise and a massive factor in Chelsea's revival. It's plain to see that we would be nowhere near where we are at present with him in the team.

As for any comparisons with Ndidi so far; absolutely bonkers. Ndidi may have been pretty tidy so far but he's a world away from what Kante is. Okay, I can see the potential there but Kante is a very special player indeed; Ndidi isn't even close to emulating him yet.
 
Kante tidied up in front of the defence incredibly efficiently and retrieved the ball for the midfielders, meaning they could concentrate on getting forward instead of winning tackles; the loss of his presence is a massive factor in our demise and a massive factor in Chelsea's revival. It's plain to see that we would be nowhere near where we are at present with him in the team.

As for any comparisons with Ndidi so far; absolutely bonkers. Ndidi may have been pretty tidy so far but he's a world away from what Kante is. Okay, I can see the potential there but Kante is a very special player indeed; Ndidi isn't even close to emulating him yet.

I'm not downplaying his ability to defend. I'm questioning his influence on our players abilities to work out who their teammates are and their sanity. I could blame my inability to hit the toilet when having a piss on his departure but it had **** all to do with it really
 
I'm not downplaying his ability to defend. I'm questioning his influence on our players abilities to work out who their teammates are and their sanity. I could blame my inability to hit the toilet when having a piss on his departure but it had **** all to do with it really

You're correct in that your toilet habits have nothing to do with Kante leaving. Our defenders having no one to intercept the ball for them and our midfielders not having an engine to do the hard work whilst they push on and wait for the ball to come to them, has everything to do with Kante's decision to leave however.

I'm making no excuses for the players that have failed to adapt quickly enough but adapt they have had to. The whole dynamic of the side, how it attacks, how it defends and how it moves as a unit has to be markedly different now Kante isn't around. No one will ever know, but I am totally convinced that this side would be far higher in the table if Kante was still in situ.
 
Kante is sensational. We have nobody at his level. Nobody.
 
Blimey, no wonder there are so many disagreements on here if people can't see How Kante is the most important midfielder in the Country by an absolute mile.

He goes to Man Utd they win the league, he goes to Man City they win the league, he goes to Arsenal they win the league, there is not one player in the league to compare him to.

Best and most important midfielder to his team in Europe.
 
Blimey, no wonder there are so many disagreements on here if people can't see How Kante is the most important midfielder in the Country by an absolute mile.

He goes to Man Utd they win the league, he goes to Man City they win the league, he goes to Arsenal they win the league, there is not one player in the league to compare him to.

Best and most important midfielder to his team in Europe.

yet unable to break into the French first team.
 
Looking at that Mendy stat again, it must be wrong. Around 270 minutes per tackle? That's once every 3 games! Does he actively avoid tackling? Or is he simply not good at it? Or both?
Or is it that the BBC stats are so Primary School simplistic that it's impossible to draw any inference from them?
 
It's really worth reading this for some illuminating perspectives on 'hero to zero'...

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/feb/12/leicester-warning-title-defences-went-wrong

It's all quotable but here are some snippets to give you a flavour:

Howard Wilkinson on Leeds, 1993

I think some of the players over-performed, so they started to feel the strain of that and then there’s a regression back to normal. They’d been scoring nine out of 10 every week and sometimes, if you looked at them realistically, you’d be thinking: ‘I’d be happy if this guy gave me seven out of 10.’

Bo Henriksen of Herfolge (Danish Superliga), 2001

We were not the best team but we would do anything for each other. Also, most of us hadn’t won anything before, so we wanted to show the world that we were good enough. We won the championship almost out of nothing and everybody went crazy. We partied for three weeks, then came back and had to play European games and in the Danish Superliga again. We started to rotate the team to be able to play in all the competitions and we probably thought we were a little bit better than we were.
 
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