LUIZ, BATSHUAYI AND KANTE
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has revealed he had never
heard of N'Golo Kante before he joined Leicester City - but now he is the
complete midfielder.
Kante moved to the King Power
Stadium last summer from Caen for £5.6m and went on to play a pivotal role as
the Foxes won the Premier League.
It earned the 25-year-old a spot in
France's squad for Euro 2016 and a £32m move to Chelsea this summer.
After a slow start to life at
Stamford Bridge, Kante is beginning to thrive alongside his new team-mates and
he even got on the scoresheet during Chelsea's 4-0 victory over Manchester
United last Sunday.
It has led Conte to describe the
diminutive Frenchman as the complete midfield player but one, he confesses, he
knew little about two years ago.
Indeed when asked if he was aware of
Kante during his time in France, Conte said: 'No. Before [Leicester], no. I
must be honest.
'I think he's a complete midfielder,
not only a defensive midfielder. You can see in the last three games of the
championship, N'Golo could have scored three goals.
'Against Hull City, he hit the post
off Diego Costa's shot, against Leicester there was a deflection and then he
scored against United.
'He's a player that always arrives
in the box and it is fantastic. He has a fantastic stamina and also good
technique, positioning and personality.
'For me, I repeat, he is a very good player. He is a player
who can play box to box, but I prefer to respect the position.
'I like when N'Golo goes to press
with this [3-4-3] system. I ask lot - to press, to go forward. And at this I
think N'Golo is very good.
'I remember before the game against
Leicester that many people thought that N'Golo is another player compared to
last year, when he played with Leicester.
'Instead I said N'Golo is playing
very well with us and we are very pleased to have this player with us. For sure
he is a very good player.'
Kante's upturn in form has coincided
with Chelsea climbing back up the Premier League table after suffering defeats
to Arsenal and Liverpool.
Conte's side have won three Premier
League games on the spin since losing 3-0 at the Emirates and they head to Southampton
on Sunday looking to extend that run.
However, while Chelsea's form may have them fighting with
five or six teams for top spot, Conte believes it is too early for anyone to
tell if they are in the title race this year.
'In this moment I prefer to reply
that it's very difficult,' said Conte, when asked if his side can win the
Premier League this season.
'It's very difficult to tell now our
target, because it's early and in these games, we had a defeat against Arsenal
and Liverpool.
'For this reason it's important not
to look at the table. It's important to understand this type of work we're
doing now is good.
'A bit of time in the future, yes,
after I think eight, 10 games, I can tell our target. After three months, for
sure the situation has improved a lot and now I feel well.
'I have a good feeling with the
club, with the players, with the staff, with all the people who work in
Chelsea. For me the people are very important for our success.
'Now I'm very happy for the work
that we are doing. And I'm sure that if we continue in this way, we can have
good satisfaction for our work. I'm sure about this.'
No comments:
Post a Comment