One of the really notable features of Maurizio Sarri’s tactical tweaks at Chelsea has been the shifting of N’Golo Kante’s position to one further up the field.
That’s been clear from the very first game, and was never more evident than against West Ham. Kante was twice the man who found himself on the end of crosses into the box, both of which he headed wide, and he often found himself receiving the ball in tight spaces near the opposition goal.
Those are not the areas he excels in, and he sometimes looks like a fish out of water that high up the pitch.
It’s an unfortunate side-effect of the tactical shift that has forced him forward, but there isn’t too much Sarri can do to fix it. Jorginho has to be the deepest player in the formation as he picks the ball up off the defenders and needs to drop away from opposition pressure. So Kante can no longer play the defensive role, he has to play a more box to box style.
Without removing Jorginho, who is the central cog of this whole team, there is no real solution to this. We just have to hope that next time round those chances fall to Mateo Kovacic, the third man in the midfield, who has considerably more experience playing in the final third.
