N’Golo Kante is perhaps Chelsea’s best player, and almost certainly their best midfielder, so missing him for tonight’s game against Porto in the Champions League quarter finals is a huge blow, right?
That was how it was put to Thomas Tuchel in the flash interview before the game, but he turned round the question right away. SI.com reported the quotes the moment they came out of the manager’s mouth on BT Sport:
“It’s not a blow as we have him on the bench, I am delighted about that. We are happy to have him on the bench, to finish the game for us.”
Ok, fair enough, it’s true that we’re happier to have Kante on the bench and fit than we would be to not have him at all. But really, the interviewer wanted to know how much of a blow it was to not have the France star in the starting XI, and there’s no question we’re weaker without him.
No amount of positive spin from TT can change that. Let’s just hope he can come on and play the “closer” role that the manager clearly has in mind for him tonight.
