We live in a world where not even 5% of Earth’s population understand how to use the word ‘literally’ properly.
From Jamie Redknapp saying that Michael Owen was literally a greyhound in his youth to every other contestant on X Factor promising to literally “catch fire” during a live performance – there are many, many examples.
Yet when someone talks about how N’Golo Kanté has literally done the job of seven men during a football match, it’s probably a completely fair assessment.
Breathing in half of the Amazon rainforest’s annual oxygen output into his three bin liner-sized lungs and with haemoglobin-rich blood being pumped around his body by a heart as big as Phil Jones’ head, Kante’s 5’6″ frame appeared to cover every blade of Stamford Bridge grass on Saturday afternoon. His Nostradamus-like ability to know the intended destination of every Arsenal pass saw him break up a number of attacks before they’d even had chance to become a threat.
Although Antonio Conte will rightly take most of the credit for transforming the mid-table Chelsea of 2015/16 into champions elect, the addition of Kanté last summer has also proved hugely significant. Similarly, the plight of Leicester City since the Frenchman’s departure also speaks volumes about just how important he is.
As a Henrikh Mkhitaryan-inspired Manchester United rolled the champions over 3-0 on Sunday afternoon, Gary Lineker noted how frail the central defensive partnership of Wes Morgan and Robert Huth looked without Kanté occupying the space in front of them.
Jeez. Huth and Morgan without Kanté in front of them are like Huth and Morgan.
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) February 5, 2017
Kanté’s presence last season undoubtedly made Leicester more defensively solid. With this in mind, perhaps it’s not just coincidence that David Luiz – a player whose defensive talents have often been questioned down the years – has performed so well since returning to Chelsea this season?
His performances at Leicester showed us all that Kanté was a useful player. Ultimately though, he didn’t have the goal-scoring exploits of Jamie Vardy to his name, nor the attacking flair and nice haircut of Riyad Mahrez and it was these two that scooped the big end of year awards.
Perhaps this year, given the contrasting fortunes of his current and former clubs, Kanté will land one of the big player of the season awards. Sure, he’s not added much in the way of goals to his game, and (without downplaying his technical abilities) he isn’t exactly going to carve open a defence in the same way some of his Chelsea teammates might, but it’s hard to think of a more influential player in the Premier League.
History shows that it’s usually the more creative, goal-scoring players that take the end of season honours, but judging by what we’ve seen so far, there’s nobody more deserving than Kanté.
Put simply, N’Golo Kanté is the best defensive midfielder on the planet. Literally.
