Frank Lampard says N’Golo Kante is priceless in big matches for Chelsea and France (. / BBC)
Frank Lampard says the only ‘problem’ he had with N’Golo Kante at Chelsea was trying to prevent the midfielder from running too much in training.
Lampard spent 18 months working with Kante in Chelsea before being fired and replaced by Thomas Tuchel in late January.
Kante struggled with a hamstring injury during Lampard’s first season at Stamford Bridge, but since recovering, the World Cup winner has once again established himself as an integral part of Chelsea’s midfield.
Lampard has described Kante’s contribution as ‘invaluable’ and admits that the only downside to managing the 30-year-old is having to be strict with the amount of effort he puts in during training sessions.
“When I came to Chelsea, he had been playing so regularly for a few seasons because everyone trusts him so much, he had an injury that led to my first season, we miss him so much.” Lampard told BBC Sport.
‘You seriously miss N’Golo in big games because he is an important player. Nobody will want to play against him because of the attributes he has.
Frank Lampard says he had to keep a close eye on N’Golo Kante’s effort levels in Chelsea training (.)
“In those great games, finals, soccer tournaments, players like N’Golo are priceless.
‘The main reason he’s so good is that he’s the best in the world at being a destroyer. When I say destroyer, I mean to get the ball back. To recover the ball with his anticipation, having the speed to achieve close and short distances, his main attribute for me is destruction, leaving spaces to recover balls.
“An old-fashioned midfielder who you would say would sit in front of the four in the back, Makelele did so well years ago for Chelsea.
But he has so much more to his game. When you see the distances he closes to get in front of people, that acceleration and speed, that is something special for him, it is very unique.
‘They asked me a lot [about playing him as a strict defensive midfielder], my feeling was that he had so many attributes that it was more than that, I was holding him back by saying, ‘please sit there’.
More: Chelsea FC
“You have to allow N’Golo to travel with the ball, he can find passes that I think people don’t give him credit for, his close control in tight areas is also fantastic.
‘You can do multiple jobs at the same time. He makes the people around him better, he helps everyone.
He is exactly as you would expect from the outside, nothing is an act, he is very humble, very quiet, he does not want much conversation.
“The problem I found with him more than anything was trying to keep him in training because every day you train and you release him in an opposite session, he does that, and you have to try to pull him back because he can.” just put that output in everything you do.
“It’s incredible, it’s exactly what you see from the outside.”
For more stories like this, check out our sports page.
Follow Metro Sport on our social channels, on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
–
