Is N’Golo Kante In Decline? We Take A Look At The Chelsea Star’s Numbers

Chelsea legend Claude Makelele recently called on N’Golo Kante to do more and demonstrate he is a senior player in the Blues’ squad.

The 29-year-old has been in and out of the team since Thomas Tuchel’s arrival as manager and Makelele wants to see the midfielder take more responsibility:

“For me, I expect more from N’Golo Kante because he can be better than me. He needs more communication with his defenders. You want him to have more responsibility, more power to say: ‘I’m here. You do this behind me and I’ll do this in front of you’. He can have leadership in this team. I know Kante is shy, never talks, he just wants to do his job. But I think he can do more.”

Makelele’s comments also highlight another concern about Kante’s form. Some fans think the Frenchman’s performances have noticeably dropped in the last couple of seasons. Press the next page as we take a look at the numbers to see if that perception is correct.

Interceptions

In the 2017/18 season, Kante made 68 interceptions in 34 league appearances, according to StatsBomb, but that number declined significantly the following campaign when he managed just 43 in two more league games.

It must be pointed that last year was a bit of an anomaly for Kante, having played only 22 league matches due to injuries, but he still only managed 28 interceptions; a notable decrease if we assess his performance on a per 90-minute basis. However, he has shown a marked improvement this season, having won 49 interceptions so far.

Tackles Won

The amount of tackles that Kante has won in league matches shows a similar pattern to interceptions. He won the ball off an opponent 76 times in 2017/18, but that dropped to 61 the following year.

His injury-plagued 2019/20 campaign saw that number go down to 43 but he has already surpassed that figure this season (44), which suggests he has recaptured his form somewhat.

Recoveries

Recovering loose balls is an important part of a holding midfielder’s job. The 2017/18 season so Kante make 429 recoveries, but that figure has gradually declined over the past four years.

In 2018/19, the France international managed 356, last year saw him retrieve possession 282 times, while this campaign he has managed only 235 in the same number of matches as last season.

Pressures

This measurement is probably slightly harder to attribute to an individual player as different managers have different philosophies when it comes to pressing the ball.

Under Maurizio Sarri, Kante pressed the ball 899 times, when a year before he managed only 715 playing for Antonio Conte, who places far less emphasis on pressing. Even so, it is noticeable that his numbers under Frank Lampard and Thomas Tuchel, who are more attacked minded coaches, have not improved. The Frenchman has managed just 367 pressures in 22 matches this season. A drop from 25 pressures per match in Sarri’s season to an average of just 16.6 per game.

In conclusion, there is a clear decline in Kante’s game. In some of the metrics, such as interceptions and tackles, he has improved this season compared to the past two campaigns, but his work rate (recoveries and pressures) is noticeably lower than before.

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