11 Dec 2016 11:42:31
I forgot to Add :
Xhaka may not be a defensive colossus, but he does mop up well and breaks up the opposition's attacks with his tackling and interceptions.
He is playing the Cazorla role right now and doing very well. Kante could not do that for us because he is by miles the inferior passer, he cannot not pull off the types of long and complex passes Xhaka can nor is he creative enough. That's not a knock on Kante because they play different roles so we cannot compare the two.
Lol and lasting memory I'll have of Kante is Ozil making him look like a mug as we walloped them 3-0
By The way I'd argue that Mustafi is the bargain of season, when the see the kind of Money City spent on stones.
11 Dec 2016 12:17:26
Cmp could not disagree more, xhaka does no mopping up as you put it, that's one thing he doesn't do and you analysis of kante is, well biased. Its not a coincidence that he was at Leicester and they won the league and miss him all round and chelski have moved about 8 places up the league and he's basically the only new player. he's far better than you credit him for.
11 Dec 2016 12:33:40
Steve - Chelsea have a new manager and formation. May be they missed a box to box midfielder
Question - is Kante a Coq or Santi replacement?
Question 2 - who cares about Kante as we didn't sign him.
11 Dec 2016 12:49:15
Sy don't blame me I didn't bring him in the debate.
11 Dec 2016 12:55:52
Question 1 kante could have played with coq or santi. But he's at chelski and i'm sure they are happy with him all round.
11 Dec 2016 13:32:10
I bet they are happy and I would have signed him over Elneny but not Granit but that's the issue with timing but the beautiful thing about opinions! Have a great Sunday.
11 Dec 2016 13:57:43
So Steve you mean to tell me that Xhaka does no defensive work and the stats about his interceptions, tackles and ball recoveries per game are a myth? You say my am biased against Kante but you completely deny Xhaka's defensive contribution, even yesterday he made his mark.
Then you attribute Chelsea's improvement down to only Kante, Am sure it has nothing to with a resurgent Diego Costa and Eden Hazard, a completely reborn Victor Moses or the influence of Antonio Conte.
11 Dec 2016 15:31:51
Cmp his defensive work is wreckless and not calculated. Your the one saying kante is not that good, i'm saying if xhaka has the same effect on us as kante has on the teams he's played for in this league we will be happy. He has come close yet.
11 Dec 2016 15:38:59
Cmp you put words into peoples mouths, I never said any of the thing you put. I used the word coincidence, that's all.
11 Dec 2016 18:33:20
Lads I will say this, Xhaka and Kante were both available this summer for roughly 30 million each so a comparison between who got the better player for the money invested is a fair one, like wise Stones and Mustafi.
From what I've seen from all 4 players so far this season we missed a trick on Kante but got it right on Mustafi, of course by next May this may all change and Xhaka and Stones might be seen as the best buys but for now imo no glasses are needed at all to see that Mustafi looks the best we could get in terms of value for money CB but only through the most rose tinted of glasses could anyone think Xhaka equals a better buy than Kante.
11 Dec 2016 19:29:01
Xhaka is an arsenal player and is far supirior to any Chelsea player! Steve where is your loyalty your a gooner ain't you. Don't over think it support our boys.
11 Dec 2016 20:01:46
62 - Kante and Granit are two different types of players. Kante at present looks better value - yes. But I don't think we needed Kante but rather a ball player who converts defence to attack quickly - that's seems to be more Granit than Kante from my perspective. No rose tinted glasses as I never wanted Kante given the needs of the team. Once we signed Elneny as back up for Coq - we were done as far I I wS concerned. If we had not signed Elneny then I would have opted for Kante and Granit ( Granit type of player ) .
Granit needs time and then we can judge him - first season and not had a great run of games yet.
I stupid red - a red that viera would have picked up - and a few stupid mistakes. Will he learn - bloody hope so!
That's me with my rose tinted glasses if you call that biased.
All I am saying to Steve is that Coq was no different a year ago. Stupid costly red against Spuds and should have seen red against Palace. He has leArned the hard aT but Steve over looks that. You must have the memory of a goldfish to not remember how stupid Coq was even when on a yellow.
11 Dec 2016 21:54:13
You are right about Le Coq being reckless at times last season SY mate but I don't think he wss ever dirty just over enthusiastic and a little naive at times, personally I think Le Coq and Kante would have made a great partnership because although Kante breaks moves up for fun he is much more than a DM, he carry's the ball forward very quickly and effectively turning defence into attack time after time, there's a reason the opposition manager and the three match officials are continusly counting the Chelsea players in the field as they did with Leicester last a season, and that reason is Kante.
{Ed025's Note - hes excellent G62..
11 Dec 2016 22:44:07
Never said he was and never argued about Kante's quality
I like Coq and Santi as a pair in midfield and would not want Kante breaking that up. I hope Granit can grow into Santi's role over the season. Think that role is key to us and don't think that Kante can play that role.
Coq and Kante would be a strong defensive unit may be it would work - who knows and I don't really care as he plays for Chelsea. I really just care about our players and couldn't care if someone was more or less expensive or bargain of the season. Think Bellerin qualifies for that last year while Iwobi isn't doing himself any hall either on that front.
11 Dec 2016 23:01:55
No idea why Kante keeps coming into these debates to be honest, he doesn't play for us and as ed02 has pointed out, he specifically wanted to go to Chelsea and nowhere else so there was never ever any chance of him coming here.
Mourinho tried everything to pursuade him to go to United and failed.
Coquelin and Cazorla all day long for me.
12 Dec 2016 08:33:28
Chelsea have improved mainly because of replacing ivanovic with Marcos Alonso in the team, not just because of kante. Not sure if they can maintain this form with cahill n luiz as CBs.
12 Dec 2016 09:26:04
Sy get over yourself, I explained fully about coqs cards and why and how he does or does not get them.
12 Dec 2016 12:43:33
Get over yourself?
What are you talking about
My point is - Coq has learned his lesson and you love him. Why can't Granit and why is Kante relevant
If you note - I state Kante is good but that everything good at Chelsea is not down to him. You implied coincidence.
I state Granit needs to remove his stupid behaviour but also that the behaviour is not that different to Viera or other hard players we have had.
Tell me where I have rose tinted glasses and get off your high horse when someone challenges you. You seem very happy to challenge everyone else but seem hell bent on going on about Kante while dissing Granit before he even gets a chance.
12 Dec 2016 16:20:57
Sy I didn't bring kante into this thread, coq is a footballer who can tackle, who mistimes very rarely cosidering the amount he tackles, he isn't wreckless, if you know anything about football you will notice xhakas position for tackling is poor that's why his record of reds is what it is historically. I like coq because he can tackle and I don't like xhakas tackling because it is poor. that's an opinion based on what I see not because I like coq more. I want xhaka to be a better player obviously, I don't want an utter nutter who puts us in danger. Anyway give it a rest now, bezt for all.