The post-mortem of Chelsea’s defeat to Spurs is seemingly not over, with Maurizio Sarri laying some of the blame at the door of midfield dynamo, N’Golo Kante.
Chelsea went into Saturday evening Wembley encounter as the only team in Europes top five divisions yet to taste defeat this season but were put to the sword by their London neighbours, who expertly took advantage of the Blues defensive flaws in a comfortable 3-1 win.
In the aftermath of the defeat, there have been many pundits questioning Maurizio Sarri’s use of N’Golo Kante and his £57 million summer signing, Jorginho, who saw his creative abilities closed down by Mauricio Pochettino’s impressive Spurs side.
While the likes of Danny Murphy suggested that Sarri should have switched Kante to his more familiar defensive midfield role, Sarri has replied by saying that the Frenchman should not have been in such advanced positions.
“As you know I want to play a central midfielder with great technical ability, so Jorginho and (Cesc) Fabregas,” Sarri told the media ahead of Chelsea’s Europa League game against PAOK.
“I don’t want Kante in this position. Kante tried to solve the match on Saturday, but in the wrong way. He tried to be too attacking.
“Maybe it is a question of time. He needs to stay near to Jorginho.
“It depends on the action (Kante getting forward). If the ball is on the left, no. He has to stay very close to Jorginho.”