Kova.................

Stellar couple of performances from Kovacic, against Newcastle & Ajax.
Press-resistant nature to his play exudes confidence.

I suspected he would be a joy to watch, once put in an unrestricted role.

Yes Kova worth £40m after all

His form is really helping cover the fact we've not had kante all season so far. Always willing to take the ball in tight spaces, plays out of danger well and seems defensively sound, really showing his potential at the minute

I have said for a while that he should have a higher standing in the squad than he does at the moment,

Good article and similar to one I was going to do! Saved me time! He’s been great this year. Most our boys have tbf, I know it’s ridiculous saying it but we’ve only had a couple bad performances this year even if the early results didn’t show that. Still so short due to injuries and putting in good performances

As JP says, because of Kova, we have not missed Kante as much as we might have done.He is now an essential part of the squad and Frank can see that.
Seems like we are gathering an embarrassment of riches in there, this has got to be good for the future.

Was obvious to me he was a good player who fell victim to the footballing style last year. He's a double pivot player, needs to be going up and down rather than stuck in the opposition half (unless he's occupying a Xavi like role). We could probably get away with playing 442 with him & Kante in the midfield tbh.

The more pleasing performer to me has been Jorginho whose kind of in the same position Kovacic was last year being the stylistically odd one out, but he's holding his own. Really top player.

comment by Devil D.A. (U6522)
posted 10 hours, 11 minutes ago
Was obvious to me he was a good player who fell victim to the footballing style last year. He's a double pivot player, needs to be going up and down rather than stuck in the opposition half (unless he's occupying a Xavi like role). We could probably get away with playing 442 with him & Kante in the midfield tbh.

The more pleasing performer to me has been Jorginho whose kind of in the same position Kovacic was last year being the stylistically odd one out, but he's holding his own. Really top player.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I thought Kova was decent last season, especially when covering for Kante on our right and Jorgi was excellent last season too.

Yes Kova is more consistent this season, but it just seems fashionable to like these players more under Frank that it was Sarri

comment by HarlequinHebdo (U16981)
posted 18 hours, 37 minutes ago
As JP says, because of Kova, we have not missed Kante as much as we might have done.He is now an essential part of the squad and Frank can see that.
Seems like we are gathering an embarrassment of riches in there, this has got to be good for the future.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Over the course of a whole season and especially a sustained CL campaign i think Kante is still an essential player for us, but yes Kovacic's is helping to soften the blow of Kante's injury problems this season

comment by SWTN - Judas is number 1 (U7916)
posted 1 hour, 12 minutes ago

comment by Devil D.A. (U6522)
posted 10 hours, 11 minutes ago
Was obvious to me he was a good player who fell victim to the footballing style last year. He's a double pivot player, needs to be going up and down rather than stuck in the opposition half (unless he's occupying a Xavi like role). We could probably get away with playing 442 with him & Kante in the midfield tbh.

The more pleasing performer to me has been Jorginho whose kind of in the same position Kovacic was last year being the stylistically odd one out, but he's holding his own. Really top player.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I thought Kova was decent last season, especially when covering for Kante on our right and Jorgi was excellent last season too.

Yes Kova is more consistent this season, but it just seems fashionable to like these players more under Frank that it was Sarri
----------------------------------------------------------
He was decent when you consider he didn't really have a place in Sarri's setup - he was OK in all three midfield roles but not ideal for any of them. Frank's style of play opening the pitch up helps him tremendously.

There's elements of Frank favoritism when it comes to how Jorginho's perceived (he was great last season), but everyone else has been fair from what I've seen.