4za said on another thread that in terms of importance to playing Sarriball the key players at Napoli in order were:
Jorginho
Albiol
Allan

Which I thought was interesting.

I thought Allan was more a box to box type player aswell? I think that it will be a bedding in process, still early days, and only 10 days sarri had with the team before the arsenal game, let alone huddersfield.

I do feel that after a while, kante will swap with jorgino on and off during a match.

With kovacic, hazard, pedro/willian and morata, we should have more than enough flair up top and against the better teams will probably need kante to drop to destroy their play. (something that was not happening first half against arsenal, but that he done second half).

I think once it clicks and people get used to their roles we won't see the same gaps as we did against arsenal. Kante has the energy of two men!

From what I have heard from a lot of Calcio A fans they compare Allan to a Dembele type player more than anything?

I guess it depends on the attacking output of Kovacic as well. If he can play the Hamsik role then maybe Barkley will be the one being dropped.

Potentially Sarri may not be too keen on giving Kovacic a guaranteed starting place as he isn't necessarily going to be a Chelsea player indefinitely.

Will be interesting to see how Sarri builds this midfield.

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

I'm not sure, can't say I watch Serie A geez, I just keep seeing lines like this on sky:

u"sed Allan to good effect, shuttling up and down the right channel as a box-to-box midfielder, while Marek Hamsik drifted to the left. It seems that Kante has been earmarked for a similar role at Chelsea."

If Kovacic plays anything like he did in his cameo against arsenal I'd want us to buy him in Jan. He looks very dembele esq. Was winning tackles and ghosting past players.

comment by Greatteamswinit4times- a terrible enemy (U6008)
posted 32 seconds ago
It's weird seeing Kante in the box all the time.
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It is probably the thing he is worst at currently. Will be interesting to see if he can adapt though.

I never thought he was a particularly good passer of the ball, yet last season he developed that aspect of his game and was quite a competent passer throughout most the season.

Did you not see kante's crisp finish against huddersfield edin?

comment by Nickasaurus (U9257)
posted 1 minute ago
Did you not see kante's crisp finish against huddersfield edin?
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such a lucky hit

I think it’s an interesting one, he’ll need time to adapt but I think he’ll be fine. Having said that in a traditional 4-3-3 I’d still want him as a DM first and foremost but oh well.

He’s a good dribbler, just doesn’t have the outright confidence to constantly take players on like most wingers. I read on twitter he used to be a winger in Ligue 2 France - not sure if true but wouldn’t surprise me. He has a lie centre of gravity and ability to shift the ball both ways, honestly he is most similar to Hazard in style in our squad for dribbling *style*. Maybe YT will have some highlights of his dribbling

On the ball I feel he has really improved, for club and country last season, he’s more capable of showing off a good passing range or advancing play with ‘pass and move’ quick and incisive passes. In fact last season although we were chit I kinda think he was better than in the title season..maybe it was circumstance he didn’t have to deal with in title winning season but in games where everyone around him was poor he was the only one trying to do things, picking up the ball and advancing.

Also his stamina and pace seen defensively should technically also translate to him being able to make loads of tireless runs for us, which if he gets right, even if he doesn’t score 20+ will still be very beneficial.

Agree with all of that BK.

Other than I think kovacic will soon be closest to hazard in terms of dribbling.

I agree with pretty much all of that BK; I thought he was way better last season for you guys than he was the year before - I do wonder if that is because with the absence of Matic he had to do way more of the playmaking than ever before.

I don't think he is very suited to #10 tight-situation positions just outside the oppositions box where a D.Silva/Eriksen etc may excel - it depends what is being asked from him.

I think Sarri may just think that in his team it is either Kante or Kovacic for that #8 role and not both. I guess that depends on how good Kovacic's attacking output is.

comment by Nickasaurus (U9257)
posted 3 minutes ago
Agree with all of that BK.

Other than I think kovacic will soon be closest to hazard in terms of dribbling.
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I think Kovacic uses his strength and first-touch skill to get past players like the likes of Dembele/Allan/Lemina. Whereas Hazard uses a lot of low-center of gravity touches & quick bursts of pace to get past people like someone like Sanchez or Sterling does.

I'm not sure I agree that Kante does this though, I always thought as a dribbler he was a kick and rush specialist.

His goal against utd was quite silky.

I agree with pretty much all of that BK; I thought he was way better last season for you guys than he was the year before - I do wonder if that is because with the absence of Matic he had to do way more of the playmaking than ever before.
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i'd argue it was that matic didn't get in his way. Looks like we are sorting that part of our team out now.

No mikel, no bakayoko, no matic. Lovely to have a dynamic DM who can play a bit.

I think Kante can be more effective going forward than he is given credit for. He covers ground quickly which allows him to counter and break into the box effectively.

I think Morata will have a good season under Sarri too.

I think Morata will as well, players who manage to get as many chances as he does tend to eventually start scoring

Comment deleted by Site Moderator

If a manager is so 1 dimensional that he cannot figure out how to get world class players to play then he is not the man for the job

comment by orangesherbert (U21919)
posted 14 minutes ago
If a manager is so 1 dimensional that he cannot figure out how to get world class players to play then he is not the man for the job
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A mourinho reference per chance?

comment by Nickasaurus (U9257)
posted 4 minutes ago
comment by orangesherbert (U21919)
posted 14 minutes ago
If a manager is so 1 dimensional that he cannot figure out how to get world class players to play then he is not the man for the job
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A mourinho reference per chance?
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haha na wasnt a dig at any manager at all. Just that any top top manager shouldnt be so restricted that he cannot use certain players even if they are genuinely world class which I put Kante in. My mates a gooner and I said about 3 years ago that he should have been arsenals number one target no ifs no buts. Regardless of cost.

It isn't about being one dimensional; it is more about whether playing Kante sacrifices the style to an extent.

Pep has the same issue with Aguero who, while he has developed a few aspects of his game, isn't really suited as a Pep player which is why he was so desperate to sign Jesus. It's one of the interesting tactical decisions that Sarri will have to make this season.

I wouldn't say he's a hindrance, but the way Sarri's using him (if Kovacic comes in for Barkley at some point) he's gunna have to score more goals. We'll see.

Kanté is in the team to lead the press from midfield and try and break up the play high up the pitch.

Let Hazard, Pedro, Willian, Kovačić and Jorginho worry about creating.

He'll be one of the first names on the sheet on sunday.

If pedro/hazard/morata/giroud/willian can all gets around 15 goals this year we will be fine. If kante/kovacic/jorgino get 3-5 each we should be in good nick.

comment by Nickasaurus (U9257)
posted 6 minutes ago
If pedro/hazard/morata/giroud/willian can all gets around 15 goals this year we will be fine. If kante/kovacic/jorgino get 3-5 each we should be in good nick.


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Bit weird referring to yourself like that.


However you are asking a lot. Willian has only scored more than 6 goals in the league once. Hazard isn't the most prolific. Morata has only ever once scored 15 goals in the league

Then in midfield Kovacic has scored one goal in three league seasons for RM. Jorginho has scored 2 in 5 league seasons at Napoli & Kante hasn't scored more than one league goal a season in the PL.

Would be asking a lot of your players to increase their output quite substantially - which could happen but it is a big ask.