John Barnes surprised by N’Golo Kante’s limited role under Thomas Tuchel
Kante #Kante
Liverpool legend John Barnes has lavished praise on N’Golo Kante and ‘can’t believe’ the midfielder has been reduced to a bench role for Chelsea in recent weeks.
Kante returned from a hamstring injury at end of January and still is yet to start a Premier League game under new Blues boss Thomas Tuchel.
The World Cup winner has found himself on the bench for Chelsea’s last four league outings, with Tuchel favouring a midfield pairing of Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic so far.
Kante’s only start under the new manager was in the 1-0 FA Cup victory over Barnsley, and Barnes is surprised the 29-year-old has not been used more regularly as he is ‘too good not to be playing’.
‘N’Golo Kante is a hardworking midfield player, great on the ball, very good defensively, and also a World Cup winner,’ Barnes told BonusCodeBets.
‘If a team is looking for a defensive midfield player to play in front of the back four with bags of energy and the ability to cover ground quicky, he is a perfect acquisition.
‘It’s good for teams to have different players in the middle of midfield also, I can’t believe he’s not able to get a game at Chelsea to be honest, although Kovacic has been fantastic for them.
‘If Kante is not getting the opportunities at Chelsea, he will know more than most that he needs to move to make sure he’s playing regular football.
‘He’s too good not to be playing.’
Tuchel has enjoyed a fine start to life at Stamford Bridge having picked up 13 points from a possible 15 in the league since taking over from Frank Lampard last month.
The Blues go into their clash against Southampton at St Mary’s on Saturday in fourth place in the table.
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