KingChrome wrote:theHotHead wrote:Arsenal~Fanatic wrote:Kante is not an out and out grafter. There are more strings to his bow. Even Matic is a decent passer and can shoot with aplomb from a distance .For example you cannot go in with 2 Makelele type of DM, that would be totally lop sided.
I have always maintained in this era of football you need to have midfielders who are multidimensional as it provides more variety not just in terms of formation but the way you express the same formation on the pitch.
2 solid central midfielder with good defensive acumen actually provide a better balance to the team than two out and out grafters. When you go with 2 out and out grafters transitioning from defence to attack becomes a challenge. Yes players of quality of Busquets are very hard to get and insanely expensive but players in the similar mold are what i prefer in the middle of the park.
I have been saying this forever, I've never been sold on the "defensive/holding" midfielder role, would much prefer 2x traditional CMs that can attack and defend, they can interchange fluidly during games and you don't lose a player to a fixed position.
Kante does not attack.
For probably the best central midfield we've ever had, Gilberto Silva/Emmanuel Petit were defensive /holding midfielders and Patrick Vieira the definitive box-to-box or as you prefer, traditional central midfielder.
If players compliment each other to result in an effective and functional midfield unit, it doesn't matter if they are similar in type or completely different in their skill sets. I've since heard that even MENSA couldn't figure out how the hell Cazorla and Coqelin managed to work. But it did.
Equally, you can have the 2 best traditional central midfielders paired together and it not work, like Gerrard & Lampard.
If you win the ball back on the edge of your penalty box and start a counter attack, were you not part of that attack even if you play no further part? Does that fail the definition of attack? Because what I have seen is Kante not just win the ball some ridiculous ratio of times but carry it forward and distribute it well including the odd one into the box. I agree he's not going to trouble Lampard's goals and assist's record but to say he does not attack..