N’Golo Kante is too good to be left out of the squad, says Frank Lampard.
The Chelsea midfield current features Matteo Kovacic and Jorginho with Mason Mount in the number ten role. Kante being a defensive midfielder will need to be adapted back into the starting lineup to maintain the same level of operation.
“Firstly, he [N’Golo Kante] is a fantastic player and one of the players when I came in I was so excited to work with because I have loved him from afar as a Chelsea fan,” said Lampard. “I will need him, because he is world-class – there is no doubt about it.
“His attributes and what he brings can’t be talked down just because we are in a good moment at the minute. It is brilliant for us that he is back.
“We have had to be a bit careful with him because he had a difficult start to the season. He had a lot of niggles because he’s been used a lot to amazing effect in four years and it was maybe time just to take a little bit of a back step.
“But hopefully he is going to be massive for us. One thing we have done this year is try to be adaptable, which means sometimes there are changes in personnel or the shape of the team.
“There is not one of them midfielders [Kante, Kovacic and Jorginho] that you can say ‘Ok, he is just a number ten or can only do that’. They can all do a lot.
“So in terms of how they rotate and work together, that is something we always work on and whoever I pick there when they are all fit you like to think they will give you a good performance.”
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