MC Prussian Posted 23 August 2016 Share Posted 23 August 2016 I don't see why people still want to compare the two or why the topic pops up in such regular fashion. It has more than just a hint of obsession to it. Is it because they appear to be look-a-likes from afar for some? Do so many people still make that mistake and go for the initial physical appearance than look at what they have to offer skill- and technique-wise? I loved Kanté while he was here, but he is gone and so should the thought of him, too. Mendy has not been able to play on a regular basis for us and it took Kanté also a while to get going last season. Let's just support the lad and make him welcome, then see how he can flourish as the season progresses within this team and under Ranieri - a manager that knows him from his Monaco days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shen Posted 23 August 2016 Share Posted 23 August 2016 It's probably fairer to compare Mendy to Inler, which makes this very much a Ranieri signing (as if that wasn't obvious). But this mostly means that Drinkwater has to change and adapt once more when Mendy comes in. It likely also means that we will make a change in formation along the course of the season as Ranieri has alluded to. He seems to know what he's doing, but the time it'll take to figure out the best setup will likely mean that we'll have a mediocre season, hopefully with a good run in the CL or one of the cups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClaphamFox Posted 23 August 2016 Share Posted 23 August 2016 42 minutes ago, MC Prussian said: I don't see why people still want to compare the two or why the topic pops up in such regular fashion. It has more than just a hint of obsession to it. Is it because they appear to be look-a-likes from afar for some? Do so many people still make that mistake and go for the initial physical appearance than look at what they have to offer skill- and technique-wise? I loved Kanté while he was here, but he is gone and so should the thought of him, too. Mendy has not been able to play on a regular basis for us and it took Kanté also a while to get going last season. Let's just support the lad and make him welcome, then see how he can flourish as the season progresses within this team and under Ranieri - a manager that knows him from his Monaco days. Not arguing with your point that we need to give Mendy time, but I'm not sure if I agree with this. I remember watching Kante cover every blade of grass when he came on at West Ham in the 2nd game and thinking we'd got ourselves a very special player indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Ed Posted 23 August 2016 Share Posted 23 August 2016 On 21/08/2016 at 07:43, Countesthorpe Fox 1884 said: Think a lot of people are being harsh on his performance, thought he was good personally, his off the ball positioning was excellent, seems to already have a good relationship with Drinkwater. Give him time. Can't really complain at any players performance after they gained 1 more point than what we got off arsenal all last season. Yep this was my thoughts on hie performance. And no you can't compare him to Kante - I've not see any player play like Kante did last season but he'll bring different qualities hopefully he'll be better at retention of the ball and passing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fox Ulike Posted 23 August 2016 Share Posted 23 August 2016 On 20/08/2016 at 16:39, Drygon said: As the title says, what do you think about it? Personally, I've seen plenty of people (not only in FoxesTalk but in other forums as well) who's made lazy comparisons between Kanté and Mendy, mostly because they happens to come from the same country, the same league and supposedly the same position I think Mendy is fundamentally a different player as the former doesn't have the engine that Kanté does, Mendy sits further deep where he prevents the opposition from getting efforts on goal rather than disrupting their build-up play, runs with the ball far less, but arguably has better vision and a knack for a pass. Your distinctions between Kante and Mendy are pretty hair-splitting. Mendy is not "fundamentally a different player" to Kante. Andy Caroll is "fundamentally a different player"!! Kante and Mendy are similar players. Kante was a great player for us but he wasn't a super-human. Kante benefitted from having hard-working players around him and a solid defence behind him. There's no reason that Mendy can't fill that role with equal success - but obviously he isn't a clone of Kante so there will be some differences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col city fan Posted 23 August 2016 Share Posted 23 August 2016 I think people are missing the point. A direct comparison between what 'types' of player the two are is actually very important. The comparison needs to look at their relative importance to US and how we play the game. Here Kante excelled. Both defensively and going forward, he got us going so quickly with a swift tackle and incisive short ball. He's made for the quick counter and for me, was the main difference in our amazing season. From what I've seen of Mendy so far (very little to be fair) he sits deeper and passes from deeper. I think to accommodate Mendy, we'll have to change up how we play. He looks every inch the archetypal DM which Kante actually wasn't. Kante could play the 442 as a box to box CM. Mendy looks like he'll be best in a three man centre midfield. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain... Posted 23 August 2016 Share Posted 23 August 2016 Kante started against Arsenal at home last September after about 5 appearances for the club, we conceded 5, and it took us 10 games to keep a clean sheet last season. Mendy starts one game, first clean sheet of the season and first point against Arsenal in nearly 2 years, something Kante never achieved. Q.E.D. Mendy is better than Kante! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARM1968 Posted 23 August 2016 Share Posted 23 August 2016 Yes and no. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireFox Posted 23 August 2016 Share Posted 23 August 2016 Let's just sign the Korean Kante so we can stop comparing Mendy to Kante... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Number 6 Posted 24 August 2016 Share Posted 24 August 2016 Given the starting 11 at the weekend was the champions - Kante + Mendy I think comparisons will be made. Certainly will for as long as we continue to play 442 and ask Mendy to play a similar role to Kante. I was doing it myself first half, likening Mendy to a slightly off the pace Kante who would get to the man but not quite quickly enough to make the tackle - though perhaps he was acting as more of a shield. I thought his best moment of the match was actually the tackle that saw him go off injured and was disappointed that we wouldn't get to see more of him. This is as much due to the less able cover we have for him than solely for his own performance. Injury could not have come at a worse time for him as I think he needs minutes to find his role in the side, and eventually I think he will, but I'm still not sure Ranieri knows how best to utilise the players we have without Kante. The much loved 442 is weaker without Kante and I think he excels in that type of formation (He will be under-utilised at Chelsea who have already decided he's the next Makelele rather than the box to box dynamo we saw in a Leicester shirt last season). Almost everything you read suggested Mendy would be good, there was very little negative comment. He might be playing in the same position to Kante but he's a different type of player and needs to get settled before a fair judgement can be made. And how can it ever be fair to compare anyone to one of the best midfielders we have ever had at the club? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluetintedspecs Posted 25 August 2016 Share Posted 25 August 2016 Maybe, possibly, not sure yet , given time , time will tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.