N'Golo Kante: The Quietly Dominant Figure of the Premier League

It might be a bit of a stretch to suggest Gary Lineker is some sort a prophet, but in a year in which the crisp-selling former England striker has been everything from voice of the left to leader of the opposition, maybe it's fine for us to give him one more title.

It was back in June when Leicester City's most high-profile fan gave the short assessment that went against the odds from the bookmakers but looks rather prescient six months on. "Inevitably Kante has gone," Lineker posted on Twitter as N'Golo Kante's move from Leicester to Chelsea was confirmed. "Fancy Chelsea will now win the title. He's that good!"

With Kante aboard, Chelsea haven't yet won the title but they have stormed to top of the league by a distance at Christmas. In the last 12 Premier League seasons, the team that has led all comers while putting out the fairy lights has gone on to lift the trophy on nine occasions, or 75 per cent of the time. Few would bet against the Blues right now making it 10 from 13. 

Equally striking is the impact of Kante's departure at his old club. While he's been off taking a previously struggling outfit to the top of the table, his old lot have changed from table-toppers to a struggling outfit.

It was always unrealistic to expect Leicester to mount a strong title defence, but it wasn't unrealistic to expect more than this: 15th place, four wins from 17 games, three points above the relegation zone and with just one win in their last eight. That sole victory was an impressive demolition of Manchester City, sure, but it was sandwiched between defeats to Sunderland and Bournemouth.  

Of course, there are myriad reasons for Chelsea's success and Leicester's falling off a cliff. At Stamford Bridge, you could point to everything from Antonio Conte's impact and a suddenly unbreakable 3-4-3, to the return of David Luiz and the removal of a toxic atmosphere. North at the King Power, most would cite a tactical template that's now been worked out, difficulties bedding in new faces, a tougher schedule than before and the impact of an emotional hangover.

Kante, then, isn't the sole reason here. But the fortunes of Leicester and Chelsea with and without him are no coincidence either. Quietly, he's become the dominant figure of the Premier League. 

What the Frenchman gives to a team and to a system is quite incredible. At both Leicester and Chelsea, he's operated as one half of a central "two"—in a 4-4-2 under Claudio Ranieri and in a 3-4-3 under Conte—but rarely has it ever felt like two vs. three or four in the middle.

"I keep telling the same joke over and over again," Steve Walsh said last season while still in his former position as Leicester's head of recruitment, per the Express. "No matter who we're playing, we play three in midfield: we play Drinkwater in the middle as a holding player and we play Kante either side." 

Walsh's gag has been recycled over and over, but that's because, for a description, it works. Kante's extraordinary athleticism has meant two-man midfields with him in them have never been overrun, his ability to cover ground, block, tackle and intercept is unrivalled in England and maybe anywhere in Europe. 

Last month, Ben McAleer from WhoScored.com tallied tackles and interceptions in the Premier League over the last three seasons. At the time, Kante (401 tackles and interceptions combined) was third behind Arsenal's Nacho Monreal (404) and Stoke City's Erik Pieters (403). But there was a standout figure: Kante has played a full season less than the other two. 

"If planet Earth was ever under threat from an asteroid," Lineker quipped on Twitter last season, "I'm pretty sure that Kante would intercept it."

It's this ability to operate as a swarming, lightning-fast and indefatigable Everywhere Man that has anchored the Premier League's last two dominant sides.

Without the ball this season and last, respectively, Chelsea and Leicester have seen their opponents unable to work their way through the middle of them. Rarely has there been any space; when there has been, Kante has closed it like a moving Venus flytrap. He's always there, hassling you, never giving you room to breathe. 

When the ball is won, he's then able to get his team up the pitch in a flash. With the Foxes, he was often a ball-carrier, but now at Chelsea he's grown into a more complete midfielder. His use of the ball is becoming more refined, and he's doing more work higher up the pitch, further heightening the sense of his impressive footballing intelligence and ability to anticipate and read the play. 

Around him, of course, Diego Costa is flourishing, and so is Eden Hazard. Both take the headlines in west London. Elsewhere, Alexis Sanchez, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Philippe Coutinho and Kevin De Bruyne are driving their respective teams. And yet, perhaps none of them are having the impact of Kante, the silent on-field owner of England's top division. 

Timing is important here. Football's ever-shifting tactical landscape always plays its role in the prominence of certain types at certain times. 

Since 2008-09, much of Europe has been attempting to follow Barcelona's lead in the expansive, possession-based football that Pep Guardiola's treble-winning team kick-started. Ball retention was prioritised, and midfields grew more technical, but over the last season or so, there's been a shift back the other way. 

The rise in the use of rapid pressing—and with it, high defensive lines—has placed a greater premium again on a player's and team's ability to cover ground, to perform repeat sprints and to overpower (or overrun) opponents. 

Guardiola's system, of course, is heavy on pressing itself, but other types have made their way to English shores to challenge it. Jurgen Klopp's template at Liverpool is symbolic of that; it's a faster-paced, more frantic version. Conte's has some similar traits. 

This evolving tactical picture has seen Kante rise as the league's key figure. He's able to thrive more than anyone in the Premier League's increasingly helter-skelter football, protecting not only the men behind him but also those in front of him who lead the press, eating up the miles like no one else. Lineker was right: He is that good.