Sherwood shares concerns that £30m man almost cost Chelsea the game vs Spurs

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Tim Sherwood was bothered on the Premier League Show by N’Golo Kante’s contribution for Chelsea last night against Tottenham Hotspur.

Chelsea managed to overcome their rivals thanks to a first half Jorginho penalty and the former Spurs manager wanted to initially praise the Italian’s impact.

“Clever footballers with the highest IQs will definitely play. Jorginho is certainly one of those. He dictates the play.

“He understands what the manager wants and applies that on the pitch. (Mateo) Kovacic alongside him also understands.

“They’ve played big games both of them all over Europe. They understand the game, the tactics of the game.”

Sherwood quickly moved onto his critique of Kante by saying: “It’s not all about getting Kante on the pitch who can eat up the ground and win back the ball as quick as possible.

“When he came on, he nearly hurt them Chelsea. He kept turning over possession at the wrong time.”

Thomas Tuchel decided to leave Chelsea’s £30m (BBC Sport) World Cup winner on the bench versus Spurs and opted instead for a midfield duo of Jorginho and Kovacic.

This has become the manager’s preferred pair, with the duo starting together in each of his first three games in charge.

Kante had only recently recovered from an injury but was also left out for Chelsea’s previously victory over Burnley.

Tuchel started the Frenchman on the bench yesterday and only brought him on for the final ten minutes.

Chelsea’s lead was still slender at that point as Spurs pushed on for an equaliser. Kante came on for Kovacic and almost immediately found himself in the referee’s notebook.

Tuchel’s side did eventually get themselves over the line for a deserved three points but it’s questionable where Kante will get his next break from.

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I think its very difficult to look past Jorginho and Kovacic as the first choice middle two. They’ve controlled Chelsea’s play excellently and complement each other’s skills.

However, we have yet to face a team that actually attacks us with any venom so it will be interesting to see if Tuchel reinstates Kante for such occasions.