Maurizio Sarri highlighted the improvements he has seen in N’Golo Kante after the midfielder scored the winning goal for Chelsea against Crystal Palace.
Kante’s role in Sarri’s 4-3-3 system has come under question, but the Italian coach was keen to praise the way the Frenchman has adapted to the position.
“I think we played against a dangerous opponent. They are dangerous on attacks. We had to have good positions,” he said.
“We were in good control of the match. We didn’t kill the match so for us it is difficult to defend in the box. For 85 minutes we were very good, without conceding for the opponents. I didn’t like that we weren’t able to kill the match before.”
Sarri then pointed to how Kante’s understanding of his role led to the winning goal.
“I think he has to think of defence first of all. Then about attacking. The movement was very good and the right timing. It is important for when you play a team low in density. For us it is important to have.
“Now we have to work on Loftus and Barkley for this. Loftus is a great player with the ball, but he can improve a lot without the ball.”