Tony Cascarino has criticised Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri for continuing to play defensive midfielder N’Golo Kante out of his best position, talkSPORT reports.
Since taking over the reins at Chelsea and bringing with him holding midfielder Jorginho from Napoli, Sarri has built his Blues side around the Brazilian.
This has left Kante pushed out into a more attacking midfield position on the left, where he has failed to make the same impact as he did at the club last season.
Sarri believes Jorginho to be a more technically gifted holding midfielder on the ball, but it has been evident in many of his side’s matches this season that he lacks the same physical presence that Kante carries with him.
Both Chelsea fans and pundits, Cascarino included, have been left somewhat surprised by Sarri’s continuation to play Kante out on the wing.
Cascarino, a pundit for talkSPORT and a former Chelsea striker, spoke to the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast and criticised Sarri’s refusal to play the Frenchman in his better position, calling the decision ‘stupid’.
The Kante one is stupid, I can’t describe it any other way.
Playing the best holding midfielder on the left… it’s like playing Alan Shearer as a winger!
Whether Sarri is being stubborn or not… none of us can get it, and I think we’ve been proven right.
N’Golo Kante is not playing in the position where he is the absolutely stand-out player.
He’s won back-to-back Premier League titles, got a World Cup medal and about 100 man-of-the-match awards [playing in that role].
He’s a fantastic athlete. Is he technically a magician on the ball? Of course he’s not.
He’s in the team to do the job, to win the ball and be a spoiler and he does that brilliantly.
