Jamie Carragher believes that Liverpool underestimated N’Golo Kante’s abilities as the French midfielder made his first start for Chelsea in eight months.
Speaking on Sky Sports, the Anfield icon claimed that the Reds didn’t know how to handle the Chelsea star, with Carragher even noting that some Liverpool players likely forgot who Kante was after such a long time out on the treatment table.
Whilst the game ended 0-0, Kante was one of the best players on the pitch as the 32-year-old made his long-awaited return to football having missed the majority of the season due to a hamstring injury. And a good case can be made that Liverpool underestimated the £30m man.
Having not played in so long, Chelsea have become a shell of the club they once used to be, yet with Kante now back, the Blues can start making strides in the right direction. And for Carragher, Liverpool should have had a better plan in mind in dealing with the French superstar.
Carragher said: “It was almost as if some of the Liverpool players forgot who Kante was and forgot how good he was. They were trying to take him on. You do not take him on. You do not try to out-strength him physically. Sometimes you just have to stay away from him and let him have the ball.
“Two or three times it happened. [Konstantinos] Tsimikas very early on. [Ibrahima] Konate over in the far corner, he thought the ball was going out and Kante keeps it in. That is what he does. He has been out so long that everybody on the pitch, from the Liverpool side, forgot what Kante was about.”
Liverpool should have been aware of Kante threat despite eight-month injury layoff
Kante might have missed most of the season, but Liverpool and their coaches know better than to be aware of the threat that the French midfielder posses when fully fit and firing, which is why the Reds struggled so much against the Chelsea star on Tuesday night.
Even after missing so much football, Kante was at his usual best against Liverpool in what was a welcome performance from the Chelsea star, yet for Jurgen Klopp, the German manager should have organised his team better to deal with the threat.