Why Danny Drinkwater has already shown he is crucial for Chelsea
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Published 30/10/2017 at 12:02 GMT
Chelsea have waited a long while to reap the value in Danny Drinkwater's signing. Now it's starting to become abundantly clear why they made the move for him.
Danny Drinkwater of Chelsea, Beni Baningime of Everton and Michy Batshuayi of Chelsea in action during the Carabao Cup Fourth Round match between Chelsea and Everton at Stamford Bridge on October 25, 2017 in London, England.
Image credit: Getty Images
Chelsea have waited a long while to reap the value in Danny Drinkwater's signing. Now it's starting to become abundantly clear why they made the move for him.
After a little over an hour's football in the two months since his signing, many would be forgiven for questioning the logic of lavishing £35m on the ex-Leicester man.
But having slowly recovered from injury, and having been tutored in the ways of Antonio Conte: now looks like being the time for Drinkwater to start setting out his stall at Stamford Bridge.
For 62 minutes in the League Cup, against a woeful Everton, we got a glimpse of what he can offer.
Sure, he looked a little rusty: something you'd forgive a player who hadn't kicked a ball in anger for almost six months.
But there was a clear picture of the calmness he brings to a midfield.
And, in a late understudy performance at Bournemouth on Saturday, there was a further example of what he can add to a side.
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Chelsea's Italian head coach Antonio Conte gestures during the English League Cup fourth round football match between Chelsea and Everton at Stamford Bridge in London on October 25, 2017.
Image credit: Getty Images
The passing of Chelsea's little blip – they've won the last three games now – has been down to a pragmatic adjustment to life without N'Golo Kante.
At Dean Court we saw just how long a shadow the little man casts when he isn't there.
The wisdom of the song – that Tiemoue Bakayoko, together with N'Golo, never gives the ball away – carries more truth than those who penned it might have realised.
Bakayoko looks lost without Kante beside him.
But the biggest problem in Chelsea's midfield relates to Cesc Fabregas.
The Spaniard is a classy player – no doubt about that.
But, to a large extent, he is what another manager of our acquaintance might call a 'luxury player'.
And Conte's Chelsea don't have much room for luxuries.
If you look at that title-winning run of 13 victories last season, Fabregas was barely a part of Contes plans – he started only four of those games, and generally only when the manager was forced to make a change.
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Cesc Fabregas
Image credit: Getty Images
This season, so far, he has started twice as many matches. And Chelsea have looked less composed for it.
He has appeared pedestrian in midfield, and is unable to provide the cover Chelsea need for their back three.
That, in a large part, is why Bakayoko has looked so lost in the absence of Kante: he is simply unable to pick-up the increased workload that Fabregas creates for others in midfield.
Step-up Drinkwater.
He is a far harder working player, able to give greater balance to the team as a whole.
Those dismayed by his signing in the summer, who largely seemed to think Chelsea should be chasing another Eden Hazard instead, miss the point: Drinkwater's value rests precisely in the fact that he isn't that sort of player.
Over coming weeks, as the 27-year-old begins to shake-off the shackles of his lack of match practice, Conte will see his options increase.
Kante cannot play every game between now and the end of the season: it is unlikely any player could; but the way the Frenchman's style continually places him in the way of oncoming danger means his is a role particularly prone to the risk of injury.
Until now, there have been grumbles about the unsuitability of a Bakayoko-Fabregas axis.
Now we'll get to see more of not just Bakayoko-Kante, but also Bakayoko-Drinkwater, and Drinkwater-Kante.
Each of those is a more stable unit than what Conte has been forced to use.
And each offers greater opportunity for Chelsea's creative forces going forward – and that includes Bakayoko, when he is paired with the right man in the middle.
The imminent return of Kante to first team action cannot be understated in terms of its importance to the side.
But the emergence of Drinkwater will also be a key moment for the Blues, as they try to force their stamp on the Premier League this season.
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