Kalvin Phillips lauds Chelsea’s Ngolo Kante, claims he was everywhere in Leeds loss

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Leeds United midfielder, Kalvin Phillips, has admitted playing against Chelsea star Ngolo Kante was a real eye opener last weekend.

Kante was once again in fine form as the Blues eventually eased past Leeds thanks to a late goal from Christian Pulisic.

Pulisic, along with the likes of Timo Werner and Kai Havertz, is one of a number of top attacking players in the ranks for Frank Lampard’s Chelsea side. However, it was the performance of Kante – who operates similar to Phillips – that caught the Leeds man’s eye.

Speaking to BBC Radio Leeds following the game, Phillips admitted he was somewhat blown away by what he was seeing from Kante.

“I think Kante was unbelievable during that game, he was everywhere,[he] didn’t look like he broke a sweat. When you see stuff like that you think when you’re running around obviously and you’re tired and you look at Kante and he’s just jogging around as if it’s nowt, it kind of – not demoralises you but – [makes you think] this is going to be a difficult second half.”

“It’s hard to say a player is that good and that fit and everywhere but he was. I think without Kante, [Chelsea] they’re not the same team.”

Kante has long been recognised as one of the game’s top midfield players and was instrumental as Leicester famously won the Premier League a few seasons back.

He is also integral to France, widely regarded as one of the best teams in world football.

A learning curve for Phillips but positives to take – TBR View

Being a top Premier League player requires learning and development and Phillips won’t get any better masterclass than playing against Kante.

The Frenchman is supberb most games and against Leeds, was no different.

But Phillips can take solace. He played well himself and if he achieves half of what Kante has, he’ll have had a very good career indeed.