Starting as a Defensive Midfielder at Real Madrid

”I told you, Toni, that guy would definitely surprise you! I watched Leicester’s previous matches — his performances off the bench were absolutely crazy.

Any manager who didn’t put him into the starting lineup after that would be committing a crime...”

At halftime, as Li Ang walked alongside Kroos into the players’ tunnel, he made no attempt to hide his admiration for Kanté.

Kroos instinctively nodded; after all, he had suffered enough from Kanté’s relentless tackling during the first half.

Leicester City, in today’s match, had indeed provided plenty of ”surprises” for Chelsea’s players.

A strong forward duo, a solid and resilient backline, a balanced midfield.

Add Ranieri’s tailor-made tactical system for the team, and all these factors combined made Leicester’s transformation seem truly magical.

And fans across England, after watching just the first half, were now forced to overturn their old impressions of Leicester.

This wasn’t the strength of some lower-table relegation team.

They had managed to battle evenly with Chelsea for 45 minutes — and not only that, they genuinely looked capable of threatening Chelsea’s defense!

Forget those who mocked that they still hadn’t beaten Chelsea yet.

Even if Leicester couldn’t beat Chelsea or Manchester City, they were clearly more than capable of handling mid- and lower-table Premier League sides with ease.

It looked like the top-six hierarchy of the Premier League was about to be shaken once again.

Liverpool had failed to stay in the Champions League spots last season.

Southampton and Swansea had missed their chances in two consecutive seasons.

Now these three teams looked set to slip back into mid-table, while Spurs and Everton, who barely had time to rejoice, suddenly had to contend with a surging Leicester City.

But this kind of unexpected and chaotic competition was exactly what most neutral fans of the Premier League loved to see.

Orderly rankings and calm competition were boring.

In recent years, Premier League fans’ favorite season was probably the one when Li Ang and Mourinho first joined Chelsea.

Back then, Chelsea symbolized rebellion and challenge. They truly toppled the dominance of the Manchester clubs that year.

Now, of course, Chelsea had replaced Manchester United as the dominant power.

They were no longer the beloved challengers in the eyes of neutral fans.

Leicester, limited by financial and brand strength, didn’t seem likely to replicate Chelsea’s miracle run.

But that didn’t stop neutral fans from starting to favor and root for this underdog.

As long as Leicester maintained this trajectory of growth, it was inevitable they would secure a solid place among the Premier League’s elite within a few seasons.

Still, this current Leicester squad hadn’t yet reached its peak.

They could cause Chelsea trouble, but beating Chelsea was still a bridge too far.

Mourinho, in the dressing room, wasn’t overly concerned about Leicester’s potential second-half surge.

He simply told his attacking players to avoid holding onto the ball too long in midfield and the final third.

That was the biggest sign of respect he could give to Kanté’s outstanding first-half performance.

When Mourinho spoke, no Chelsea player dared to ignore him.

After kickoff in the second half, including Li Ang, all Chelsea’s attacking players began releasing the ball quicker.

Hazard also reduced his dribbling and held up play less, dropping deeper like De Bruyne to pull Leicester’s defense out of shape.

As Chelsea changed their attacking style, Mourinho watched Kanté with great interest.

He wanted to see how this French midfielder would adapt to a different attacking rhythm.

Even though Kanté’s early sweeping performances had already caught Mourinho’s attention, he greedily wanted to see Kanté’s upper limit.

Just like how he once obsessively excavated Li Ang’s defensive and offensive potential during training.

The thrill of discovering a hidden gem was something Mourinho found addictive.

As for Kanté still officially being a Leicester City player?

That was a trivial matter.

It was already October. The winter transfer window of 2016 was fast approaching.

If Mourinho decided, Chelsea’s offer would be something neither Leicester nor Kanté could refuse.

If necessary, they could even send players like Van Ginkel and Loftus-Cheek to Leicester on loan to sweeten the deal.

Right now, Mourinho only needed to be sure that Kanté was worth it!

Kanté himself was completely unaware that he had caught the eye of Chelsea’s manager.

He was simply trying to help his teammates relieve pressure in midfield and defense.

He played with a rugged, physically dominant style, but he had a sharp, flexible mind.

Unlike many raw defensive midfielders from Africa, Kanté genuinely enjoyed reading the game.

His stamina and excellent tackling were already obvious advantages.

But underneath those physical gifts, he also had spatial awareness and defensive anticipation skills close to Li Ang’s level.

Thus, when Chelsea switched their approach — using more passes to stretch Leicester’s defense — Kanté adapted quickly.

He adjusted his defensive style.

His running coverage remained wide, but now he targeted Chelsea’s receivers instead of the ball carriers.

This kind of adjustment didn’t necessarily make his defensive stats look better.

But it was highly effective at disrupting Chelsea’s vertical passing lanes.

It was simple: Kanté could run endlessly, making many seemingly blind pressing attempts to gamble on intercepting a forward pass.

And Chelsea’s attackers didn’t want to gamble on Kanté missing an interception.

They certainly didn’t want to give Leicester counterattack opportunities.

Even though Chelsea’s midfield still controlled possession and created some decent chances, Kanté undeniably delayed their attacking breakthroughs.

He did everything he possibly could within his abilities!

When Mourinho saw Kanté quickly adapting his defensive methods, he slapped his thigh hard, as if making a major decision!

Most neutral fans watching at home, however, didn’t notice the subtleties.

All they saw was a short, tireless black midfielder running endlessly across the pitch.

Again and again, Kanté pressed Hazard, Suarez, and Chelsea’s other attacking threats.

But ultimately, even Kanté couldn’t hold off Chelsea forever.

In the 78th minute, Chelsea finally broke through Leicester’s defense with a classic one-two between Li Ang and Suarez!

Only this time, it wasn’t Li Ang assisting Suarez.

Instead, Suarez, who had dropped deeper to receive the ball, delivered a beautiful diagonal through pass to the onrushing Li Ang!

This sudden shift in attacking style left Leicester’s defenders helpless.

After Li Ang successfully broke the offside trap, he calmly curled a low shot toward the far corner.

Schmeichel was left helpless, unable to even touch the spinning ball.

Compared to last season, Li Ang’s shooting skills had clearly improved significantly.

When it came to finishing chances, he was becoming more and more like a ”cold-blooded striker.”

While he wasn’t at the level of scoring every shot he took, he rarely missed good chances now — an impressive level of performance.

After going two goals up, Chelsea fully switched to a defensive posture.

Ranieri threw on two more forwards for a last desperate push, but facing Mourinho’s well-organized bus, Leicester could only suffer their first home defeat.

The scoreline wasn’t large, but the difference in strength between the two sides was still very clear.

Nevertheless, Leicester fans weren’t disappointed. Their team had put in an admirable performance against Chelsea, and that was enough for them.

After the match, Li Ang approached the outstanding Kanté to exchange shirts and warmly gave him an encouraging hug.

Though Kanté’s English pronunciation was still a bit rough — he meant to say ”thank you,” but it sounded more like the universal ”greeting” — causing nearby players like Drinkwater to panic, fearing a misunderstanding.

Li Ang, however, laughed and waved it off, joking with Kanté:

”If any mischievous reporters interview you in the future, just say that, and then claim they misheard you. It’s a perfect excuse~”

Li Ang’s easy-going and generous manner made Kanté and the other Leicester players relax completely.

But after Li Ang left, when Mourinho went up and publicly praised Kanté’s performance, the journalists nearby immediately perked up!

Still, Mourinho didn’t make it obvious he was singling Kanté out. He also hugged Vardy and Mahrez, who had played well too, maintaining a façade of fairness.

What the journalists would write tomorrow — that wasn’t Mourinho’s concern.

By handing Leicester their first loss of the season, Chelsea continued to apply pressure on league leaders Manchester City.

However, City had been extremely strong and consistent this season — they easily beat Crystal Palace 3–0 in this round and remained top of the Premier League.

It seemed that this year’s title race would once again be a brutal endurance test between two monster teams.

After this league match, Chelsea and City both faced Champions League group stage challenges.

Compared to City, who hosted Sevilla, Chelsea’s task was much tougher — traveling all the way to Moscow.

In late October, nighttime temperatures in Moscow had already dropped below freezing, sometimes reaching minus ten degrees Celsius.

The freezing weather and CSKA Moscow’s artificial turf would be a huge challenge for Chelsea’s players.

Fortunately, Mourinho had experience leading teams to Moscow, and Chelsea’s preparations were thorough.

Li Ang also repeatedly reminded his teammates about the unique challenges they would face.

But theory was one thing — once the match began, Chelsea’s players truly realized how difficult it would be.

Playing on the frost-covered artificial surface wasn’t an issue for CSKA’s players.

But for Chelsea, it completely neutralized their technical advantage.

To make matters worse, CSKA’s players were highly motivated and fiercely aggressive.

Li Ang adapted quickly — he knew exactly how to approach this match.

Under signals from him and Mourinho, Chelsea’s midfielders abandoned elegant buildup play.

They resorted to old-school English football: long balls!

CSKA had already been playing a direct style, but Chelsea played even more directly.

Li Ang practically acted like a tactical center-forward, posting up to receive high balls and then finding Suarez or another teammate making a run.

This simple, rough style proved highly effective.

Chelsea’s attackers could conserve their energy and focus on breaking through CSKA’s backline.

In the 28th minute, Suarez met a De Bruyne cross and scored.

Eight minutes later, from a set-piece, Li Ang headed the ball back across goal, assisting Kroos for a shot from the edge of the box to make it 2–0!

Chelsea looked set to cruise to a big win.

But then disaster struck.

Hazard twisted his ankle in a clash during a counterattack.

The injury dampened the entire team’s mood.

Mourinho cursed the Moscow weather and immediately ordered the team to slow the tempo.

Salah came on for Hazard, playing cautiously.

For most of the second half, Chelsea focused on defending.

In the 83rd minute, CSKA pulled one back from a set-piece.

But with Mourinho sending on two additional defenders late in the game, CSKA’s set-piece strategy became ineffective.

Chelsea eventually secured a 2–1 win over CSKA Moscow — three straight wins in the Champions League group of death!

However, Hazard’s unexpected injury posed a new headache for the coaching staff.

How should Chelsea prioritize between the Premier League and the upcoming EFL Cup Round of 16?

Mourinho quickly made his stance clear.

For the October 24th league match against West Ham United, he fielded almost a full-strength lineup.

This signaled that Chelsea would essentially forfeit the EFL Cup match against Stoke City three days later.

Chelsea fans understood and supported this decision.

After all, the squad depth wasn’t what it was last season.

There weren’t many veteran leaders among the backups — relying purely on youngsters to fight through domestic cup competitions was unrealistic.

Plus, with Hazard’s injury, the first team needed careful rotation and protection.

To gain something, you must give something up.

Chelsea’s current situation strongly resembled Mourinho’s third season at Real Madrid.

If they wanted to win a third straight league title and defend the Champions League, they had to ruthlessly cut non-essential competitions.

At least for now, Mourinho’s thinking was very clear.

Together with Li Ang, they were leading Chelsea down a familiar path.

A path they had once successfully walked before.

The path to a championship.

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