Despite being at fault for one of the goals against Colombia on Friday evening, N’Golo Kanté remains one of the certainties in Didier Deschamps’ France squad, and, barring an injury, will be on the plane to Russia in the summer.
The Chelsea midfielder, who is enjoying yet another good season for his club, even if the Blues aren’t quite hitting the same heights as last year, gave an interview to Ouest France on Monday, snippets of which we already covered on Friday.
However, in the longer version of the article, the France star opened up a bit more about his season, and how much he’s been playing under Antonio Conte.
Now a popular footballer, the defensive midfielder says that one of the hardest things he has needed to get used to since arriving in England from Caen is the expectations.
He said: “Everything goes so much faster. The slightest bad result is automatically dramatic, the pressure is immediate. I feel that, and you need to absorb it.”
Having already played 36 games for Chelsea this year, the often described as “tireless” midfielder admitted he is human after all.
He continued: “I didn’t really realise it when I wasn’t playing Champions League. There are no breaks to recover, and it’s tiring sometimes, it doesn’t stop. When you win, it’s simpler, but when that isn’t the case, you can start feeling drained mentally too.
“It forces you to pay more attention to what goes on outside of football, naps, the food, recovery etc…”
Feeling good as things stand, the 26-year-old is ready to go against Russia on Tuesday afternoon, and will hope to put his Colombia blues behind him.
