At the start of the new season, Guinea striker Jose Kante brought Kairat two championship victories and led the scorer race. bbabo.net's correspondent reveals how much of an impact the 31-year-old striker has on the results of the Almaty club.
In the current state and style of the game "Kairat" line of attack relies on the individual qualities of Kante and Joao Paulo. Why is Kante so important to Berdyev's team?
It's not just the goals, although they are certainly a significant factor. In the first round with "Aktobe" the Guinean appeared only in the second half, but immediately gave a different level of activity, aggression and focus. In 35 minutes, he struck three blows, fought 17 times and committed three fouls. Against this background, Artur Shushenachev, who came out in the starting lineup, showed the following: not a single blow, the same 17 martial arts and one foul.
At a crucial moment, Kante also took on the role of a penalty taker. This is how Berdyev reacted to this: "Alves was supposed to hit, but Kante told him that he would hit. Psychology is very important here, Kante was confident in himself, so he took the ball." Kante scored a double in that meeting, deftly avoiding offside and playing on rebounds.
In the match with "Mahtaaral" Jose was again productive: another goal from the penalty spot, five shots, four fouls and 31 duels (35 percent won).
While Kante hides or, one might say, softens the impression of the game "Kairat" in the attack. He performs a colossal amount of work, including pressing, saves balls in difficult situations, falls to the flanks in a timely manner and throws off the balls, freeing up space for partners. Kante looks like a versatile and modern striker who is very useful in situations where team algorithms in attack work poorly.
At the moment, Kante is really the strongest number 9 in the championship of Kazakhstan. He confirmed this at a distance last season, looking most convincing and stable in European competitions. But Kairat should not be so dependent on one player, a qualitative improvement in the game is necessary, this will help avoid a crisis and, probably, increase Kante's performance.
bbabo.Net