Has the N’Golo Kante backlash started already?Whenever a player is praised, there are inevitably some football fans who, for some bizarre reason, are quick to knock them down at the first available opportunity.Kante has been magnificent for Chelsea this season and is deservedly the overwhelming favourite to win the PFA’s Player of the Year award. Frank Lampard even described the Frenchman, who celebrates his 26th birthday today, as the best central midfielder in the world earlier this month.Now, all good players have poor games from time to time. Even Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo occasionally have off days. But some football fans have been busy shooting down Kante after his disappointing performance for France against Spain on Tuesday evening.The former Leicester City star found it difficult to rob back possession from the great Barcelona duo Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets, who bossed the match at the Stade de France."Kante is the best player in the Premier League at the moment and yet Spain aren't giving him a moment,” Paul Ince, working as a pundit for ITV Sport, commented at half-time. “He's redundant today."

Some people seemed happy Kante struggled v Spain

Kante played the full 90 minutes as Les Bleus suffered a 2-0 defeat in the international friendly, with the goals scored in nine second-half minutes by David Silva and Gerard Deulofeu.

And as you can see, some people appeared to be happy - smug, even - that Kante had failed to shine.

Joey Barton dropped his own Kante tweet

Another person who tweeted was Joey Barton, the Burnley midfielder who gave Kante a tough time at Turf Moor last month.

“Kante is a fantastic player. No doubt,” he wrote. “But those only last week saying 'best in the world' are guilty of getting carried away.”

This attracted some interesting responses…

Barton isn't totally convinced by Kante

Barton was no doubt feeling a sense of self-satisfied smugness too, after his comments to the French press last week.

“In England, there are boxes and it is impossible to get out of them,” he told Le Journal du Dimanche, per Goal. “At the moment, for example, everyone swears by N’Golo Kante. It’s fashionable.

“For pundits, he’s the best midfielder in the world. That’s not the case – he’s very good, but I played against him three weeks ago.

“He’s a phenomenal destroyer who played in a phenomenal team, but he’s not a creator. And it’s impossible to be so definitive with a player who has not played in the Champions League.

“Two years ago, no-one knew who he was and I was surprised that the scouts missed him.”

Kante has been better than Busquets this season

But over the course of this season, has there been a better midfielder than Kante?

One thing’s for sure: while he may have performed well last night, Busquets certainly hasn’t been better than the indefatigable Frenchman.