Wilfred Ndidi

[Sampson]

3 minutes ago, filbertway said:

Kind of ruins debate and chit chat if you just shut down people's thoughts and then have nothing to offer in return.

 

"You're wrong, but I'm not going to tell you why, because it's impossible to know"

 

Although I seem to remember you calling me out over the summer because my opinion was wrong and yours seemed to be fact

 

Youri is not playing as far forwards as he did during Rodgers best time with us. We're not pressing as high overall. These two things I  am confident in saying. Ndidi is asked to play on the ball more now and is asked to do less defensively because we play more cautiously than we used to.

 

Ndidi's is doing more of what he's limited at and less of what he's great at. Maybe it's because he was injured, or he's struggling on his degree, or maybe the tactical approach to games has changed. It's hard to know which one is more likely.

 

 

 

Mate, you've clearly got your agenda and your mind set on it, so it's kind of pointless to say it.

 

I'm not "offering nothing in return", of course it's impossible to know why any players form has dipped, but it's also pretty clear to me that saying "it's Rodgers' system" is a massive oversimplification and cop out and trying to absolve blame from Ndidi for his own underperformances.

 

I'm not the biggest Rodgers' fan, but to me it's pretty clear that Ndidi has been unperforming for a long time due to far more than "Rodgers' system" and even if it were, if he can't seriously adapt to having more time on the ball in the modern game (I don't think that's the case, as I think he's shown in the past he can, but his ability on the ball seems to have gone backwards) then that's to his own detriment and is really a sign he's being left behind in the modern game.

[moore_94]

5 minutes ago, Sampson said:

OK thanks. But doesn't this show the exact opposite of what you said? That Ndidi has had a lot more freedom in between defence and attack last 2 seasons compared to previously? He seems to have the freedom to cover far more ground now and far more across the pitch compared to 20/21.

I wouldn’t say so?

 

20/21 is much more balanced in that he is covering across the pitch (left to right) pretty evenly, but 21/22 he has a heavier focus on the left side of the pitch

Edited 8 August 2022 by moore_94

[Sampson]

3 minutes ago, lcfcsnow said:

You can also see he's all over the place in 19/20 and has more freedom - to mop up, whereas in every season since he has a more set position (bigger blocks of red).

His blocks of red don't mean more of a set position, they mean he's there more often, the more dark red means more freedom and moving around the pitch more.

 

Seems to me in 19/20 he was more stuck in position more than recent seasons and had less freedom if anything as he's clearly stuck over on the right hand side of the pitch far more and ventures across the width of the pitch far less than he has in the past 2 seasons. The heat maps seem to show he's been granted more freedom not less.

[Sampson]

1 minute ago, moore_94 said:

I wouldn’t say so?

 

20/21 is much more balanced in that he is covering across the pitch (left to right) pretty evenly, but 21/22 he has a heavier focus on the left side of the pitch

To my eyes it looks the opposite, like he has far less movement across the pitch in 19//20 and he's largely stuck to the right hand side of the pitch and has less freedom - there are far less dark red marks in the left hand side of the pitch in 19/20 than there are in the right hand side of the pitch in 21/22.

[volpeazzurro]

26 minutes ago, Dahnsouff said:

Then he will never be good enough for the modern pressing game. People harking back to what he was good at are looking at days of yore, he is not capable enough with the ball, and people cannot demand best of the rest finishes when we have a roadblock to swift passing sitting slowing the whole thing down.

Different players do different things better than others. Ndidi for excels in reclaiming the ball etc but is never going to be a Kante who could do both that and incredible work further up the field. Ideally, Ndidi for me shields the back four giving more freedom to those in front of him. The further forward he goes, the less time he gets to pass which is not his strongest point I admit. I think every good team in the past has had an Ndidi type figure, some are better than others. 

[Koke]

Hate ro say it but his ceiling is here at City. No bigger club with decent scouting department will touch this guy for the money we want. His inability to make intricate forward passes is incredibly frustrating. 

 

I was recently watching highlights of Moussa Dembele under Poch, and whilst he wasn't technically a pure DM, he did play in front of the back 4. Likewise Steven Nzonzi at Sevilla. These guys were incredible ball players, good tackles and sprayed the ball left and right and forward without looking clumsy and uncomfortable. Ndidi is a million miles away from that level.

[Koke]

 

[fuchsntf]

I am just going to say....

Ndidi as just returned from a long period of injuries...being in & out of the side because of those injuries...

I expect & could  still be wrong...that he will need a couple of months,before he gets 100% into his game & rythme.

So es mich as I believe the Stats are useful & debatable...

I prefer to wait on ( any-players) natural recouperation before Judgement day comes..

 

That said, I do  prefer to see Mendy in some games. IMO an underrated Member of the squad.   we should use both through the season,even go so far and say,

a DM in some Matches is Not always must...

 

 

[kingfox]

Extremely harsh to say he’s finished.

 

Looking at his passing stats over the past few seasons, in 20/21 his overall passing percentage was 88.1%, last season saw a drop off to 82.4%. Throughout his Leicester career, there’s been spells where his passing hasn’t been up to scratch, passing can always be looked on as his weakness.

 

When it comes to tackling & intercepting, he is still one of the best in Europe. 3.89 tackles per90, 2.50 interceptions per90, not many players post those kind of numbers. 
 

His passing may have regressed, but his tackling & intercepting ability certainly hasn’t.

 

 

[Arriba Los Zorros]

33 minutes ago, Koke said:

Hate ro say it but his ceiling is here at City. No bigger club with decent scouting department will touch this guy for the money we want. His inability to make intricate forward passes is incredibly frustrating. 

 

I was recently watching highlights of Moussa Dembele under Poch, and whilst he wasn't technically a pure DM, he did play in front of the back 4. Likewise Steven Nzonzi at Sevilla. These guys were incredible ball players, good tackles and sprayed the ball left and right and forward without looking clumsy and uncomfortable. Ndidi is a million miles away from that level.

 

29 minutes ago, Koke said:

 

Not disputing your point but these highlights show his ball carrying rather than great passing ability from deep...

 

If Wilf was to do this and lost the ball we'd get absolutely massacred on the counter

Edited 8 August 2022 by Arriba Los Zorros

[Dezfootie]

18 hours ago, Sampson said:

But Ndidi was excellent for the first 18 months-2 years under Rodgers playing this exact same system.

 

Again, I’m not defending Rodgers, he’s got a lot wrong, but people are using him to excuse absolutely everything away from underperforming players. 
 

Ndidi’s underperformances run much deeper than just “it’s Rodgers’ system”.

Hey mate, I’m the lead for Wilfred Ndidi’s Media Team. I just have a few things to say.
 

Take last season for example. Ndidi was played in every position known to man. Leicester’s injuries were up to 19, during the course of the season. One day, Ndidi is pairing Amartey at CB, the next day he’s  paring Hamza at midfield, the next he’s with Jannik at CB and the next with KDH at midfield. 

 

Please how IN THE WORLD IS A PLAYER supposed to get his mojo going. When you overwork him and play him everywhere?

 

You blame Ndidi for being inconsistent but absolve the poor medical staff at Leicester who don’t seem to know their job. For years now, Leicester’s injuries keep piling up. It’s not just Ndidi.

 

When he topped the tackling stats in back to back seasons – 2018/19 and 2019/20 – A certain Youri Tielemans was on top form as well. Tielemans has been a shadow of himself for ages. Yet, he’s been paired with Ndidi in a double pivot, limiting Ndidi’s efficiency. 

 

I just think it’s lazy to say NDIDI IS THE PROBLEM. I don’t agree one bit. 

[Bourbon Fox]

47 minutes ago, Dezfootie said:

Hey mate, I’m the lead for Wilfred Ndidi’s Media Team. I just have a few things to say.
 

Take last season for example. Ndidi was played in every position known to man. Leicester’s injuries were up to 19, during the course of the season. One day, Ndidi is pairing Amartey at CB, the next day he’s  paring Hamza at midfield, the next he’s with Jannik at CB and the next with KDH at midfield. 

 

Please how IN THE WORLD IS A PLAYER supposed to get his mojo going. When you overwork him and play him everywhere?

 

You blame Ndidi for being inconsistent but absolve the poor medical staff at Leicester who don’t seem to know their job. For years now, Leicester’s injuries keep piling up. It’s not just Ndidi.

 

When he topped the tackling stats in back to back seasons – 2018/19 and 2019/20 – A certain Youri Tielemans was on top form as well. Tielemans has been a shadow of himself for ages. Yet, he’s been paired with Ndidi in a double pivot, limiting Ndidi’s efficiency. 

 

I just think it’s lazy to say NDIDI IS THE PROBLEM. I don’t agree one bit. 

Please tell me that you are actually his media team lead...

[foxinsocks]

54 minutes ago, Dezfootie said:

Hey mate, I’m the lead for Wilfred Ndidi’s Media Team. I just have a few things to say.
 

Take last season for example. Ndidi was played in every position known to man. Leicester’s injuries were up to 19, during the course of the season. One day, Ndidi is pairing Amartey at CB, the next day he’s  paring Hamza at midfield, the next he’s with Jannik at CB and the next with KDH at midfield. 

 

Please how IN THE WORLD IS A PLAYER supposed to get his mojo going. When you overwork him and play him everywhere?

 

You blame Ndidi for being inconsistent but absolve the poor medical staff at Leicester who don’t seem to know their job. For years now, Leicester’s injuries keep piling up. It’s not just Ndidi.

 

When he topped the tackling stats in back to back seasons – 2018/19 and 2019/20 – A certain Youri Tielemans was on top form as well. Tielemans has been a shadow of himself for ages. Yet, he’s been paired with Ndidi in a double pivot, limiting Ndidi’s efficiency. 

 

I just think it’s lazy to say NDIDI IS THE PROBLEM. I don’t agree one bit. 

I don't think we have time to worry about ndidis form right now .  He is a good player and ridgers is a twat. 

Now let's get back to our other worries

[Ric Flair]

I'm not writing him off yet, I am concerned by how injury prone he is and that he's not had a spell of excellent form for over a year but he's a player who needs his game simplifying for him like Rodgers did when he first got here.

 

I swear he plays higher up the pitch now and worryingly his poor passing is usually when he's in space, when he's closed down or in tight spaces he seldom passes forward anyway. 

 

I will die on this hill but in a 4-1-4-1 with him as the sole DCM and then x 2 8's of KDH/Maddison/Tielemans we destroy the majority of teams in this division but we no longer play that exact system where Ndidi just screens and dominates anything that falls in to that area of play.

[RumbleFox]

5 minutes ago, Ric Flair said:

I'm not writing him off yet, I am concerned by how injury prone he is and that he's not had a spell of excellent form for over a year but he's a player who needs his game simplifying for him like Rodgers did when he first got here.

 

I swear he plays higher up the pitch now and worryingly his poor passing is usually when he's in space, when he's closed down or in tight spaces he seldom passes forward anyway. 

 

I will die on this hill but in a 4-1-4-1 with him as the sole DCM and then x 2 8's of KDH/Maddison/Tielemans we destroy the majority of teams in this division but we no longer play that exact system where Ndidi just screens and dominates anything that falls in to that area of play.

Pretty much this. As a pure disruptor/destroyer he’s one of the best in the league but he needs using in the right way. I remember there was debate on here a few years ago as to whether he was better than Kante or not which I always found amusing. Wilf is a very very very good player and I hope he stays and recaptures his form but Kante is literally one of the greatest players in his position of all time, a generational talent. Used in the system you specify Wilf can be the best in the league. I’ve never been a “Brendan Out“ person but it’s starting to look like we need a reset. 

Edited 9 August 2022 by RumbleFox

[tsintskaro]

I am all for "Rodgers out" , but blaming him for Ndidi's decline is just stupid and embarrassing.

Sadly, I dont believe Ndidi will be back to his best and no club will pay money for him.

So, from one of the best CDM to a deadwood, here we go

 

[st albans fox]

It looked to me as if Brentford were quite happy for us to have the ball away from their final third. (Apart from transition) but when wilf received it they attempted to press. 

[5waller5]

19 hours ago, Sampson said:

Edited 9 August 2022 by 5waller5
Wrong post quoted

[5waller5]

20 hours ago, moore_94 said:

19/20

 

 

20/21

 

 

21/22

 

 

You can see it is a lot more balanced with a main focus in the middle of the pitch in the first 2, but then in the 3rd there is a heavier focus on the left

At first glance these heatmaps are really interesting, and seem to suggest him playing deeper last season.

 

But I presume they include his handful of games at CB - in which case this is to be expected?

 

 

 

[Dezfootie]

3 hours ago, Bourbon Fox said:

Please tell me that you are actually his media team lead...

100 %. Yes I am. You should have seen @ndidi25fans on social media a lot. Give us a follow on Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Twitter. 
 

I’m not just happy with how fans are writing the big man off. You think you have anyone who can play that role better? Play Soumare or Mendy for a few games. You’d see what I’m talking about.

 

Rodgers needs to play a 4-1-4-1

 

Iversen/Ward

 

Castagne Fofana Evans Justin

 

Ndidi

 

Madders Tielemans KDH Barnes

 

Vardy 

[Dan LCFC]

On 08/08/2022 at 12:24, FoxyLeon said:

Here's a thought, how about we return him to the position where he was being talked about, at times, as the best naturally defensive holding midfielder in Europe?

This double pivot experiment, especially alongside Tielemans, does not work at all. I've been watching it now for two years, and it's blindingly obvious it does not work. Blaming Ndidi for his creative passing, is a bit like blaming Xavi for losing headers against Peter Crouch, stop playing a style that completely highlights his weakness to the point where you lose all his strengths. 

 

Almost every single individual player thread on here is littered with complaints about where there game is it. There's a blindingly obvious party who is responsible for our failings, it's not the fault of around 20 individual players. Ndidi should spare the need for a back three, as he has done for years, he should sit in front of Evans and Fofana, on his own, allowing the full backs to get forward and offering cover to the counter attack. Instead, as we saw with Brentford's second goal, and all too often for the last two years, he's too far wide in a double pivot to protect the centre properly. The second we switched to a double pivot with him and Youri, the midfield collapsed.

This entirely. You've got to accept with Ndidi that he does have weaknesses in his game but he also has some real strengths and why do we not play to those?

 

He should be a destroyer in front of the back 4. An anchor man. Nothing more nothing less. We'd concede far fewer goals if we did this.

[honeybradger]

23 hours ago, volpeazzurro said:

Different players do different things better than others. Ndidi for excels in reclaiming the ball etc but is never going to be a Kante who could do both that and incredible work further up the field. Ideally, Ndidi for me shields the back four giving more freedom to those in front of him. The further forward he goes, the less time he gets to pass which is not his strongest point I admit. I think every good team in the past has had an Ndidi type figure, some are better than others. 

I remember watching Chelsea under Lampard and Lampard was trying to shoehorn Kante into a holding midfield role where he was the deepest midfielder and wasnt allowed to roam around otherwise he would expose the backline.

 

Obviously he looked like half the player, so even someone as well rounded as Kante can look poor when misused by the manager. 

 

Kante is not a player who can be used as a sole DM, he has to be used in a pivot with another player such as Matic, Jorginho or Drinkwater. In the same way Ndidi is not a player who can be used in a pivot and has to be used as a lone DM.

 

Luckily for Kante he has a manager in Tuchel who has built the system around his abilities, whereas Rodgers is more focused on implementing his own ideas than trying to get the best out of Ndidi.

[An Sionnach]

42 minutes ago, Dan LCFC said:

This entirely. You've got to accept with Ndidi that he does have weaknesses in his game but he also has some real strengths and why do we not play to those?

 

He should be a destroyer in front of the back 4. An anchor man. Nothing more nothing less. We'd concede far fewer goals if we did this.

Whether Rodgers thinks he can play like Kante or Makalele I don't know but you are entirely correct his strengths are entirely defensive and he should be allowed to exercise those to his full ability and leave the football to others.

[filbertway]

On 08/08/2022 at 12:58, moore_94 said:

19/20

 

 

20/21

 

 

21/22

 

 

You can see it is a lot more balanced with a main focus in the middle of the pitch in the first 2, but then in the 3rd there is a heavier focus on the left

Seems like he was in possession a lot less in 19/20 then the previous 2 seasons. Assuming this is a touch heat map? Certainly very noticeable he's on the left side of a 2 in that final heat map as well.

[cruzFOX]

If only we could blend N’didi and soumare together we’d have the perfect player!