Ndidi the monster. RIP Kante

[coolhandfox]

Fantastic performance tonight, excellent range of passing, short and long. Shielded the back 4 superbly, broke up play, won headers and he's only 21! 

 

We could have a real real player on our hands, just want the teams need!

[Chester Dontlie]

Who's Kante?

[shen]

Did he lose more than a couple duels in the entire game? Fantastic stuff. Only his naivety in a couple of situations were blemishes (notably their goal; when he tried to cheekily lob a player and collect the ball, which then led to a counter; and when overplaying in tight spaces at the end). With a bit more game time and with team performances like today, he'll be one helluva player.

 

He had shown promise, but nothing as commanding, strong and technically proficient as today. Loving it!

[jim5000]

1 hour ago, foxes21 said:

only downside tonight for me, was amartey. he wasnt aggressive, didn't go in for tackles, standing off his man and letting him pick his next pass. he jocky's the opponent too much instead of getting in their face.

Ndidi is everything we hoped Amartey would be.

[lee7]

Ndidi tonight was extremely impressive. Constantly in their faces, poking a leg in to win the ball whenever possible which is very reminiscent of kante. The only thing he lacks compared to kante is the speed across short distances.

Although saying that he is an absolute monster in the air for someone who is stick thin! He's also probably our best passer of the ball.

 

I said before the match that Shakespeare would be hoping for a big performance from Ndidi tonight and he certainly delivered! 

[Thracian]

Ndidi was excellent tonight but let's keep things in proportion. Kante set that standard and higher for a whole season, match after winning match. And that's the level Ndidi needs to set his goals.  

[Kaewbudda]

2 hours ago, Drygon said:

Ndidi was brilliant today, great energy and actually was impressed at his passing today, exploited Liverpool a couple of times with it.

 

Unfortunaly, I think he'll be sold this summer.

30 million release clause in his contract, apparently.

 

Knowing what we know now, we would have broken the bank to keep Kante (i.e. offered him a ridiculous monthly wage).

 

I know its early, but it feels like we have found another diamond.

 

Do we break the bank to try and keep him at the club?

[Nod.E]

Thought he could have shown more awareness to track Coutinho for the goal but that aside, phenomenal.  

[Marutimon]

5 hours ago, sdb said:

Not sure a player better than Kante will ever exist but Ndidi came as close as humanly possible tonight. Sensational. 

Gueye

[Crazy Kop Corner]

The lad oozed class. His passing range was superb and he was everywhere and a looked to dovetail well with Drinkwater who came into the game more and in particular after his goal.

[filthyfox]

8 hours ago, lgfualol said:

30m release clause that will be activated by someone in the Summer :'(

Sack Rudkin- after Kante, that lesson should have been learnt

[foxinsox]

1 minute ago, filthyfox said:

Sack Rudkin- after Kante, that lesson should have been learnt

If there was no release clause then he might not have come at all. Surely we have learnt in the last six months that holding players against their will is no way to get the best out of them? 

[filthyfox]

Just now, foxinsox said:

If there was no release clause then he might not have come at all. Surely we have learnt in the last six months that holding players against their will is no way to get the best out of them? 

At least make the clause higher than that- 45m would put most club off.....

 

Your not saying that it WAS the players at fault are you? That might get you into trouble on here!

[Guest Basildon Fox]

How do people know he has this release clause?

[Webbo]

3 minutes ago, Zaphod Beeblebrox said:

How do people know he has this release clause?

They don't but it's a fair assumption seeing as its written into most contracts nowadays.

 

As always Rudkin gets the blame.

[Ric Flair]

9 hours ago, Pentatonic said:

Did great, but he looks like a penalty waiting to happen.

So did Kante.

[MC Prussian]

8 hours ago, shen said:

Did he lose more than a couple duels in the entire game? Fantastic stuff. Only his naivety in a couple of situations were blemishes (notably their goal; when he tried to cheekily lob a player and collect the ball, which then led to a counter; and when overplaying in tight spaces at the end). With a bit more game time and with team performances like today, he'll be one helluva player.

 

He had shown promise, but nothing as commanding, strong and technically proficient as today. Loving it!

He's not exactly the same type of player as Kanté, but comes close in many departments. He has something Yaya Touré-ish about him that could come in handy later, by that I mean the ability to cover all areas of the field.

Maybe not as effective defensively, but with more potential adding impetus going forward by the use of long shots and free-kicks.

if he can work on dead-ball situations and bulk up a bit, we'll have a killer of a player on our hands.

 

And let's not forget he's still only 20 years old, so bags of potential.

Edited 28 February 2017 by MC Prussian

[stevelcfc]

Singin' oooh N'didi didi dum didi doo

[AmarteyAndChill]

8 hours ago, coolhandfox said:

Fantastic performance tonight, excellent range of passing, short and long. Shielded the back 4 superbly, broke up play, won headers and he's only 21! 

 

We could have a real real player on our hands, just want the teams need!

He turned 20 in December 

[AmarteyAndChill]

8 hours ago, lee7 said:

Ndidi tonight was extremely impressive. Constantly in their faces, poking a leg in to win the ball whenever possible which is very reminiscent of kante. The only thing he lacks compared to kante is the speed across short distances.

Although saying that he is an absolute monster in the air for someone who is stick thin! He's also probably our best passer of the ball.

 

I said before the match that Shakespeare would be hoping for a big performance from Ndidi tonight and he certainly delivered! 

Ndidis 6ft 2, Kantè is 5ft 7. Ndidi takes longer to get going.

[AmarteyAndChill]

Did anyone see his bullet left foot volley/shot in the first half? Weak foot aswell 

Edited 28 February 2017 by AmarteyAndChill

[shen]

16 minutes ago, MC Prussian said:

He's not exactly the same type of player as Kanté, but comes close in many departments. He has something Yaya Tourè-ish about him that could come in handy later, by that I mean the ability to cover all areas of the field.

Maybe not as effective defensively, but with more potential adding impetus going forward by the use of long shots and free-kicks.

if he can work on dead-ball situations and bulk up a bit, we'll have a killer of a player on our hands.

 

And let's not forget he's still only 20 years old, so bags of potential.

I suppose his sometimes bumbling frame is more reminiscent of Touré/Vieira. Some amazing tenacity that was Kanté-like though. A few times you thought the opposition finally played their way through him only for Ndidi to get another challenge in and somehow win the ball. The one time Ndidi was caught pressing him up the pitch resulted in a goal against us.
However, I still hope he gets license to go forward and press high, but that the staff and players will be able to coach him how to time it.

[Marutimon]

36 minutes ago, shen said:

I suppose his sometimes bumbling frame is more reminiscent of Touré/Vieira. Some amazing tenacity that was Kanté-like though. A few times you thought the opposition finally played their way through him only for Ndidi to get another challenge in and somehow win the ball. The one time Ndidi was caught pressing him up the pitch resulted in a goal against us.
However, I still hope he gets license to go forward and press high, but that the staff and players will be able to coach him how to time it.

The Toure / Vieira comparison also comes from the attacking threat Ndidi poses, his ball vision with the pass, long range shot threat and air dominance. Also Ndidi will never be Kante, because Kante is that much shorter and will be quicker with his feet, even if Ndidi is much faster once he gets going. But obviously his tenacity is way above what Toure's ever was, not so sure about Vieira's.

 

Also Kante (and for that matter Gueye) seem to be able to run at full speed for 90 minutes, while Ndidi looked spent after 70 minutes yesterday (he managed 10 tackles and 7 headers in his first 70 minutes and only one tackle in the final 20 - mind you only the elite players average a tackle per 20 minutes).

Edited 28 February 2017 by Marutimon

[RumbleFox]

10 hours ago, foxes21 said:

only downside tonight for me, was amartey. he wasnt aggressive, didn't go in for tackles, standing off his man and letting him pick his next pass. he jocky's the opponent too much instead of getting in their face.

Not sure I agree with this.  Amartey made 3 tackles in the short time he was on.  Only two players made more tackles than him in the whole game (and they each had 90 minutes).  I like Amartey, he's doing alright. X

[Marutimon]

1 minute ago, RumbleFox said:

Not sure I agree with this.  Amartey made 3 tackles in the short time he was on.  Only two players made more tackles than him in the whole game (and they each had 90 minutes).  I like Amartey, he's doing alright. X

I really think he should have had more RB / CB exposure though. Can't see him breaking into the midfield now, while I think (despite yesterday's game) that Huth + Morgan could be improved by bringing in one faster defender.