Wilfred Ndidi

[UniFox21]

7 hours ago, Kierzz said:

If there's anything he definitely has....it's physicality.... If you were saying he was struggling technically then I would agree.... his passing is terrible although was a bit better today

Physicality is probably the wrong word to use, his body physically doesn't cope, hamstrings etc. When was the last consistent run of fixtures he had injury free?

[Sol thewall Bamba]

11 hours ago, Cecchini1976 said:

It’s just down to loads of injurys, he just needs an injury free run and he will be back to his best 

Shame he plays for LCFC then hey

[CloudFox]

10 hours ago, Sambiasso said:

One of the good guys is Wilf, not afraid to speak up if hes unhappy. 

Played brilliant today.

It is really good to see him back to his former self. Fingers crossed it continues!

 

Curious about the first part you mention though. I've always thought he was quite reserved and got on with things while keeping his head down. Is this based on how he is with the squad/in the dressing room?

[dbtcity]

15 minutes ago, UniFox21 said:

Physicality is probably the wrong word to use, his body physically doesn't cope, hamstrings etc. When was the last consistent run of fixtures he had injury free?

Could it be down to what’s being asked of him? I mean Wilf at his best was a player that marshalled the back 4 breaking up pretty much everything the oppo tried to play out in the pocket between defence and midfield before playing a simple ball… now BR seemingly wants him closing down players on the edge of their box or carrying the ball out from deep! Shame really as for me we need him doing exactly what he used to do in just sitting

Edited 19 March 2023 by dbtcity

[Sampson]

4 minutes ago, dbtcity said:

Could it be down to what’s being asked of him? I mean Wilf at his best was a player that marshalled the back 4 breaking up pretty much everything the oppo tried to play out in the pocket between defence and midfield… now BR seemingly wants him closing down players on the edge of their box! Shame really as for me we need him doing exactly what he used to do in just sitting

He has been played as an anchor man the past few seasons plenty and still been crap though, so I don’t buy this argument. Besides, it shows how limited he is as a player if he can only play one very specific way, that’s not a good thing. So I think it’s a pretty big argument against Ndidi if anything.

 

I just think all his injuries have done him in the same way they have Ricardo and Justin. He doesn’t just look to have the same physical engine anymore.
 

Hope he can one day get over them and become at least more like the player he was for his first 3 or so seasons here, even if he doesn’t become quite as good.

Edited 19 March 2023 by Sampson

[dbtcity]

9 minutes ago, Sampson said:

He has been played as an anchor man the past few seasons plenty and still been crap though, so I don’t buy this argument. Besides, it shows how limited he is as a player if he can only play one very specific way, that’s not a good thing.

 

I just think all his injuries have done him in the same way they have Ricardo and Justin. He doesn’t just look to have the same physical engine anymore.
 

Hope he can one day get over them and become at least more like the player he was for his first 3 or so seasons here, even if he doesn’t become quite as good.

He is a limited player that’s always been plain to see but that limited player who can only play a certain way was 1 of the best about at playing that certain way, I agree injuries might have finally caught up with him but still trying to convert him into some sort of box to box ball playing machine isn’t the 1 for me as it’s having a negative effect on what he does so well (or used to)

Edited 19 March 2023 by dbtcity

[Kinowe Soorie]

He is a destroyer, a ball winner. That is all, trying to change/alter the way he plays so well, was a big mistake by BR.

[StanSP]

11 hours ago, Clever Fox said:

He done ok today, I'm not sure why he was replaced just when we were getting control of the game.

 

Then to replace him with Soumare was risking the result.

He was speaking to the physio or doctor as soon as he came off, so I'm guessing he may have felt a knock or it was more a precautionary sub. 

 

Agree he was very good today. Thankfully it didn't affect the outcome of the game losing him! 

[South Shire Fox]

Awful footballer. Cant control a ball, cant pass a ball, cant track his man and is as agile as Jannik Vestergaard. Hopefully some other club wont have seen him play since 2020 so will take him and his 80k a week off our hands this summer

Edited 1 April 2023 by South Shire Fox

[Ian Nacho]

Horrid footballer. 

[smudger63]

1 hour ago, South Shire Fox said:

Awful footballer. Cant control a ball, cant pass a ball, cant track his man and is as agile as Jannik Vestergaard. Hopefully some other club wont have seen him play since 2020 so will take him and his 80k a week off our hands this summer

He was a top defensive midfielder until Rodgers got hold of him. Always in the top 2 or 3 in the league for tackles and interceptions. Even under Puel  who like Rodgers wanted us to play a possession based game and pass through the lines, Ndidi was a top defensive midfielder. That was because Puel recognised that Ndidi had limitations, and so let him play to his strengths. Basically tackle, intercept, and play it simple to someone who could pass the ball. He was brilliant at it, and he gave our defence some real protection. Rodgers has tried to complicate his game by asking him to do something with the ball that he isn't comfortable doing, and his form has dropped off a cliff. 

[South Shire Fox]

22 minutes ago, smudger63 said:

He was a top defensive midfielder until Rodgers got hold of him. Always in the top 2 or 3 in the league for tackles and interceptions. Even under Puel  who like Rodgers wanted us to play a possession based game and pass through the lines, Ndidi was a top defensive midfielder. That was because Puel recognised that Ndidi had limitations, and so let him play to his strengths. Basically tackle, intercept, and play it simple to someone who could pass the ball. He was brilliant at it, and he gave our defence some real protection. Rodgers has tried to complicate his game by asking him to do something with the ball that he isn't comfortable doing, and his form has dropped off a cliff. 

Hes been shit for years mate, Rodgers hasnt made him turn like a tanker, unable to pass the ball 5 yards or slowly jogging back when the other team is counter attacking us. Hes a poor footballer, theres a reason no top club has ever bid for him. You cant have a player in your team at this level who is as bad technically as him. Tell me one top team in the world who purposely avoids passing to a player because hes crap on the ball like some people think we should with Ndidi? Its like playing with 10 men

Edited 1 April 2023 by South Shire Fox

[bovril]

Looked like Ali Dia at times

[Guest nathan.]

I struggle to think of a midfielder in the prem with worse passing. He is truly terrible 

[Guest nathan.]

Are people really saying he had a good game today?

 

He was ****ing awful.

[sacreblueits442]

3 hours ago, South Shire Fox said:

Hes been shit for years mate, Rodgers hasnt made him turn like a tanker, unable to pass the ball 5 yards or slowly jogging back when the other team is counter attacking us. Hes a poor footballer, theres a reason no top club has ever bid for him. You cant have a player in your team at this level who is as bad technically as him. Tell me one top team in the world who purposely avoids passing to a player because hes crap on the ball like some people think we should with Ndidi? Its like playing with 10 men

...he has always had this in his game, if you have all the game infront of you, you don't have to run back tracking unrushing players!!!

  Reading the game and getting in position to intercept and protect the defence is his role. We know it, Rodgers sees him as a player he needs to adapt to his style of play. A style that requires Ndidi to be involved in build up play and passing and breaking lines.

  It doesn't work, we can all see that, but Rodgers is hanging him out to dry.

  He is a valuable player the way he was previously asked to play, we too easily put players down because they are not performing in a way that we expect, the change in the way we use him is the problem. 

[South Shire Fox]

10 minutes ago, sacreblueits442 said:

...he has always had this in his game, if you have all the game infront of you, you don't have to run back tracking unrushing players!!!

  Reading the game and getting in position to intercept and protect the defence is his role. We know it, Rodgers sees him as a player he needs to adapt to his style of play. A style that requires Ndidi to be involved in build up play and passing and breaking lines.

  It doesn't work, we can all see that, but Rodgers is hanging him out to dry.

  He is a valuable player the way he was previously asked to play, we too easily put players down because they are not performing in a way that we expect, the change in the way we use him is the problem. 

He doesnt have the athleticism to do it anymore, just have to look at how slow and awkward he is when he moves to see he cant get about the pitch anymore like he used to. He hasnt looked agile in about 3 years. Dont know whether its injuries or what but id say his legs are well and truly gone and hes only 26. Just because a player once did something doesnt mean he can still do it.. 

[sacreblueits442]

1 minute ago, South Shire Fox said:

He doesnt have the athleticism to do it anymore, just have to look at how slow and awkward he is when he moves to see he cant get about the pitch anymore like he used to. He hasnt looked agile in about 3 years. Dont know whether its injuries or what but id say his legs are well and truly gone and hes only 26. Just because a player once did something doesnt mean he can still do it.. 

...seemed to have been doing the business in his last few games, the overriding problem that keeps getting aired is his inability  to pass the ball, not his inability to cover the back line!!!

[ozvaldo]

He’s fallen off the same cliff as Vardy. 

[coolhandfox]

To be fair, lots more talented players far worse today.

[Tom12345]

59 minutes ago, sacreblueits442 said:

...he has always had this in his game, if you have all the game infront of you, you don't have to run back tracking unrushing players!!!

  Reading the game and getting in position to intercept and protect the defence is his role. We know it, Rodgers sees him as a player he needs to adapt to his style of play. A style that requires Ndidi to be involved in build up play and passing and breaking lines.

  It doesn't work, we can all see that, but Rodgers is hanging him out to dry.

  He is a valuable player the way he was previously asked to play, we too easily put players down because they are not performing in a way that we expect, the change in the way we use him is the problem. 

You usually make sense mate, but can’t agree with you on this.

 

We even require goalies and CBs to be good with their feet these days. You just can’t have a midfielder who can’t control the ball, can’t pass and (worst in my mind) who can’t position himself to allow his teammates an easy pass. Everyone in the team is better than him. You can’t argue that a midfielder can have attributes like that just because his role is to tackle? That doesn’t apply to CBs, how can it apply to a midfielder? Faes and Souttar are both better than him by miles in that department. So many times Faes and Souttar can’t find Ndidi because he is slowly jogging right next to the Palace forward - he doesn’t want the ball! And when they pass to him, he then either pass it back dangerously or passes in a way that puts his teammates under pressure. The only one good pass he made was that long pass to Castagne. You can see his teammates do not want to pass to him. That means we play with 10 men, can’t beat the press, and can’t build up our play fluidly. The fact that we have option in Mendy (or even Praet) but still played Ndidi is criminal.  You can see that after Ricardo came in and played central to help out we were better, but we could have been much better if his midfield partner Ndidi could play and I was screaming for Mendy. And yes, we were then found out quickly by Palace after 15-20 mins and were back to playing with 10 men thereafter. Rodgers was criminally responsible and he has absolutely zero excuse. I struggle to see one single reason why he needed to play Ndidi instead of Mendy and persisting with that (not just this game but for years) has been one of his key downfalls (and for this season for persisting with Ward when we have a clearly better keeper in Iversen).

Edited 1 April 2023 by Tom12345

[fazzyfox]

When a team mate is under pressure and Wilf just shakes his head to say “ no, don’t pass to me there’s an opponent with 15 yards of me” he becomes a liability. His interception stats show what he’s good at but like Amartey you can’t be a regular Premier League footballer if your uncomfortable with, ooh what’s it called, oh yeah…the ball. It’s going to happen, you’re going to need to kick it at some point in the 90 minutes, it’s not a red hot potato in your hands it’s a ball.

[funkyrobot]

47 minutes ago, coolhandfox said:

To be fair, lots more talented players far worse today.

I thought he was one of our worst players today. Looked way, way off the pace. He wasn’t the only one but he was once a player with freakishly outstanding attributes (that meant we didn’t actually miss Kante) and now he’s competing to be our worst player against Crystal Palace with Tete, Daka and KDH. He needs to be dropped for Mendy.  

[iancognito]

5 hours ago, smudger63 said:

He was a top defensive midfielder until Rodgers got hold of him. Always in the top 2 or 3 in the league for tackles and interceptions. Even under Puel  who like Rodgers wanted us to play a possession based game and pass through the lines, Ndidi was a top defensive midfielder. That was because Puel recognised that Ndidi had limitations, and so let him play to his strengths. Basically tackle, intercept, and play it simple to someone who could pass the ball. He was brilliant at it, and he gave our defence some real protection. Rodgers has tried to complicate his game by asking him to do something with the ball that he isn't comfortable doing, and his form has dropped off a cliff. 

This is why Puel stuck Mendy next to him so often. Wilf did the intercepting then left it to Mendy to do the passing but it left us with **** all creativity ahead of them.  We sat deep with this low block and then couldn't get out. Ndidi looked incredible because he was having to put in a shift stopping the tide. Rodgers plays Ndidi or Mendy but rarely both so Wilf is left having to win in back AND give it and he's just not that player.

 

Worth remembering he was a CB until the season before he joined us. When Alex McLeish was Gent manager he pushed him into the DCM role and he stayed there. Similar to Amartey at Copenhagen. He isn't an awful player but he's low on confidence and form. Injured every few weeks, in and out the side almost as often as Nacho now, he just looks lost. Incredible as it seems some people on here used to argue he was a better player than Declan Rice. The only argument is whether he needs a new club or just a new manager.

[Tielemans63]

What's he done to get in ahead of Papy? What did Papy do wrong to get dropped?