Ndidi - linchpin to City?

[oxford blue]

Given the ability of the other midfielders it's easy to underestimare Ndidi's ability in his role. This article is worth a read:

 

https://www.theguardian.com/football/who-scored-blog/2019/nov/26/wilfred-ndidi-leicester-premier-league

 

(Tackles for Pereira is also interesting; the best full back in PL?)

[weller54]

I'd rather pinch lyn. 

[Grebfromgrebland]

Oo we misses

[HighPeakFox]

Is an underestimare like a nightmare but worse? 

[Tom12345]

Without a doubt, Ndidi this season is a machine. He has significantly improved his discipline and is committing less fouls this year - cutting out his rashness and tendency to fouling in dangerous areas. His positioning has greatly improved as he does not try to romp forward randomly anymore when he has 6 players doing that in front of him. To me, he is now heads and shoulders above many in EPL in his position.

 

I think the whole squad is very decent, but apart from Ndidi, I think we have the following who we can say are truly amongst the very best in the league (not just for us): Evans, Soyuncu, Ricardo and Vardy.

 

Tielemans and Maddison are great, but you can quite easily point to quite a few who are generally better: Kevin De Bruyne, Mahrez, Sterling, Pogba, Mata, Silva ... etc (or you can insert your own list). I am not sure I can find many to talk about who are better than Evans, Soyuncu, Ricardo and Vardy in the league in their respective positions. Ndidi is up there at the very top but just below Kante.

 

[Fox92]

The holding midfielder is always the driving force behind a good team and N'didi is no different.

 

The media rightly praised the likes of Makelele, Kante, Matic...

[Guest An Sionnach]

Leicester's problem is that Hamza is very nearly as good as Wilf and they are a similar age. It would be a tragedy to lose him because of lack of game time. Holding midfielders need to play as often as possible and six games a season is no good. Leeds sold Batty and lived to regret it we musn't do that.

Edited 26 November 2019 by An Sionnach

[murphy]

Love him.  Wilf the wall.

 

I know I'm likely to be in a minority but I wouldn't swap him for Kante. 

[murphy]

48 minutes ago, An Sionnach said:

Leicester's problem is that Hamza is very nearly as good as Wilf and they are a similar age. It would be a tragedy to lose him because of lack of game time. Holding midfielders need to play as often as possible and six games a season is no good. Leeds sold Batty and lived to regret it we musn't do that.

 

What an awful problem to have.    

[Guest An Sionnach]

10 minutes ago, murphy said:

 

What an awful problem to have.    

He probably thought Rodgers was going to use two defensive midfielder but that didn't last long.

Edited 26 November 2019 by An Sionnach

[Guest Cujek]

Merge with the other Ndidi thread? 

[yorkie1999]

1 hour ago, murphy said:

Love him.  Wilf the wall.

 

I know I'm likely to be in a minority but I wouldn't swap him for Kante. 

Nor would I. Never seen Kante smack the the ball like wolf does. Brings a bit of excitement to the role

Edited 26 November 2019 by yorkie1999

[MarriedaLeicesterGirl]

1 hour ago, An Sionnach said:

Leicester's problem is that Hamza is very nearly as good as Wilf and they are a similar age. It would be a tragedy to lose him because of lack of game time.

 

20 minutes ago, murphy said:

 

What an awful problem to have.    

Same issue with Praet and Gray. They all could start. We will be in Europe next year -- then it will be a necessary problem to have.

[murphy]

2 minutes ago, yorkie1999 said:

Not have I. Never seen Kante smack the the ball like wolf does. Brings a bit of excitement to the role

 

Bend it like Beckham

 

Smack it like Wolf!

[yorkie1999]

1 minute ago, murphy said:

 

Bend it like Beckham

 

Smack it like Wolf!

Readers!!

[Carl the Llama]

1 hour ago, murphy said:

Love him.  Wilf the wall.

 

I know I'm likely to be in a minority but I wouldn't swap him for Kante. 

I'd agree with that tbf, Ndidi is immense, still only 22, and still improving. 

 

I would swap for 15/16 Kante though.

[Foxxed]

I doubt we could play both Maddison and Youri without Ndidi. Obviously we have a great replacement in Hamza. If we didn’t play either if those we’d have to play Maddison and Praet and sub Youri into the side.

[Wolfox]

14 minutes ago, murphy said:

 

Bend it like Beckham

 

Smack it like Wolf!

You wot???  

[worthosoriginals]

4 hours ago, An Sionnach said:

Leicester's problem is that Hamza is very nearly as good as Wilf and they are a similar age. It would be a tragedy to lose him because of lack of game time. Holding midfielders need to play as often as possible and six games a season is no good. Leeds sold Batty and lived to regret it we musn't do that.

Don't worry, I can't see us selling batty. 

[Cheesemaker22]

11 hours ago, Tom12345 said:

Without a doubt, Ndidi this season is a machine. He has significantly improved his discipline and is committing less fouls this year - cutting out his rashness and tendency to fouling in dangerous areas. His positioning has greatly improved as he does not try to romp forward randomly anymore when he has 6 players doing that in front of him. To me, he is now heads and shoulders above many in EPL in his position.

 

I think the whole squad is very decent, but apart from Ndidi, I think we have the following who we can say are truly amongst the very best in the league (not just for us): Evans, Soyuncu, Ricardo and Vardy.

 

Tielemans and Maddison are great, but you can quite easily point to quite a few who are generally better: Kevin De Bruyne, Mahrez, Sterling, Pogba, Mata, Silva ... etc (or you can insert your own list). I am not sure I can find many to talk about who are better than Evans, Soyuncu, Ricardo and Vardy in the league in their respective positions. Ndidi is up there at the very top but just below Kante.

 

Juan Mata? Who doesn't even start for mid table Manchester United? It's unfair to compare numbers 8s to forwards like Mahrez/Sterling and Pogba has been injured all season. Tielemans and Maddison are two of the very best in this league in their positions.

Edited 27 November 2019 by Cheesemaker22

[StriderHiryu]

For me the incredible thing about this side is that there is no single player who has been carrying us. Yes some players have been exceptional this season with Ndidi being one of them, but in truth the team has a wonderful balance to it running throughout. That’s why we’ve seen things like Maddison miss a game through injury, see Praet step in and still win 5-0.

 

Vardy has been lethal in front of goal, but those chances are coming from great all round team play.

 

Anyway on Ndidi, he’s gone up a level this season and is probably the best CDM in the division at the moment. 

[Col city fan]

27 minutes ago, StriderHiryu said:

For me the incredible thing about this side is that there is no single player who has been carrying us. Yes some players have been exceptional this season with Ndidi being one of them, but in truth the team has a wonderful balance to it running throughout. That’s why we’ve seen things like Maddison miss a game through injury, see Praet step in and still win 5-0.

 

Vardy has been lethal in front of goal, but those chances are coming from great all round team play.

 

Anyway on Ndidi, he’s gone up a level this season and is probably the best CDM in the division at the moment. 

Great post mate BUT there’s no probably about it. He is the best

[Nicolo Barella]

12 hours ago, Tom12345 said:

Without a doubt, Ndidi this season is a machine. He has significantly improved his discipline and is committing less fouls this year - cutting out his rashness and tendency to fouling in dangerous areas. His positioning has greatly improved as he does not try to romp forward randomly anymore when he has 6 players doing that in front of him. To me, he is now heads and shoulders above many in EPL in his position.

 

I think the whole squad is very decent, but apart from Ndidi, I think we have the following who we can say are truly amongst the very best in the league (not just for us): Evans, Soyuncu, Ricardo and Vardy.

 

Tielemans and Maddison are great, but you can quite easily point to quite a few who are generally better: Kevin De Bruyne, Mahrez, Sterling, Pogba, Mata, Silva ... etc (or you can insert your own list). I am not sure I can find many to talk about who are better than Evans, Soyuncu, Ricardo and Vardy in the league in their respective positions. Ndidi is up there at the very top but just below Kante.

 

Van Dijk and Laporte are still better than ours, although if we keep Soyuncu another couple of years that could change. I'd also probably rate Fabinho as as good as Ndidi, but more well rounded.

[StriderHiryu]

46 minutes ago, Col city fan said:

Great post mate BUT there’s no probably about it. He is the best

Fabinho is VERY good, and proven at the very highest level of European competition, so he's definitely in the conversation. They are slightly different players as Fabinho is more of a thinking man's type of player who adds an element of control to Liverpool's game whereas Ndidi plays a simplified role, but is undoubtedly the best player at that role in world football. 

 

This is not a dig at Ndidi in any way. If you compare our system to Liverpool, they rely much more on their fullbacks for creativity, with TAA often referred to as their most creative player or even as a play maker despite being a right back. Our midfield is almost Man City esque with two technicians that are very good at creating, and they are only able to create because of the stability that the holy trinity of Ndidi, Soyuncu and Evans provide for them.

 

So for me Ndidi is the better player, because he does everything I would look for in a CDM. But arguably if you replaced Fabinho with Ndidi, Liverpool would not be as good and vice versa.

[Les-TA-Jon]

17 hours ago, An Sionnach said:

Leicester's problem is that Hamza is very nearly as good as Wilf and they are a similar age. It would be a tragedy to lose him because of lack of game time. Holding midfielders need to play as often as possible and six games a season is no good. Leeds sold Batty and lived to regret it we musn't do that.

It's much more likely that we lose Ndidi in the next 12-24 months and Hamza replaces him than the other way around.