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merlin1969

Wilfed Ndidi: Leicester midfielder rising above N'Golo Kante comparisons

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I don’t think we can ever take away what Kante did here, you just have to listen to Robert Huth when he’s asked how Leicester won the league 

 

However, Ndidi is now as important, if not more important. His role lets Not just  Maddison and Tieleman attack, but allows Ricardo and Chilwell too, the way he slots in between the Centerbacks to create a back 3, with his pace, and physical dominance, without anyone blinking is something Kante couldn’t do  

 

He’s a treat in the air in both boxes (Hopefully another against Chelsea this weekend) and he’s learning and adapting every game. Speaking of the Chelsea gave he’s clearly an emotional player, he was fuming with himself for the Chelsea goal. 

 

Kante’s been played out of position for 18 months which helps Ndidi’s cause here, but I think Ndidi is currently better than Kante, and will quickly improve to be one of the best in the world soon, let’s just hope we keep going ourselves and he wants to continue here. 


(Jesus, it’s been 6 years since I last posted here....... been a good run I guess 🤣

 

 

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57 minutes ago, drofmor55 said:

Martin Keown compared Wilfred Ndidi to Patrick Vieira..a player who shielded the Arsenal back four in the year of the invincibles...that is some praise

Vieira was complete. I still haven't seen a better PL era midfielder than him.

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Only thing he needs to be a proper box-to-box midfielder is ability to shoot from distance. Thought he was gonna score a few for us after this strikes against Stoke and Derby in 16/17 but his long range finishing is actually pretty woeful.

 

To be honest though, that's not really a necessity for the position he plays for us. The lad's an absolute beast and his importance to the team has been proven even more after those defeats against Southampton and Burnley. Clearly got his head screwed on too. An absolute snip at £16m. 

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Not going to be a popular opinion but Ndidi is nowhere as good as Kante at winning the ball back. Kante just doesn't really play that role anymore for Chelsea so the stats don't reflect his abilities.

 

Ndidi is a better technical player but he won't chase down good players around the pitch and actually take it off them, like Kante did.

 

He was relentless and even if they got away from him, they'd end up running into a cul-de-sac where players, Ndidi types, would pounce on their mistake. I'd wager most of Ndidi's tackles and interceptions are of this type - waiting for other players to come to him. I mean we're not really a team that presses and battles are we?

 

Kante could basically do the majority of the defensive work for a team. I think Ndidi is the sort of player who looks better in good teams. He's obviously improved into a good player this season, as many of our lot have, but he's no Kante.

 

 

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10 minutes ago, weller54 said:

Any news to why he missed out today?

Had some discomfort in the pre on pitch warm up so it was considered best to rest him. 
 

he was down to play - I don’t believe there was a fitness test as such .... the team was selected with him in it. 

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5 minutes ago, January47 said:

Wasn't Kante just dog average today. Didn't stand out at all. And yet (some of) our fans are moaning about Tielemans who was a level above him for me.

He was good first half but less effective second ...... it must be tough to be pretty well the best player in the world in a position and then asked to play somewhere else .....

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On 28/01/2020 at 18:47, Kitchandro said:

Not going to be a popular opinion but Ndidi is nowhere as good as Kante at winning the ball back. Kante just doesn't really play that role anymore for Chelsea so the stats don't reflect his abilities.

 

Ndidi is a better technical player but he won't chase down good players around the pitch and actually take it off them, like Kante did.

 

He was relentless and even if they got away from him, they'd end up running into a cul-de-sac where players, Ndidi types, would pounce on their mistake. I'd wager most of Ndidi's tackles and interceptions are of this type - waiting for other players to come to him. I mean we're not really a team that presses and battles are we?

 

Kante could basically do the majority of the defensive work for a team. I think Ndidi is the sort of player who looks better in good teams. He's obviously improved into a good player this season, as many of our lot have, but he's no Kante.

 

 

I would disagree, Kitch. I think Wilf is sensational at ball retrieving, he isn’t as good driving forward, but in terms of breaking up play I think he is better. Kante is busy, but he leaves gaps, we saw today he often left holes allowing us to break through the middle. When Wilf plays he rarely allow that, which is why Cags and Evans have looked so good! 
 

Wilf is unreal, I’ve never known anyone be able to tackle legally from behind like him.

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  • 2 weeks later...

https://www.footballfancast.com/premier-league/leicester/wilfred-ndidi-suffering-unfair-kante-comparisons

 

Wilfred Ndidi suffering unfair Kante comparisons
by Stephen Tudor  @SteTudor123shareFacebook Twitter Pocket Pocket Pocket Addthis
3 minute read 11/2/2020 | 09:10am
As a general point it could be said that the achievements of players are too soon diminished these days, superseded as they are by terrific performances put in by new kids on the block. That’s football. That’s how it works. We refresh the page and move on.

And that appears to be the likeliest explanation as to why there are a number of articles intimating that Leicester City’s Wilfred Ndidi has become the superior of N’Golo Kante, suggesting the Nigerian midfielder has become more impactful at the King Power Stadium than the French dynamo ever was.

The BBC have indulged in the comparison despite bizarrely calling for an end to them, as too have ESPN. Going all the way back to 2017, Goal.com were already claiming a usurping had taken place and that was only four months into Ndidi’s stint in the Midlands after the 20-year-old signed from Genk with Kante having previously moved to Chelsea.

In a recent Radio 5 Live podcast James Maddison came right out and said it: “Kante is a brilliant player but actually winning the ball back and taking the ball off the opposition I don’t think there is anyone better than Wilfred.”

We can overlook that one because he is, after all, a team-mate.


The truth is that Ndidi is not as good as Kante was in a Leicester shirt and there is absolutely no slight intended when stating that, not when the reason is given. That reason is that nobody conceivably could be.

In the 2015/16 season that saw the Foxes astound one and all by winning the title, they had an all-action midfielder who frankly redefined what was considered possible for a player of his type. This was a holding player who made 4.7 tackles and 4.2 interceptions per match, yet also completed 1.3 dribbles, made four assists and used either his running power or his passing range to turn dogged defending into sweeping counter-attacks.

That year no player – including Jamie Vardy who scored 24 goals or the magical Riyad Mahrez – did more to make the 5000/1 fairy tale a reality. The following year Kante won a clean sweep of individual honours. Twelve months later he was a World Cup winner.

It is then unfair to compare Ndidi to a player who essentially is – and will always be – a one of a kind. As for Kante, it only diminishes his incredible achievements.


That of course is not for an instant taking anything away from Leicester’s current solitary enforcer. As part of Brendan Rodgers’ re-modeled midfield he has excelled and dramatically so; constantly mopping up and starting attacks. According to Whoscored, he is the seventh best performing player in the Premier League this season, just behind Mohamed Salah, averaging an astonishing 4.1 tackles per game.

This year no player – including Vardy who has scored 17 goals so far or the magical Maddison – has done more to elevate Leicester into third. Tellingly, 12 of their 15 Premier League victories have been with him in the starting XI; in contrast, they’ve won just three of six without him.

Both players have been integral for Leicester in their own right, and it’s true that their respective jobs share some similarities. But Kante has made himself an especially unique entity that very few players in the world have managed to replicate in style since his emergence.

That may eventually prove true of Ndidi as well; he could go on to achieve similar brilliance through his own way of playing. But ultimately, that should be determined either way by his own merits – not a comparison with a world-class predecessor.

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Kante was OK against us but it looks like he has stagnated overall at Chelsea. If I were him I would be looking at one last big move to a club outside The Premier League.

 

Kante was a major loss to us but you could sense once we got on a good run of form that N'Didi was a serious player in the making. 

 

Says a lot about us that we managed to get a result against Chelsea with Kante in their team without us having N'didi. 

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Impossible to rank Wilf higher than Kante, he may prove to be a better all round player in the future, but let's not forget that we won the prem with N'Golo, and he won it again at Chelski when he was played in his city role.

Wilf is pivotal to our success imo, but the temptation to pick current players over past greats often proves irresistable- whenever a "best ever" team is picked, you can guarantee at least six will be current or very recent players, clearly extremely unlikely in any period!

At the moment Wilf is very good,

Kante was and is great and will undoubtedly go to Barca or Real.

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