Our system detected that your browser is blocking advertisements on our site. Please help support FoxesTalk by disabling any kind of ad blocker while browsing this site. Thank you.
Jump to content
 Share
jonthefox

Ben Nelson

By jonthefox, in Leicester City Forum

Recommended Posts

The_Rorab

The_Rorab

Posted
Posted

I mean, I think it's eminently reasonable to be frustrated with Marti and the club for not playing Nelson - we are on a downward trajectory and the only real way out of it is going to be investing in the future, or hoping to magically get promoted and then somehow stay in the Prem or just get relegated and promoted indefinitely, which is obviously an unsustainable model.

 

Vestegaard and Faes are not going to improve us in the long-term, I feel like I can pretty conclusively call that fact despite it being supposition based on just experience, nor are they going to garner any particular money for us either - likely both on inflated wages and with expiring contracts and unlikely to generate much of a fee for a potential sale. So it stands to reason that people will be frustrated to see them both trotted out week in week out as our mainstay CBs ahead of the likes of Nelson and even Okoli, who are both a lot younger with potential to grow and also generate money in the future.

 

The defence of the defence we're sending out is logical in that sort of wait and see mantra, that hopes that eventually Marti will have bedded things in sufficiently to transition over the season towards this younger core, and I can definitely see why people like Dahnsouff are saying this, because it is the measured response. We can't know if this is something that is the plan behind the scenes, and if so, then that will hopefully see us achieving the personnel changes we want to see etc and leave this a moot point of contention.

 

The problem is that in order to believe that, we have to trust the people running our club.

 

I do not trust any of the people who run our club to be running it in a logical and in a manner beneficial for long-term planning.

 

I like Marti superficially. I like what he says, and his energy and passion he's brought to the club. Currently I don't particularly like the very recent trends in his squad selections, or the playstyle we've put out under him. I never trust a manager to be fully invested in doing what's best for the club long-term, because they are generally operating in short-term self-preservation methods, very validly, in order to continue their job security with immediate results. The problem being, that we desperately need some sort of long-term strategy and thinking in the club to counter-balance the absolute idiocy we saddle ourselves with year on year.

 

CB is one of the roles where rotation is much less frequently considered comparative to other positions, and lest we also forget as well games this season where when both Nelson and Faes were on the bench, Marti subbed on Faes every time, 4 times to be exact - and since Okoli dropped out of the side to pave the way for the inimitable Faes and Vestegaard pairing, Nelson hasn't even made the bench. He's very clearly 4th choice as it stands, whether that's for performance in game, training, personal unknowable reasons, whatever. I can't help but feel like hoping for eventual rotation with Nelson ignores the fact that presumably Okoli would come before him in the queue for a rotational cameo.

 

I think that's a mistake, and we risk losing out long-term on what I deem pretty insufficient short-term success (that I doubt will actually lead to any meaningful success short-term) persisting with Faes and Vestegaard - and I don't trust that the club in general will do what I deem the logical thing to do in our situation - and I don't think I'm alone in that perspective - hence the frustration.

 

The thing with MPH's point about the fact that there might be some unknowable thing going on behind the scenes which explains Nelson being out of favour is plausible, but it also fails to really help in any way because it's just completely unverifiable - so whilst plausible, it's not really going to help people feel less frustrated because it could just as easily be Marti doesn't rate Nelson and that's it - we just don't know - ditto the talk that he's not good enough or whatever, but again we've not really seen enough to weigh in - so it's just more unknowable frustration.

 

I dunno. I hope he changes the team selections up to phase out some of the likes of Faes, Vestegaard, Soumare, Ayew, Reid, Kristiansen, Daka from the squad or at the very least the starting 11 etc but I'm just not super confident, and it's a shame given how I felt positive we were going to see sweeping changes which was the main source of excitement I had for the season.

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
It'sblueupnorth

It'sblueupnorth

Posted
Posted
On 27/09/2025 at 17:58, Dahnsouff said:

We have nobody else, and if the mgmt team decide despite these errors, Faes is still preferable to whoever else we have, then what should we do?

Play what they believe is a lesser player in Nelson? Or continue with the two and hope to build a better partnership?

 

No good answers.

You trust the management team to make the right calls after watching this?

00rawat

00rawat

Posted
Posted (edited)

Should  be playing if  we are thinking long term,we are  not getting promoted  this season, him and okoli  should be starting over sideshow bob and snail, play and let him learn this season,even if he makes mistakes,let him have  the season to learn ,we need to start looking to the future faes and  vestergaard  have had there time.

Edited by 00rawat
  • Popular Post
Miquel The Work Geordie

Miquel The Work Geordie

Posted
  • Popular Post
Posted
7 hours ago, Tommy G said:

We should make him captain - would probably solve everything 

 

Nobody is suggesting that Nelson being in the first team / match day squad is some sort of magical panacea to all our woes. I think opinion broadly seems to be that if anyone at centre back is going to make mistakes they'd rather it be the 21 year old with a high ceiling over the 33 year old who can't move and a bloke who's done nothing but wear fans out since 2022.

  • Like 24
Dahnsouff

Dahnsouff

Posted
Posted
7 hours ago, It'sblueupnorth said:

You trust the management team to make the right calls after watching this?

Not the best show in terms of second half subs/tactics that is for sure.

 

He needs to learn from that 

Tommy G

Tommy G

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Miquel The Work Geordie said:

 

Nobody is suggesting that Nelson being in the first team / match day squad is some sort of magical panacea to all our woes. I think opinion broadly seems to be that if anyone at centre back is going to make mistakes they'd rather it be the 21 year old with a high ceiling over the 33 year old who can't move and a bloke who's done nothing but wear fans out since 2022.

Tongue in cheek…nevermind 

moore_94

moore_94

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, Richard said:

Injured until mid October according to fotmob

I think that might just be from the injury he got away with England but hasn’t been updated since Martí has said he is fine and just not being selected for “tactical” reasons

  • Like 1
Lambert09

Lambert09

Posted
Posted (edited)

I’d love for some local media to get some teeth and to raise the question. 
 

Marti, please can you explain why we are continuing with the same players who continually let us down,  instead of giving the promising youngsters a chance?!? 

 

Give us 5 games of okoli and Nelson, I promise we will be better off at the end of it 

Edited by Lambert09
  • Like 1
moore_94

moore_94

Posted
Posted

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2025/10/02/leicester-city-legal-battle-premier-league-championship/
 

Ben Nelson, the England Under-20 centre-back, is also highly regarded and attracted interest from Premier League clubs over the summer. Leicester turned down bids and maintained a high valuation that ultimately scared clubs off. Despite that strong interest, Nelson has yet to appear in the league since Cifuentes’s arrival.

Tommy Fresh

Tommy Fresh

Posted
Posted
33 minutes ago, moore_94 said:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2025/10/02/leicester-city-legal-battle-premier-league-championship/
 

Ben Nelson, the England Under-20 centre-back, is also highly regarded and attracted interest from Premier League clubs over the summer. Leicester turned down bids and maintained a high valuation that ultimately scared clubs off. Despite that strong interest, Nelson has yet to appear in the league since Cifuentes’s arrival.

We value him highly, but won't play him lol

moore_94

moore_94

Posted
Posted
6 minutes ago, Tommy Fresh said:

We value him highly, but won't play him lol

Can’t wait to see us either sell him for naff all next summer because he will only have 1 year left or he walks for free the following summer

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...