Only just turned 24. Thought he was older than that. Defin like this fella but assumed he was older and on a long contract since not been there that long.
Wilfred Ndidi - Leicester Player
- Thread starter IrishRedDevil
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A Ndidi-Pogba-Bruno midfield would work, transform us and be the best in the league. Yes, even better than Rodri-Gundogan-De Bruyne. Ndidi has outperformed many a top class DM over the past two seasons. Kante, the aforementioned Rodri etc. He can certainly cover for two players whose natural inclinations are to affect the game further up the pitch. If we get Ndidi, we have to keep Pogba.
he is on a long contract but we signed him at 20
Had no idea he's only 24, only question is for the money he'd cost is he that big an upgrade on what we have already? I'm unsure
With Chilwell, I'd say it was probably fair for both parties. On the one hand, he was young, English (which I think seemed to be a big selling point for Lampard), proven in the Premier League and a fairly regular international, which always adds to the price. On the other hand, he was clearly the weakest link in our back four, and we'd already signed a replacement to cover him (though hindsight helps a lot there - couldn't have possibly expected James Justin to progress as quickly as he had).
So I'd say that the price is fair in terms of the number of 'premium categories' that he seems to fit into, however probably inflated in terms of the quality of the player. I suppose it's similar to Maguire- if he hadn't scored that goal for England, I bet that'd have been £15 - 20m knocked off his price. Ricardo and James Justin (and possibly Timmy Chestnuts, who has seemed quality when played, but hampered by injuries thus far) shows that there is far better value in the market than splashing £60m on Chilwell, but I suppose you pay extra to not have to take the risk.
We ripped you off on Maguire much more than we did Chelsea with Chilwell, but on the other hand, I was much more upset about losing Maguire than Chilwell. Chilwell is bang average.
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Last time I posted something criticising Chilwell I was accused of 'sour grapes' by a resident Chelsea fan, so I'm going to pre-empt it by quoting a post I made on these forums during last season.
We'd win the league this season with Ndidi as our DM
Was he really that good today? Liverpool had shot upon shot but didnt seem clinical.
He’s definitely average and as I said in the James Justin thread, he’s no better than Justin himself atm and is not a patch on Luke Shaw. However, I must say that I thought at the time that selling Chilwell for only £45m was far too little. Yes, Castagne and Justin are both upgrades, but Chilwell is not a worse defender than Maguire for example, as much as I like him. It just made me thought that while you lot are very savvy and intelligent in your selling of valuable assets, you can get robbed once in a while. Hope it happens with Ndidi to us
No DM is going to stop that on their own. But he's the best wall in front of the defence in the league, so replace him with anyone else and there would have been more shots. Its simply something that he can reduce and disrupt more attacks and tempo from the opposing team with all his ball winning and starting moves on the counter. 2 players of that mould might prove very effective in blocking and reducing shots, but then you'd have a different issue of how you use the ball when you have it.
He was excellent today, would love to see us sign him but suspect it would take maguire money to prise him from leicester
Hes a massive upgrade as a defensive mid. Probably the best in the league and been so for a couple of seasons now. McTominay is a box to box midfielder who is solid at most things, as is Fred, but Ndidi is another level when it comes to defensive solidity and holding a midfield together. Here's the stats/percentiles for McTominay/fred and Ndidi. Hes a level above defensively.
https://fbref.com/en/players/6b47c5db/scout/365_euro/Wilfred-Ndidi-Scouting-Report
https://fbref.com/en/players/b853e0ad/scout/365_euro/Fred-Scouting-Report
https://fbref.com/en/players/d93c2511/scout/10728/Scott-McTominay-Scouting-Report
That may be so but he needs to have more about him than just defensive stats to be an upgrade on our current players, needs to be as good if not better than them on the ball as well
I have said this time and again, Ndidi is the guy to get.
Ndidi
Bruno Pogba
The above is as good a midfield anywhere in the world with Pogba lying deeper and threading those nice passes and Bruno getting forward into dangerous positions.Bruno Pogba
He's good but Leicester would absolutely take us to the cleaners. I wouldn't be surprised if they demanded £90m
Hes very decent on the ball, but thats why we can then play Pogba as the midfielder next to him along with Bruno. No midfielder is perfect all around, and in a midfield 3 it's better to have the specialists.
Fair enough. Van de Beek did play deep in a pivot next to Lisandro Martinez so I guess it could work, especially against low block teams.
My worry would be if Pogba does go, then if VdB is not fit, it would mean having to revert to a one of Fred/McTominay next to Ndidi which doesn't really excite me from a creative point of view but then a creative winger like Sancho could compensate for that.
Yup I totally understand. Ideally, we need both the deeper 2 to change. And regardless we need a creative wide right player like Sancho (or Diallo just turning into a great player pretty quickly). But in terms of the midfield, neither McTominay or Fred should be viewed as long term fixtures in the starting 11 to build around like Bruno is and to me what Rashford is (and what Shaw and Wan Bissaka are as well). Just Ndidi alone wouldn't sort it out, but neither would a deep lying playmaker type without the DM as then we'd be way too open, like we are if Pogba is paired with Fred.
I just look at today and think would Ndidi have changed anything if he were here? Yes, we need to be defensively better but traditionally, we've never really had a true defensive midfielder and have always tried to outscore teams.
Point is though that to get that added creative force there you also need the Ndidi to balance Bruno/Pogba (or whoever). Can't have Fred or mctominay hold behind the 2 creative mids.
Given how long it took to get Ndidi and to get him going after losing Kante, he wouldn't be cheap that's for sure. Absolutely critical player for us.
Absolutely the sort of player we need. The freedom to play Bruno and Pogba or Bruno &VDB or even Bruno and Mata would be a game changer.
I hope there is something like him we can get at a bargain price.
I hope there is something like him we can get at a bargain price.
Ndidi stats against Liverpool
5 tackles
3 interceptions
4 clearances
3 blocked shots
1 assist .
19 ball recoveries
Pretty good I say.
Your scouting system doesnt seem set up for finding Ndidi’s at bargain prices. Looking from the outside, thats baffling.
I can see him being the type of player that people won't like here. His defensive stats are the highest of all CMs and DMs in the league, but you have to consider that he sits really deep. In fact, his heatmap for the season shows him very rarely leaving his own half of the pitch. He spends a lot of time from his own box to the halfway line.
Most midfielders, at the top teams especially, spend their time on either side of the halfway line, so Ndidi's does stand out a bit. I do think he is partially the reason why Leicester sometimes struggle in terms of performance against big teams because he sits so deep. It makes it difficult to assert themselves on those games.
If he has to play further up the pitch, will his defensive stats still measure up to previous? I doubt it myself. I think you will see a drop in tackles & interceptions as it is easier to bypass someone further up the pitch. Kante, Fred, Romeu (The next three highest after him defensively) all play higher up the pitch.
For people who seem to want a lot of creativity from deep, I don't see how this would be the answer at all. He has 0.4 key passes per 90, which is quite a bit below ours, who people are not happy with. He has 1 assist, but it is not the best way to determine creativity.
I'm not convinced he is the answer that people are looking for.
Most midfielders, at the top teams especially, spend their time on either side of the halfway line, so Ndidi's does stand out a bit. I do think he is partially the reason why Leicester sometimes struggle in terms of performance against big teams because he sits so deep. It makes it difficult to assert themselves on those games.
If he has to play further up the pitch, will his defensive stats still measure up to previous? I doubt it myself. I think you will see a drop in tackles & interceptions as it is easier to bypass someone further up the pitch. Kante, Fred, Romeu (The next three highest after him defensively) all play higher up the pitch.
For people who seem to want a lot of creativity from deep, I don't see how this would be the answer at all. He has 0.4 key passes per 90, which is quite a bit below ours, who people are not happy with. He has 1 assist, but it is not the best way to determine creativity.
I'm not convinced he is the answer that people are looking for.
I agree people wouldnt like him, but we'd also be a much better team with him in it and the people who wouldn't like him are the ones who think every player needs to be attacking and you never worry about defending, so they arent worth being concerned about.
We havent been very good with transfers in general, especially if you put the jackpot Bruno Fernandes to one side. If you look at all the other signings in the past 5 years most are at least questionable with the money to performances ratio.
I tend to agree with this and would also argue that people really overrate the notion of a midfielder who can be a "lone DM." Ndidi doesn't really do that at Leicester, as Tielemans is a disciplined midfield partner who definitely gets forward more of the two but isn't like a Pogba/Ramsey/Yaya kind of 8 who is just constantly involved in the attack and getting caught out. More generally, almost nobody really plays with a "lone DM" in possession at this point anyway, as if everybody else is bombing forward except for one midfielder and the CBs. Liverpool with everybody healthy are the closest but even they have a setup where the other midfielders are huge runners and track back a lot, rather than leaving the DM stranded. Other sides that seem to have a lone DM like City with Rodri will rarely actually leave that player isolated in front of the CBs, but instead have a fullback tucking in to become an additional midfielder or some other configuration that gives more stability in the center of the pitch and more protection against transitions.
Yup. It’s what had us spend all summer chasing sancho pretending like there’s no other right winger in the world.
Maybe it's just bad luck but doesn't ever seem to be good when I watch him.
he has the odd game where he is really poor, like today, usually bounces straight back though
Harry looked good in a Leicester shirt too. Massive deference when you play with little pressure or expectation. Even more so when your game isn't being forensically examined, highlighting ever missed pass or tackle. If we are going to get a CDM or any other for that matter, needs to come from a team where results matter.....
I hope we swerve Ndidi especially at the prices that are being talked about. No doubt he's good defensively, but I've never seen close to the level of ball playing ability needed even to play the deepest role.
I also genuinely suspect that if you want a destroyer it's one of the easier positions to pick up through stat based scouting (as Leicester showed with Kante and Ndidi himself) so I'm not sure its a great use of resources to splurge £80m odd rather than doing the work yourself.
I also genuinely suspect that if you want a destroyer it's one of the easier positions to pick up through stat based scouting (as Leicester showed with Kante and Ndidi himself) so I'm not sure its a great use of resources to splurge £80m odd rather than doing the work yourself.
Barring I think one game he’s not been good since coming back from injury. See also Vardy, Castagne and Ricardo.
People see “names” on the team sheet but it doesn’t tell the full picture of our injury issues I’m afraid.
Lots of players rushing back or struggling for form and niggles on their return.
MOTM by a fecking mile today, outstanding performance
He looked very good tonight. Feels like we could replace both Fred and McTominay with this guy, and still have place for another decent midfielder.
Sit him behind pogba and Fernandes and we’d have a great midfield
I’ve been saying this for as long as possible. I hope someone listens.
Feels like he's been around for ages but he's still only 24 as well
Would like to see him signed but be honest, why would he leave Leicester for us? They'll be in the champions league next season, possible push us for 2nd all the way, and might even win an FA Cup. He's signing for the team we have now, not the team we had 15 years ago. Where's the incentive beyond money?
You can't be serious, oh you are...
