Sports
Why Is Wilfred Ndidi An Unsung Hero?
By Ekene Dike
Wilfred Onyinye Ndidi is a Nigerian footballer who currently plies his trade with Leicester City in the English Premier League
Ndidi made his debut for the club on 7 January 2017, in a 2–1 win against Everton in the third round of the Fa Cup. He made his first Premier League start on 14 January, 2017 against Chelsea at home in a 3–0 defeat. Since then, he has been impressive in his performances for the former English Champions , from duels won, interceptions, tackles, passing, long range shots, protecting the defensive unit; indeed, he ticks all the boxes of a complete defensive midfielder.
A tweet by Squawka football, during the beginning of the ongoing Premier League season revealed that Leicester’s big man in the middle had made the most tackles and has had the most interceptions in Europe’s top five leagues this season.
He seems to have all the answers to all the moves made by the opposition. Thus, he is dubbed as “the Lion in the middle of the court”.
Leicester’s big man in the middle had made the most tackles and has had the most interceptions in Europe’s top five leagues this season.
He has also cemented himself as one of the best players in his position. With all this, it’s astonishing that the promising lad hasn’t been given all the credit he deserves.
A recent statement was made by the Leicester footballer, James Maddison that “having Wilfred Ndidi in front of our defence is like having two players. He does not get the credit he deserves”.
Furthermore, Ndidi has never made the Premier League team of the season nor the CAF team of the season, despite his incredible performances.
It’s a rarity to see a midfielder who has the tenacity, hunger, drive, doggedness, indomitable spirit and resilience to win every ball and go into any tackle as a hobby. He is one of the reasons for Leicester’s magnificent campaign this season, alongside Jamie Vardy and James Maddison.
Leicester City’s 2-0 win over Arsenal earlier in the season was another good day in the office for Ndidi. A mind boggling 54 touches, 19 passes completed in the opposition half, 7 tackles, 5 recoveries, 3 interceptions and 2 clearances summed up another glorious performance from the defensive midfield maestro.
In a 3-1 win over Liverpool on 27 February 2017, Ndidi won 11 of his 14 tackles, a feat bettered only be Chelsea’s Ngolo Kante who made 14 tackles against the same club. Those are glimpses of his world class performances, yet he hasn’t really been awarded massively to match his riveting displays.
Perhaps in the future, more feathers will be added to his hat. He is just 23-years-old and has a bright and outstanding career to look forward to. Most definitely, he would join the legends in that position like Xabi Alonso, Lassana Diarra, Michael Essien, Michael Carrick and Yaya Toure.
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