Ever since the former Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers took over at Leicester City, the team has improved drastically.
They have become a regular top-four contender over the past two seasons.
The Foxes missed out on a UEFA Champions League spot last season on the last day, but are looking well-placed to make a return to Europe’s marquee competition for the first time since the 2016/17 season.
Attacking players usually get a lot more credit than their defensive counterparts.
So while the likes of Harvey Barnes, James Maddison and Kelechi Iheanacho have been excellent for the Foxes this season, it must be noted that one of their most crucial players over the last couple of seasons has been the Nigerian defensive midfielder Wilfred Ndidi.
The Lagos-born Nigerian international began his career as a full-back, but has blossomed into one of the best in the Premier League at his job, which is to protect his defence and break up opposition attacks.
In this Wilfred Ndidi analysis and scouting report, we will look at his traits, strengths, weaknesses, and examine how he became so important to Leicester City’s tactics.
A Conservative Defensive Midfielder
The Nigerian international has little responsibility in Leicester’s attacking play.
Brendan Rodgers has also used ball-playing centre-backs such as Jonny Evans and Çağlar Söyüncü to help Leicester’s build-up, which has reduced the need for Ndidi to do much more than recycle possession during this phase of the game.
EPL Midfielders: Progressive Passes & Progressive Runs Per 90
Our scatter plot shows progressive passes and runs per 90 for Premier League central midfielders this season.
Unsurprisingly, Ndidi has quite low numbers for both these metrics, featuring in the bottom-left quadrant of the chart, with only 0.18 progressive runs per 90 and 5.84 progressive passes per 90.
This suggests that Ndidi does not play an aggressive role in possession, and his role is more as a facilitator to enable Leicester’s better midfielders in attack, such as Youri Tielemans and Maddison, to get on the ball frequently whenever possible.
However, even not getting on the ball, Ndidi could still contribute to Leicester City’s build-up play in several ways.
The first one is to unmask a passing lane for the teammate.
If Leicester were trying to develop the attack from the centre, Tielemans often dropped deeper to receive, while the job for Ndidi was to move away to create spaces.
In this screenshot, Ndidi moved diagonally to the left, bringing away the marker.
The movement would leave spaces for his Belgian fellow to receive the pass from Söyüncü.
If he did not move, that space would be crowded as the Aston Villa marker also stayed inside.
Apart from using movements to unmask a passing lane, sometimes Ndidi could also achieve similar effects by positioning.
Against teams defending with a 4-4-1-1 or using an attacking midfielder to man-mark a pivot, the positioning of Ndidi would be crucial to manipulate the marker’s position.
For example, Emile Smith-Rowe of Arsenal was the marker of Ndidi in this scenario.
The Nigerian midfielders’ drop was to stay and provide a vertical option for the centre-back.
If Smith-Rowe tried to shut the vertical passing lane at half-spaces, this would mean the central areas were free with an open diagonal passing lane.
Hence, Tielemans could drop and receive in spaces again.
Despite being a passive player, who avoids receiving the ball unnecessarily in Leicester City’s build-up play, Ndidi has shown improvements to become a proactive player and thus be able to help his teammates more during the first phase of the attack.
Under Rodgers, the Nigerian international has developed better offensive senses, and polished his ability to read spaces and use them.
As shown in the image above, against Brighton, he showed proactiveness in entering spaces.
When the opposition pressed high, but there was a gap between the lines (red zone), Ndidi read that region and moved into it.
This opened a diagonal passing option that did not exist initially for Timothy Castagne.
Thanks to Ndidi, the Foxes broke the press and advanced to the midfield easily.
Defensive Anchor
Ndidi was praised as a “brick wall” by his teammate James Justin after beating Tottenham Hotspur this season.
He is physically strong and a good defender, with his main role on the pitch being to protect the backline.
Rodgers trusted Ndidi and therefore always plays the Nigerian if he’s fit.
EPL Midfielders: Aerial Duels Per 90 & Aerial Duels Won %
This scatter chart shows the aerial duels per 90 and aerial duels won% of central midfielders in the Premier League.
Ndidi was extremely impressive as he stayed on the top-right quadrant, averaging 4.81 aerial duels per 90 with 62.5% success rate so far.
His number of aerial duels attempts per game ranked third in the Premier League, and his success rate was also above the average.
As mentioned above, due to his strong physical build, Ndidi was designed as a critical part of Rodgers’ second ball structure.
Above, we can see Leixester’s offensive second ball structure.
The team hold a 3-1-4-2 formation, or you may interpret as a 3-1-5-1.
This shows how Rodgers trusted Ndidi and gave him an important role.
As the only player in front of the cente-backs, the defensive midfielder must be able to pick up second balls in large areas, otherwise the Foxes could suffer counter-attacks due to their high defensive line.
The image above shows Wilfred Ndidi’s positional awareness as he looks at the opponents standing in behind him.
The scan checked the contender’s position and would give the Nigerian international a better idea on how to orient himself.
If he got the positioning right, the chance to win the duel would be higher as well.
EPL Midfielders: PAdj Sliding Tackles & PAdj Interception
The other scatter diagram of this section includes PAdj Sliding tackles and PAdj interception data of central midfielders in the Premier League this 2020/2021 season.
Ndidi had interesting stats and rankings on the chart as his 0.59 PAdj tackles was below average.
Of course, it suggests sticking out his leg to kick the ball was not his habit.
It was just a style, and even a bad rating in this metric didn’t suggest that the player was bad.
In terms of PAdj interceptions, Ndidi contributed with 9.09, more than any of his counterparts in England.
It was a promising indicator that shows his ability to recover possession.
When defending in a low block, Ndidi’s presence was key as well.
As Leicester were a team that initially closed down the central areas to force the opposition to come out and attack, their defenders (especially the centre-backs and wing-backs) often pressed from the outside.
This means inside spaces were to be protected by the midfielders.
Ndidi, as the only Foxes’ defensive midfielder, must be disciplined and clever to choose the right position.
Since the defensive line of Leicester shifted laterally to help each other, there would be horizontal gaps or isolated centre-back(s) in the box.
Ndidi’s job was to cover those spaces or add numbers to keep the block compact.
In this example above, against Arsenal, two Leicester players moved outside to defend the Gunners’ wide players in advance.
If Leicester City were playing with a 4-1-4-1formation, Ndidi’s positioning would be vital, as he was the only one in front of the centre-backs.
Brendan Rodgers was convinced that the Nigerian player had the defensive awareness and spatial recognition to cover areas.
When required to defend spaces, he could make good decisions to optimize the defending of the team.
The image above, from the UEFA Europa League match against Slavia Praha, shows how he was able to cover spaces.
Despite having an opponent in front of him (highlighted in white), Ndidi knew the job was not to man-mark a target.
Instead, he anticipated potential receivers around the ball, trying to access as many passing options as he could.
In this situation, he recognised that the spaces behind Tielemans were more vulnerable, so he went inside and successfully intercepted the forward pass at the centre.
Ndidi was good at intercepting, but not quite capable of playing as a centre-back.
His weakness was his habit of challenging his opponents, taking a big step to try and stretch his foot out as much as possible.
The example above, against Liverpool, shows this kind of behaviour.
Although the action itself was conducive to defending a wider range and both feet of the attacker, this would also lead to several issues.
When Ndidi could not read the pass or the opponent was a quick thinker, the pass would go between his legs.
Also, this habit prohibits Ndidi to change his direction at short moments, if the opposition was suddenly decided to dribble, it was easy to shake him off.
Leicester’s conceded goal against Burnley was also attributed to a similar defensive action.
Crucial In Defensive Transitions
Apart from defending cleverly as a block to protect spaces in front of the backline, Ndidi was also vital in keeping Leicester City safe during the defensive transitions.
Usually, he stayed deep to be a part of the rest defence with the centre-backs, tasked with suffocating any potential counter-attacks.
Leicester played with high full-backs and wing-backs to attack spaces outside.
This inevitably resulted in spaces being left behind during defensive transitions.
Merely rely on the centre-backs to cover those spaces was difficult, as this would leave spaces inside.
Therefore, the Foxes relied on Ndidi’s defensive recoveries.
On that occasion, Slavia Praha launched a counter-attack that left seven Leicester players behind.
The left-back was so high up that there were huge gaps behind Söyüncü.
Fortunately, they had Ndidi to cover those spaces, intercepting the ball before the opponent reached the pass.
The Nigerian midfielder was always disciplined to defend spaces behind.
Of course, when Ndidi needed to be aggressive, he could offer physicality to press an opposition as well.
In this instance, facing Aston Villa, Ndidi saw the vertical pass from the right-back to the right-winger in advance and decided to step up early to press.
When the Nigerian was pressing, he was certainly coming from the inside to shade the spaces in the center as much as possible (shaded in black).
The Villa’s receiver was unable to connect with his unmarked teammate at the centre; therefore, the counter-attack was dead in the wide zone, and Leicester were safe.
Conclusion
This player analysis combined the use of data and in-game scenarios to show Wilfred Ndidi’s style of play.
He was clearly one of the best defensive midfielders in the Premier League 2020/2021, very aggressive in trying to dispossess the opposition and recover possession.
With him, Leicester’s defence is solid, and his contribution was fundamental to the Foxes’ success in the previous two seasons.
