Transfer decision working perfectly with Leicester City set to save themselves millions
Six appearances in and Ben Nelson is yet to taste victory as an Oxford United player. You would be forgiven for thinking, then, that the young Leicester City centre-back’s loan spell is not going well, but that could not be further from the truth.
For a start, Oxford have drawn five of the six games Nelson has played, including against promotion contenders Burnley and West Brom, as well as recently-relegated Luton. Nelson’s only defeat came this past weekend, to table-toppers Sunderland.
But really, as far as City are concerned, results are not the priority anyway. They would like Nelson to be on a winning side, of course, but it’s not a necessity for his development.
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What they want is for him to be pushed, and the evidence so far suggests that is the case. Nelson had a host of Championship clubs to choose from, many with better promotion prospects than Oxford. But having selected the Kassam Stadium as his new home, Nelson was putting himself in a scenario where he would be tested and where he would be forced to learn the other side of the game.
The 20-year-old has long had a reputation for being a prospect in the mould of John Stones, a centre-back whose qualities are in possession, rather than their raw defensive ability. During his few outings with City last season, in Enzo Maresca’s possession-dominant side, those aspects of the game would have been the focus too.
But at Oxford, there is defending to do. As a newly-promoted club, Des Buckingham’s side were always likely to be spending a lot of time on the back foot. They have so far averaged 47 per cent possession, which ranks 17th in the division.
And so Nelson is doing a lot of work on the back foot. He’s being pushed to stay alert for 90 minutes, to keep tabs on strikers and dangermen and guard his goal. It seems he’s doing a grand job so far.
No Championship side has conceded more crosses into the box than Oxford but, for clearances per 90 minutes, Nelson ranks fourth in the division, showing he’s getting into good positions to defend his penalty area. Plus, he has a 100 per cent tackle rate against opposing dribblers, one of just two players in the division to have made at least eight attempted tackles and maintain a perfect record.
But it’s not that he’s solely in the team to defend. He is still able to show his qualities in stepping out of the back-line to carry the ball forward and start attacks. Oxford want him to be able to play that way.
Assistant manager Craig Short, a top-flight centre-back for Everton and Blackburn, told the Oxford Mail: “I’m encouraging him to do that, and I’ve spoken to him quite a bit about it. When you’ve got one centre forward pressing you, you can do that.
“He’s got exceptional pace as well. He glides across the ground and is probably one of the quickest players here. He’s got two good feet, and you wouldn’t think he was right-footed with some of the left-footed diagonals he was hitting.
“We’ll encourage him to do that, of course we will, and then you’ve always got someone who can fill in for him. I’m not going to stop him doing that.”
Being able to work on both sides of the game makes it the perfect loan, and especially now it looks like he’s established himself as a regular starter. Judging by the rave reviews from Oxford fans, he’s not going to be dropped any time soon.
His success in the Championship will spark comparisons with Harvey Barnes and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, both who enjoyed excellent campaigns in the second tier and, within a few months of their returns, had worked their way into becoming regulars in the City starting line-up. Nelson could do the same.
Of all of their loanees, they’re keeping the closest eye on Nelson and they have the capability to recall him in January. They have four senior centre-backs at the club in Wout Faes, Caleb Okoli, Conor Coady and Jannik Vestergaard, and so they’re not short of options at the back at the moment. But should the situation change, whether next summer or sooner, signs point towards Nelson being the man they turn to, rather than the transfer market, in turn saving the club millions.