When Wilfred Ndidi joined Leicester City in January 2017, he was nothing short of a revelation. Some players take time to adjust to life in the Premier League. The midfielder was not one of those. Having hit the ground running, it’s easy to forget he’s been at the club for less than a year. He’s still only twenty, seemingly the best is yet to be seen. Despite this, Ndidi has had his critics in the last few weeks.

At 20, Ndidi is not yet the finished product

While the youngster may say the comparisons didn’t bother him, the K word kept on, still keeps, coming up. Although not brought to the King Power immediately after N’Golo Kante’s departure, he is the closest to a replacement we’ve come up with. It’s a little limiting to keep comparing him though. Ndidi is his own player and while he has been asked to play the defensive midfield role, last season in support of the more attacking Danny Drinkwater, it’s frustrating that this is the only focus.

Ndidi was incredibly reliable in the half season he played. He’s found life a little harder this campaign. As have many of his colleagues, admittedly. Virtually every single player has had at least a small handful of fans calling for them to be dropped, Ndidi hasn’t escaped that. It’s harsh criticism though. Having lost Drinkwater, Ndidi has had no less than three partners in the midfield, so he’s had no consistency. He and Matty James were just starting to form some kind of partnership before the latter’s injury again.

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Keen to learn, Ndidi was revealed to be the player who is always earliest to meetings. We saw exactly what he’s capable of in games last season. There’s no reason that he can’t get better. Not afraid to get stuck in where needed, but also with a fantastic shot on him. Playing the defensive role, he won’t reach double figures but he’s already scored a couple of long-range efforts for the Foxes.

Leicester City still searching for their best midfield

The weakest area in our side currently is midfield. Where we’ve lost games, it’s usually started with a lack of possession and control in the middle. It’s also where we’re most lacking inspiration. There’s been no cover for the defence and not as many balls forward as the likes of Jamie Vardy would want. Ndidi has been the mainstay in the middle. Partly due to our lack of options, but also partly because we trust him.

Most of his criticism came after the Liverpool game last weekend. In particular for his part in Liverpool’s third goal. He was rather slow in tracking back, despite Harry Maguire being at the opposite end of the pitch and our goalkeeper looking rather isolated. That is fair criticism, though not something he can often be accused of due to his incredible work rate.

The Foxes haven’t found their best midfield duo, or perhaps trio, yet. Vicente Iborra is likely to feature in it, as is Adrien Silva if we’re ever allowed to play him. Ndidi looks like he still has an important part to play though. The likely pairing for this weekend’s trip to Bournemouth will be him and Iborra. It is a slight worry how dependant we are on the young Nigerian. He’s started every single game this season and even if we wanted to rest him, we haven’t had the depth to do so. Couple that with the critics he’s attracted and you wonder if his confidence might have been dented a little.

Craig Shakespeare has a decision to make

Away trips haven’t been a thing to look forward for the Foxes in over a year. We’ve been generally poor on the road and while last season we at least had exciting European trips for compensation, there’s no such relief this year. We’re in desperate need of some points on the road and something for the fans to get excited about.

Craig Shakespeare has several decisions to make. He’s admitted this week nobody’s place in the team is guaranteed if the performance isn’t there. Will he persist with our usual 4-4-2 though? It’s cost us dearly away from the King Power and limited us too much, our opponents fully expecting our tactics. With Iborra hopefully set to make his debut, we have the option to play five in the middle and to try to reignite our start to the season.

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