Foxes of Leicester
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Tottenham 6-2 Leicester: 3 Things learned

By Stanley Challenor

(L-R) Jonny Evans, Wout Faes and Danny Ward of Leicester City (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)
(L-R) Jonny Evans, Wout Faes and Danny Ward of Leicester City (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images) /
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Leicester City
Tottenham Hotspur’s Danish midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (C) vies for the ball against Leicester City’s Nigerian midfielder Wilfred Ndidi (R) (Photo by ISABEL INFANTES/AFP via Getty Images) /

Wilfred Ndidi should not start over Boubakary Soumare

Despite nearly leaving in the summer transfer window, Soumare has shown that he has managed to adapt to the EPL pace extremely well. The Frenchman gives City a much more assured ball playing option in the holding midfield position, as well as much more variety when playing out from the back.

It is no secret that Ndidi has his limitations with the ball at his feet; which is more than likely the reason no top club has ever been seriously interested in targeting him. However, due to the Nigerian’s sensational ability to close off passing lanes and break down opposition’s play consistently, it’s very fair to say that up until this season the positives outweighed the negatives. Unfortunately that no longer seems to be the case.

Ndidi’s form defensively has dropped significantly within the start to this season, meaning that he is now a net negative when placing on a Leicester City shirt. It is easy to point to his glaring error in the third Tottenham goal as the reason why he should be omitted. But there are numerous occasions when trying to build up from the back, that Ndidi simply occupies space at the “DM” position, resulting in less options for whoever is on the ball. When Ndidi does receive the ball – in what you may call a problematic area of the pitch – his only course of action is to play a wall pass back to his team mate.

This is an area in which Soumare is exponentially more equipped in, the 22-year-old will happily receive the pass in those areas on the half turn releasing the pressure off his side and then being able to open up the pitch. Of course if Ndidi returns back to his best, which is very possible bearing in mind, then it’s a no brainer with his capabilities, however at the moment Soumare is without a doubt the better option in that position.