Leicester City are facing an exodus post-relegation, and some players have commented on their failure. One such writer was supposedly Wilfred Ndidi, here is his memorandum.
There is a general expectation that players should be apologising for their participation in the worst showing and worst relegation in the history of the Premier League: the highest wage bill and most valuable team to go down. There are no excuses, but an apology goes a short way to showing you care.
Plenty of the Foxes have not yet commented on the fall into the Championship, but the few that have led to conversations concerning whether they are staying or going. The Nigerian midfielder commented on the demotion in the most scripted fashion imaginable.
Leicester City’s Ndidi breaks silence
I should probably say Ndidi’s publicist breaks the silence. The amende honorable was well-written and tightly designed to be both respectful to the supporters and understanding of the situation. Hopefully these were the player’s genuine thoughts, if not his own dictation.
"“I would like to offer my sincerest apologies for the team’s relegation. Gutted that we couldn’t make it in the end. We understand how much you invested in supporting us throughout the season, and we deeply regret letting you down. Please know that your unwavering support it invaluable to us, and we are grateful for your loyalty to the club. Thank you for your understanding and continued support” ~ Wilfred Ndidi as per Instagram"
Should this have been individually written by the main man, it can be understood as a genuine sharing of responsibility throughout the team and illustration of regret for not working hard enough for the supporters. However, the player does not personally take responsibility for the poor performances which weakened the Foxes.
The King Power side will remember the star midfield: James Maddison, Youri Tielemans, and Ndidi. A DM, a CM, and an AM. Balanced and well coached under early Brendan Rodgers, Leicester City could not do much better. Yet, to see how steep the mighty had fallen is depressing. To an extent, his publicists’ performance was better than his own.
The Nigerian midfielder’s season to forget
Somehow, the defensive midfielder went from anchor man in the middle to a total liability. Equally surprising, FB Ref somehow rate the player amongst the best on defensive quantity – so actions taken – despite a crippling decline in actions taken by the player. Seriously, the decline is utterly shambolic.
In the 21/22 campaign, the Foxes’ fallen star made 3.2 tackles per game, 2.2 interceptions per game, and 2.7 clearances per game. In this relegation season, the Nigerian accumulated just 2.3 tackles, 1.4 interceptions, and 1.6 clearances per game. That is disastrous.
So, with a sharp decline in defensive contributions, you would expect logically that the player’s contribution would switch to more progressive intent: passing. Well, this was equally disastrous. I think FB Ref is fairly accurate on this point.
Ndidi is within the 1st – yes 1st – percentile for expected assists, 3rd for expected goals, fifth for progressive passing, and only 34th for successful take ons. This means that when judged against his peers from the top five leagues in Europe, Ndidi is one of the worst for decent, progressive, and/or creative passing, while also being shambolic at taking the ball forward. A regressive and poor display.
At least all the others who have thus far made apologies or comments have contributed or tried to contribute to the team. Players such as Kelechi Iheanacho, ‘Madders’ and Ricardo Pereira have done their best this campaign and do not deserve any hate towards their comments. The only player on a similar level to Ndidi here is Daniel Amartey who’s comment was to post pictures of himself out of Leicester City colours and completely ignoring the fact he was a part of a failing team.
Many of these players shall be leaving, and Wilfred Ndidi should not be excluded. He has not performed well enough, is paid well enough to do better, and any sale could fund a couple signings for the EFL Championship campaign. Leicester will have a sizeable budget to replace this fallen Nigerian.