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In the wake of Leicester City’s poor form and their recent 5-2 and 6-2 drubbing by Brighton & Hove Albion and Tottenham Hotspur in the English Premier League, British pundit and journalist, Thomas Alderman, has defended Nigeria international Wilfred Ndidi, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.
The Foxes have conceded the highest number of goals, 22, a record number of goals conceded by any side at the stage of the season.
Leicester sold Wesley Fofana for a club-record fee of £70m to Chelsea while also letting go of their experience goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, but failed to sign any replacement and has been forced to play the Super Eagles midfielder as a centre-back.
In the Foxes’ 5-2 defeat to Brighton the Nigerian and his goalkeeper Danny Ward were caught on camera having a heated argument.
Meanwhile, Alderman, in his article on Wednesday, though admitted that Ndidi had not been at his best, added that the 25-year-old did not warrant being blamed for the goals conceded by the Foxes.
“And I say this as someone who has been unavoidably hyper critical of the Nigerian,” he said of Ndidi.
“Over the years his lack of technique, with respect to passing and shooting, did annoy and upset me. In particular, because ‘Wilf’ is simply better than what he was exhibiting on occasion under little to no pressure.
“However, what Ndidi did not deserve is the telling-off from floundering goalkeeper Danny Ward during the dismantling at Brighton & Hove Albion’s Amex Stadium. The former Genk man may have played a few misplaced passes in that dreadful outing, but in the instance, Ward juggled like an out-of-work circus performer and was duly robbed of possession.
“The mishap seemed entirely the Welshman’s fault. The makeshift centre-back – who didn’t need to be deployed there – played a simple back pass.
“If Ndidi loses his CM starting place to Boubakary Soumare or Nampalys ‘Papy’ Mendy, so be it. Yet the 25-year-old does not need to be used as an auxiliary centre-half, especially with Caglar Soyuncu needlessly on the substitute’s bench.”
Up next for Leicester and Ndidi is a game against another struggling Premier League side, Nottingham Forest, on Monday.
