Following
Sunday’s FA Cup clash between Leicester City and Chelsea, which ended in favour
of the visitors by a goal to nil, Sports Central report that Manchester United
legend Rio Ferdinand believes Nigerian midfielder Wilfred Ndidi is primarily
responsible for the goal which led to the loss.
Although the Nigerian international checked his
shoulder twice for possible dangers, he could not notice Ross Barkley before the
goal, allowing the English international to make a run inside the box before
slotting home in the 63rd minute.
Ferdinand admitted that Ndidi had been brilliant
since his arrival at King Power Stadium, but should have prevented the goal.
Speaking to BT Sports as quoted by Sports Central,
Ferdinand said: "The
gap between the centre-backs starts to develop. When that happens, when that
big gap comes, the big job is for Ndidi, who has had great reviews for how he’s
played over the years, and rightly so. "Once you see the gap between the
centre-backs when the ball’s wide, his job is to drop in, drop in here and be
that guard in there. If you keep your eye on Ndidi here, and look how many
times he looks over his shoulder to see where Barkley is. "One look, two
looks - when he looks there - he has to drop in there and cover the run from
Barkley. He knows he can get in behind Ndidi because he’s not looking. "Jonny
Evans, one of my old team-mates, sees this but he’s marking his man,Tammy
Abraham once he sees it he’ll come over to try and cover. But once this happens
at this level, it’s too quick, the quality is too good, it’s a great cross and
the timing eliminates defenders out of it. "Barkley sees the space, darts
into it, great ball, great finish. Bad defending from Ndidi and the
midfield."
Sunday’s game against Chelsea was Ndidi's eighth appearance in the FA Cup since moving to England in January 2017.