Former Leicester City manager Mike Stowell has talked up the budding relationship between Wilfred Ndidi and Foxes legend Jamie Vardy.
The Nigeria international delivered an impressive performance last weekend, contributing two key assists to Jamie Vardy and Stephy Mavididi in the 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace, and has mostly featured as an attacking midfielder so far this season.
Leicester manager Steve Cooper's decision to deploy Ndidi in this fashion sparked considerable debate among the club's supporters, even though former manager Enzo Maresca used the 27-year-old in a more advanced role during their Championship campaign last season.
Stowell, who has managed Leicester on several occasions in a caretaker capacity, cited Ndidi’s seamless coordination with Vardy as proof of the wisdom of the ploy.
Stowell commends Wilfred Ndidi's tactical intelligence
Speaking on BBC Radio Leicester's ‘When You're Smiling' podcast, Stowell said, “I have always known (Wilfred Ndidi) as a number six because of his defensive attributes. But he is also dogged and will go all day long and put his body on the line.
“He is very clever with his challenges and those long legs of his just give him range.
“His discipline and timing of things with Jamie Vardy was brilliant. Vardy was orchestrating and pointing [to where he wanted to receive the ball].
“Wilf was just doing Vards' running for him because Vards is clever enough to tell him when to go and run to press a ball.
“He won the ball back so many times against Palace, which really put us on the front foot and in behind. So, without a shadow of a doubt, he was man of the match.”
