Ndidi's Garden Workouts & FIFA Practice
- Wilfred Ndidi talks to LCFC TV about his activities at home during the COVID-19 pandemic
- The Nigeria star will be representing Leicester City in the ePremier League invitational FIFA tournament on Thursday
- Ndidi has been utilising his garden to stay fit and active
The Leicester City star is currently – as stipulated by the UK Government – remaining at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, with Premier League action also suspended.
He is one of many Foxes to have posted on social media about his current training regime, which has been provided by the Football Club in order to help maintain their base level of fitness.
“I’m fine, I’m doing well,” he said. “I’ve just been indoors, trying to train in the garden, [and I’m] watching movies and playing FIFA. They’re just everyday activities that I’m doing.
“We’ve got a [fitness] plan, so we do it every day, and then we try and keep fit and just follow every plan. If you want to do extras, you can, but you just try to follow the plan and do what you have to do. It’s quite intense, but we’re just keeping on.
“I’m missing everyone. I’ve never been like this! But we just have to do what we have to do, because it’s quite difficult in this period.
Catching Up With Wilfred Ndidi
LCFC TV catch up with Foxes midfielder Wilfred Ndidi covering a whole range of topics from FIFA, to TV shows, to keeping fit and the importance of staying home.
“For me, I miss them a lot, not just in training or games, but personally what we do after training, before training, where we eat together and then laugh and all this.
“The gaffer, the medical staff and everyone. I’m missed the group entirely. As I said earlier, we just can’t wait for everything to get back to normal and everyone gets back.
“We hope everything comes out well, and then we can meet up again, but for now, we just have to train and go in the garden. It’s just keeps going, every day activities, but we’ll see anyway.”
One man Ndidi has been in contact with in recent weeks is manager Brendan Rodgers, who the Nigerian has already benefitted from working with since the Northern Irishman joined the Football Club in February 2019.
“He called a couple of times to check up on me and also I think he checked up on the other guys," he said. "It’s good because we know he’s fine, he’s okay and the other guys also, we are fine, and our families are okay also, which is very good in this period.
“The gaffer has a big part in my career at this moment because I’ve developed as a player. I now know some details that I never knew. He has developed me as a player with his staff.
“He’s trying to give time to players and is trying to develop us in certain areas, and letting us know that at this point, where we are with our career, there is more to gain with your qualities and what you can do on the pitch.
“Kudos to him, because ever since he came, I’ve developed as a player and I can see that because I now know things which I never knew before.”
This week, City’s No.25 will be swapping casual online FIFA games with a competitive tournament as he represents the Football Club in the last-16 of the inaugural ePremier League invitational tournament.
On Thursday, he will face Wolverhampton Wanderers attacker Diogo Jota - a match-up that you can follow live on Leicester City's social media accounts.
“I’m actually nervous, you know, because I wanted [James] Maddison or Ayoze [Pérez] to actually go for this!” he joked.
“But maybe because I play a lot online, I play with some guys, even guys I don’t know, I just put it up online and play with them.
“I wouldn’t say I’m really, really good on FIFA, but I’ll just try to not embarrass the whole team, like representing Leicester in the FIFA tournament! I don’t know how it’s going to come out, but I’ll just try my best and try to win.
“Of course, it’s going to be a tough test, but I think I have a few days now to actually put in some practice. I play a lot online. I don’t care if you beat me 10-0 or nine or something, it’s just me learning some things from different people, and I’ll just take it to the game.”
In a recent feature, LCFC.com highlighted the midfielder’s impressive Premier League tackling statistics, having finished top of the rankings for completed dispossessions two seasons in a row.
Ndidi says he will continue to develop his game, but insists his focus is on helping the team as a whole.
“There’s one thing I always believe is just to be myself,” he continued. “[There are] different players with different qualities.
“As much as I try to develop myself, I still don’t forget my qualities and what I can actually do to help my team, which is good.
“I try to develop myself at that point. I learn from other players. I would say, for me, I don’t really look at these things. I really focus on the team’s performance and we try to get points.
“If we get these points, then all these stats come second because the team is more important than me getting these stats. I’ll say yes, it’s okay, it’s good, but I just try to develop myself.”
At 23, Ndidi has already played 111 times in the Premier League, and has represented Nigeria at the 2018 FIFA World Cup and 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
“I’m grateful to God and also people around me – the right people around me that always encourage me to do better,” he said. “I’ll always be myself.
“I’d say at this point in my career, I want to develop myself really well, develop myself in a football aspect, like what I said the gaffer is doing with me, and his staff also – just to develop myself and try to enjoy the game and try to do things to help the team.
“When this comes with the team, with the points, with the wins, all these personal achievements will be added.
“I would say, for me, it’s to develop myself with the team and then just look forward to what comes in the future. You never know what we can actually achieve together as a team, so that is like an add-on to my career, my personal achievements.”
Ndidi concluded his interview with LCFC TV by stressing the need for everyone to abide by the Government guidelines to give the nation and the National Health Service the best chance of emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said: “It’s very important because this is the work for the NHS. It is like a development for everyone because the longer we stay inside, it actually helps for us to go out when everything will be out.
“At the moment, going out becomes difficult because they’re getting more of these cases, so it’s better for us to just stay inside, and just hope and wait, and keep believing in the NHS, because they’re doing very well at this point.
“It’s an easy thing for us to do, just to stay in. I know it’s difficult because the sun is out and everyone is enjoying the weather, but I just think it’s very important that we know what is actually outside there.
“By being inside, it protects each and every one of us. Even if you don’t think about this, think about others also because you don’t know what they’re going through also. It’s important for us to just stay inside and just follow the protocols.”