Forced to return for Leicester’s harsh training drills

By Ed Emeanua

Opinion

Once the toast of Manchester United, Nigeria International midfielder Wilfred Ndidi returned to Leicester City’s harsh training drills on Monday, June 3, to start preparations for English championship level football, and to life as a beast of entertainment.

Ndidi showed up alongside Patson Daka, Kelechi Iheanacho, Danny Ward and Victor Kristiansen to reunite with the Foxes team on their Seagrave training grounds. Daka and Iheanacho rejoined following goal scoring exploits for Zambia and Nigeria in tandem, on their international breaks, while Kristiansen reemerged after completing his full international appearance in the June internationals for Denmark.

Ndidi was at one point in his highly promising career courted by a slew of European clubs most notably, Manchester United, especially for his box-to-box brand of midfield prowess, but the player seemed very contented with life at King Power Stadium.

Now, the 26-year-old Nath Boys Academy product has recently endured lengthy injury spells, the aftermath of largely unconventional approaches which saw successive Leicester coaches compelling the Nigerian star to play almost all available games (except when injured), for the Foxes since moving to Leicester City in the English premier league from Belgium’s Genk on December 3, 2016.

Even after going under the knife several times and still recuperating, the Nigerian was always forced back in haste, and ushered back into action while not fully recovered from those procedures, only to be reinjured.

As push became shove, it was only obvious that something had to give. Between man and the element of time, it is guaranteed that with time, Ndidi’s now fast aging body would eventually pack up. And pack up he did.

The overuse of the player began to rear up its consequence two seasons ago as the wear and tear continued to force the midfielder onto the injury list, only to be rushed back by Leicester coaches into action time and again without proper recovery.

Finally, as Leicester battled against relegation last season, the player suffered the most as the club chose its fight to preserve its vaunted premier league status over the player’s health.

This forced the star into a yoyo-like repeat-stop-reload rehash by club coaches who drove him relentlessly from the injured list back to action.

The plight of Ndidi in Leicester should serve as a lesson for future and up-coming stars, who must be aware of the ugliness of this brand of capitalism that on closer examination appears to disregard the health and wellness of footballers.

The Fédération internationale de football association (FIFA) is complicit for allowing the harsh treatment of players by the English football system which does not allow clubs and players enough break time during the regular season.

Aside that, the regular English football season is just too long, very tedious, and is spattered with just too many games to play, making each season highly tasking for players who are forced to engage in it as a means of their livelihood.

Several clubs in the English football system cannot afford the huge budget demanded for the type of large team structure that is required to cope with the tasking nature of English football.

Again, there is no laws that prevents those of them that can afford such a large team from not concentrating their reliance on certain highly talented stars at all the times regardless of their health condition, just to satisfy inordinate ambitions of coaches and club.

Nonetheless, to continue to employ players as mere beasts of entertainment in this modern age and right before our eyes is totally wrong and outrageous.

FIFA and every football stakeholder that have turned the other eye in the past and allowed such a sad practice to persist for this long, must now condemn it for what it is.