Ferdinand slams Leicester's Ndidi for Chelsea's winning goal in FA Cup

Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has criticized Wilfred Ndidi for his poor defending which led to the goal conceded in Leicester City’s 1-0 FA Cup loss to Chelsea on Sunday.

Ross Barkley scored the goal which sent the Stamford Bridge outfit to the semi-final of the FA Cup, thus, extending the poor run of the Foxes, having failed to secure victory since the restart of the season.

Ferdinand feels the Nigeria international could have done better in the encounter and probably prevented Barkley’s goal. 

"The gap between the centre-backs start 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," Ferdinand told BT Sport.

"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."

Ndidi has been delivering solid defensive performances for the King Power Stadium outfit this season.

His impressive showings have seen him linked to a number of European clubs including Arsenal, Real Madrid and Manchester United.

The midfielder has made 32 appearances across all competitions for Brendan Rodgers’ men in this campaign.

Leicester take on Everton in their next Premier League game on Wednesday.