Jean-Clair Todibo is a French professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Ligue 1 club Nice. He began his career with Toulouse in France back in 2018 before making a move to Spain to play with the Catalan giants. He had a short career in Spain and quickly moved to Schalke and then Benfica. He finally decided to move back to France and is currently in his third season with Nice in the French top flight, developing into a leading figure in the team’s defensive structure. Since joining, he has been a consistent performer for his team. This season, he has played a key role in keeping Nice in contention for European qualification. Nice are currently seventh, and the Frenchman’s strong performance in defence has helped the team secure some important results and retain a favourable position in the league. Below are some stats from the current season in order to assess his contributions towards his team.
Jean Todibo usually plays as a right centre-back, but on occasion, he can also slot in as the right-back or the left centre-back. The viz above shows the percentile rank of the player’s stats compared to other centre-backs in Ligue 1 in 2022–2033. He has played 24 matches and ranks in the top 89.6 percentile for aerial duels won per 90 minutes and in the top 83.1 percentile for defensive duels won. Other areas where the defender does well include dribbles and passes per 90. He has room for improvement in terms of accuracy and other attacking stats.
Todibo played a total of 36 matches for Nice in the previous Ligue 1 campaign. It can be seen that he performed better in the department of maintaining possession as well as contributing well to the attack. He is contributing more in terms of winning duels this season, but he had overall better passing and possession stats last term as well as fared better going forward and making goal contributions. He has shown some improvement in terms of defensive performance and has improved significantly in terms of winning aerial duels.
Todibo’s impressive numbers in defence
As a centre-back, Todibo’s defensive gameplay is his strongest attribute. From the viz above, we can see that his average position along the defensive line is well within his own half. He has made most of the interceptions within the defensive third and inside his own box, which has been crucial for his team on numerous occasions. The player makes 11.72 recoveries and 5.59 interceptions per match. Furthermore, he contests 6.51 defensive duels with a win rate of 73.7%. As for aerial duels, the centre-back contests 2.5 per match with a 71.7% win rate. He has given up two fouls inside the box and averages 0.58 fouls per 90 minutes on the pitch.
Todibo has a shot block xG of 1.71 and has blocked 16 shots in total. Most of his blocks have come from inside the box, and six have been outside the box. He averages 3.04 clearances per 90 minutes. The centre-back makes maximum tackles in the defensive third, in and around the box.
High pressing and passing efficiency
The above viz represents the overall high regains made by Jean-Clair Todibo for Nice in Ligue 1 2022-23. It can be seen that the player makes movements up the pitch in order to put pressure on the opposition. As a centre-back, the Frenchman has made 21 counter-pressing recoveries in the opposition half. Additionally, he has made seven high regains and three dangerous recoveries that have led to a shot.
The above viz is a representation of the passes made by the French defender. It can be seen that most of his work rate is again on the right side of the defence and in the middle third of the pitch. He possesses fine passing ability in terms of passes attempted and pass accuracy. The player makes 61.35 passes per 90 with a high accuracy of 89.5%. Todibo makes 25.15 forward passes per match with 81.3% accuracy, including 7.01 passes to the final third.
The above viz depicts the shots blocked by Todibo in the 21/22 Ligue 1 season. He made a total of 18 blocks and had a shot block xG of 1.3. He has already made 16 blocks in the current campaign. He reads the game well and helps the keeper with this ability. Nice conceded a total of 36 goals last season, which was on par with champions PSG and also the least in the league.
Overall, Nice have conceded 22 goals in 26 matches played this season, and Jean Todibo has played 24 matches. Let’s not forget, Nice have conceded the fewest goals in Ligue 1 so far this season. The Frenchman is a vital part of their success in defence this season. A vocal and versatile leader on the pitch, Jean-Clair Todibo surely has the best of his years ahead of him.
Visuals via TFA data viz engine
