Joining Barca at the age of 19, the once proud Todibo wants to compete with Pique for playing time and find Messi one-on-one in training.
Leaving Barca for Nice, he has gradually let his talent be realized step by step over the past 2 years. The 23-year-old Todibo was added to the squad of the French national team, and as a central defender, he was one of the three candidates for the Ligue 1 Player of the Year in February along with Kylian Mbappe.
01. Wore Barça No. 6: Is it good not to stay at Schalke 04?
From La Liga to Bundesliga: Todibo has always been proud
Once Todibo was Toulouse's key defensive star, he played in Ligue 1 at the age of 18, and six months later received olive branches from Liverpool and Barca, he chose to come to Camp Nou.
Wearing the number 6 shirt of the first team, perhaps this decision means that Todibo is a confident youngster.
Because Pique was unshakable at the time, Todibo's desire to compete with the latter for playing time angered some people. At the same time, Todibo was overly active in training and was warned by the Barca coaching staff not to move too much against Messi.
A cultural misfit led to Todibo being loaned out by the team one year later. Coming to Bundesliga Schalke 04, his start was brilliant.
In the DFB-Pokal match against Bayern, although the team lost the game, he won 9 of 10 one-on-one matches, 14 clearances + 5 steals + 2 interceptions in a single game, which is impressive.
In his first full month at Schalke 04, Todibo was named the team's Month of the Month (February).
Unfortunately, the league was subsequently shut down due to the epidemic, and Schalke 04's financial situation deteriorated significantly, and he could not come up with the 25 million euros to buy him out, which also made Todibo's subsequent playing time unstable.
In the words of Schalke 04 sports director in an interview: Todibo has all the qualities to be a top central defender, what he needs to do is to train and discipline more steadily and hard.
It is a pity that Schalke 04 had a serious economic crisis after the epidemic and could not afford to buy out Todibo, otherwise he would have let Todibo stay in the Bundesliga.
b. More than 2 years in Nice: Todibo slowly cashed in on his talent
Leaving Schalke 04 is not a bad thing for Todibo, as the team quickly led to relegation due to near-bankruptcy and severe salary arrears (returning to the Bundesliga this season but still struggling with relegation).
However, he then switched to Benfica, but Todibo was injured due to a two-and-a-half-month suspension, as well as a dispute with the manager, resulting in four months without a ball, but fortunately Ligue 1's Nice accepted him.
Despite the tragedy of being sent off with a red card in the opening nine seconds this season, Todibo has made a name for himself in Ligue 1 over the past two years.
Twice last season, he faced Mbappe head-to-head, keeping straight sheets. The team reached the final of the French Cup and at one point finished second in Ligue 1 (unfortunately fell to fifth in the league at the end of the season, and could only play the European Cup in the new season).
This season, the 23-year-old has developed into the absolute core of the Nice squad and the best player of the season (in the words of the Nice Morning Post), and along with talented teammate Kevlen Thuram, he has been named in Deschamps' latest squad for the French national team.
At the same time, because he led the team to four wins and one draw in February, and conceded only one goal in five games, Todibo joined Mbappe and Balogon in the three-man shortlist of the best player in Ligue 1 for February.
02. The team switched to three central defenders: Todibo is not as comfortable as before
a. Three centre-backs let him center and drag: Todi learned to play more calmly
In recent matches, Nice has tried to use an asymmetrical three-centre-back formation. The little nimble Ndayishmiye is placed at right-centre-back, while Todibo is in the centre.
Because Dent is older, Ndayishmiye is underweight and has a strength deviation, so Todibo is used more to stand in the middle and make up positions, which is not his advantage.
This time the position is typical, with Todibo clinging to the opposing centre-forward, and Dent and Ndayishmiye being more free to stand relative to each other.
Because the veteran Dante's power is also declining, he uses experience to randomly intercept and select positions, which will be more beneficial to Nice.
It is clear from the camera that when the opponent is straight to the center, the person who sticks to the defense is Todibo, which allows Dent to suddenly assist from the flank and complete the break ball in front of him.
Ndayishmiye on the right is also a flexible type, which will slightly shrink Todibo's defensive statistics, but also make the allocation of resources in the defensive line more reasonable.
b. Todibo's replenishment efficiency is improving: rescue has always been his characteristic
After being eliminated from the Champions League in Paris, Nice became the last Ligue 1 team to play in Europe. They won the first leg of the European Cup round of 16 away at Cherif (a regular in the group stage of the Champions League who had beaten Real Madrid).
In the match, the home team led 14-6 in the number of shots on goal, but the number of shots on target was 3-3.
The opponent's low number of shots on target, and Todibo who dragged back in the center is credited. This time the opponent went straight through, Dent failed to intercept, and the opposing striker got a chance.
It was Todibo who followed closely and finally blocked Tapsoba's shot.
Looking at this wave of defense, Sharif's wide attacker cut inside and the ball once again came to the feet of Tapsoba.
Todibo is very tight on the defensive and at the same time does not easily make a foot, but can again accurately block the opponent's shot. Although he subsequently made up for offside, this time the successful defense failed to enter the statistics, but Todibo's increasing composure on the defensive end is also a place of gratification.
03. Gradually become a general! Dare to compete with Kylian Mbappe for the Ligue 1 Month of the Month
a. Push it out and take it back, Todibo can prevent it
In the Europa League knockout match against Sharif, Todibo only had three one-on-one chances (winning two), which may have left him a little unfulfilled (he averaged more than seven one-to-one times per game in Ligue 1).
5 clearances, 2 blocking shots, no tackles, this is the new positioning of Todibo under the three-centre-back system, which will make him a little nostalgic for the days when he went out to fight.
This time the opponent hit behind, Todibo was still unsatisfied after taking the ball, directly chose to pass, and then hit the outside instep to find a teammate in front.
He is still very fond of physical confrontation, and in the middle of the three central defenders, there are fewer opportunities to go out.
Looking at the defence again this time, the former team-mate missed a header and Todibo moved quickly in the center to block Marseille midfielder Malinowski's excellent shot.
As a big man over 1.9 meters tall, Todibo is not fast to turn, but he moves quickly. Especially when you pedal up, you can instantly come to the most dangerous area to fight fires.
b. In an open situation, you can always trust Todibo
Considering that both Kylian Mbappe and Balogun scored four goals and kept four clean sheets in five games in February, it will not be easy to beat them to win the best of the month.
However, the value of Todibo is being seen by more and more people.
It was like this time the offensive and defensive switch, after a teammate's mistake, it was a good opportunity to watch Paye's straight plug to find Yundale, and Todibo accurately stepped out to intercept the ball.
His rescue ability in an open situation is still quite eye-catching. So as a central defender, he can follow up with the competition of strikers with more balls, and at the same time face Mbappe has the advantage last season.
Looking at the offensive and defensive conversion this time, Kevlen Thuram's straight ball almost sent a single knife, but unfortunately it was unsuccessful, and the opponent directly returned the ball to the back of Nice.
Todibo retreats quite quickly, and intercepts easily against over-the-top balls, allowing the goalkeeper to get the ball. He is very comfortable with this rapid pace of attacking and defensive conversion, and it also allows Todibo to adapt to many teams in the future.
Conclusion:
Perhaps if you don't go to Barça and stay in Toulouse step by step, Todibo's growth will be more stable and fast.
However, having Barça's 1 year and 3 loan loans may also make Todibo hone himself more low-key, while cherishing the hard-won opportunity.