Nathaniel Mendez-Laing has been a near ever present on the team sheet since signing for Derby County in the summer of 2022, playing an important role for the Rams during their League One campaign While the team achieved promotion last season in no small part due to his excellent performances that saw him register his best goals contribution tally for a single season yet. Mendez-Laing hopes to find his best form again over the course of a season in which he had some struggles with the transition to Championship football in 2024/25.
Mendez-Laing has had mixed reviews from supporters this season (some say he is affecting the team others say his impact is limited) The Rams set out the campaign in excellent style but Mendez-Laing has struggled to keep up with some. There’s been flashes of improvement recently but we want a bit more from him and the skipper (Kayden Jackson) too.
Derby Fan Pundit Shaun Woodward spoke to Football League World about Mendez-Laing’s controversial status at Pride Park recently. Woodward did acknowledge Mendez-Laing’s previous contributions during his time at the club but was uncertain about how effective he would be in the Championship now. Though he praised Mendez-Laing for his leadership off the field, Woodward doubted that he had performed or contributed sufficiently on it in the games so far.
Shaun, however, felt he should only be played on the right in order to give Mendez-Laing a fair chance. But, he said he doesn’t currently regard Mendez-Laing and other attacking wide players as sufficient for the standard of Championship, based on their Derby performances.
Mendez-Laing: A man many (including myself) had a lot of love for following his exploits, but Shaun isn’t sure he has it in him at Championship level anymore – prove us wrong thing on Have Your Say Or the suggestion is Mendez-Laing could do better from out right, where he seems to flourish in cutslines inviting themselves at the byline and whipping crosses in.
On the left, Mendez-Laing has hurdles to overcome like his tendency to cut inside almost unnaturally onto his strong foot where he’s prone to giving possession away. For both Shaun and Mendez-Laing, they appear to agree that he is better on his right hand side where historically he has had success.
Mendez-Laing made no secret of his desire to play on the right wing and commented that he felt more creative coming from the right, where he could deliver crosses easier. He also spoke of his comfort in being able to play down either wing.
For all the problems in front of goal, no team in the division should be stronger than Derby and Mendez-Laing now needs to raise his levels by providing them with more goals.
