The Peter Whittingham Myth

He's our highest rated midfielder and second highest rated player behind Caulker.

He has the highest defensive score of any of our midfielders. Kim is second putting to bed the myth of 'going in hard equates to good defensive skill'. It doesn't. Defending is not about just launching into tackles. Its about positioning and cutting off options for the other team and being clever about it. When you chase the ball into tackles at this level they'll just pass around you and exploit the space left by you being out of position.

He's played more than any of the others, slightly, but has been consistently better than them all. At his best, he's better than Medel at his best. At his worst, he's still better than Medel at his worst. He's been consistently better in terms of performance and he gets slated whereas Medel doesn't.

His possession stat is lower which only makes sense. He's a set piece taker for one so any ball that gets intercepted by an opponent is classed as possession lost. He's also more advanced and has played wide with higher risks of losing the ball than centrally. Again, this is proven by Mutch's and Kim's lower possession score as they all play more attacking than Medel. Thats expected. His possession score however is nowhere near as bad as Mutch's or Kim's. In fact, for a forward thinking player who tries to create his score is exceptional.

Goals: 2
Key Passes: 33
Assists: 4
Total Defensive Actions: 4
Total Defensive Errors: 0 <---- yes you read that correct. Whitts hasn't made one defensive error attributed to him
Passing accuracy: 81% - not bad at a club like Cardiff and not bad considering he takes set pieces
Awards: Top man in the team x 4 and best attacker x 2

His cumulative rating proves he's got consistently better as the season has gone on. Again, putting to bed the myth that he's suddenly become not good enough for this level.

Whittingham has also got 48% of duels won which is higher than Medel's 47% of duels won. Slightly higher but higher nonetheless yet Medel doesn't get stick like Whittingham does because he's a fans favourite - cringe.

He's been our second best player this year statistically and its a fact. Without his contribution we'd be stuck at the bottom of the table and that is a fact. How anyone can say he's not good enough for the Premier League I don't know. You must not understand the sport at all. He's our best midfield and attacking outlet on the pitch.

Its a disgrace, an abomination even, that a true Cardiff City legend who helped us get promoted, a player I've met several times and I know is Cardiff through and through, a player who chose to stay here to help our cause in times of need who could have moved on yet showed loyalty, a player who has always contributed to our teams cause, a player that has delivered us some of the best moments as Cardiff fans (important goals like the goal vs Leicester and volleys all over the pitch as well as amazing free kicks etc.) and a player that has in total served us so well is getting made a frigging scapegoat by some fans. You are a disgrace.

YET YOU DEFEND A DONKEY LIKE CORNELIUS WHO'S CONTRIBUTED NOTHING THIS SEASON LET ALONE OVER MANY YEARS LIKE WHITTINGHAM. YOU MAKE ME LAUGH.

Whittingham is easily suited to the top level and the stats don't lie.

Peter Whittingham is a Cardiff City legend who's done loads for this club including show it loyalty which is so rare these days yet the fans cant give him the same back and instead would rather use a few misplaced set pieces as a weapon to attack him with.

You're a disgrace honestly.

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I go by what my eyes see and what they see is sideways passing, refusal to tackle, bad positioning (defensively) and slow to close his man down. Hes a luxury player imo and we cant afford that in our situation. Stats can be manipulated to suit any opinion.

people arent a disgrace because they think differently.

James, an excellent post and exactly my sentiments. I am a Whittingham fan, always have been and he's not only a great footballer but a very nice guy too and I too can not understand some people that continually slate him at every opportunity but everyone has their own opinion but they must have rose tinted specs on, that's all I can say.
Out of interest do you have a link for the stats you just quoted please?

I go by what my eyes see and what they see is sideways passing, refusal to tackle, bad positioning (defensively) and slow to close his man down. Hes a luxury player imo and we cant afford that in our situation. Stats can be manipulated to suit any opinion.

people arent a disgrace because they think differently.

He's our second best player and thats a fact yet people continuously say he's not good enough for this level. Should we sell the entire squad, Caulker aside, then? Because they're clearly not good enough either including Medel as Whittingham has proven to be better at this level than them all. Just because he doesn't rush into tackles like a dog chasing a ball doesn't mean he's not good enough. This Malky high pressure rubbish is laughable. You don't see Ozil doing it either for Arsenal because he's not an idiot and knows that he must conserve energy and use it wisely. Its called having a brain.

As for the sideways passes I cant help but laugh. He's created 37 chances. Not our fault that on 33 of those occasions we lacked the clinical finisher to put the ball in the net is it?

James, an excellent post and exactly my sentiments. I am a Whittingham fan, always have been and he's not only a great footballer but a very nice guy too and I too can not understand some people that continually slate him at every opportunity but everyone has their own opinion but they must have rose tinted specs on, that's all I can say.
Out of interest do you have a link for the stats you just quoted please?

Agreed tenerife.

http://www.squawka.com/players/peter-wh ... ance-score#cardiff-city-(current)#english-barclays-premier-league#8#season-2013/2014#64#all-matches#1-21#by-match

Thats the Whittingham statistics. The comparison is a screenshot at the bottom of my first post.

I go by what my eyes see and what they see is sideways passing, refusal to tackle, bad positioning (defensively) and slow to close his man down. Hes a luxury player imo and we cant afford that in our situation. Stats can be manipulated to suit any opinion.

people arent a disgrace because they think differently.

He's our second best player and thats a fact yet people continuously say he's not good enough for this level. Should we sell the entire squad, Caulker aside, then? Because they're clearly not good enough either including Medel as Whittingham has proven to be better at this level than them all. Just because he doesn't rush into tackles like a dog chasing a ball doesn't mean he's not good enough. This Malky high pressure rubbish is laughable. You don't see Ozil doing it either for Arsenal because he's not an idiot and knows that he must conserve energy and use it wisely. Its called having a brain.

As for the sideways passes I cant help but laugh. He's created 37 chances. Not our fault that on 33 of those occasions we lacked the clinical finisher to put the ball in the net is it?

why do you think hes created most chances?

Maybe because he took our set pieces and thats the way we tried to score.....stats can be manipulated.

just because hes a nice guy doesnt mean hes a great player. As for steaming in......just attempting to tackle and not get scared would be something!

As i said, luxury player.

why do you think hes created most chances?

Maybe because he took our set pieces and thats the way we tried to score.....stats can be manipulated.

just because hes a nice guy doesnt mean hes a great player. As for steaming in......just attempting to tackle and not get scared would be something!

As i said, luxury player.

Laughable.

Not one defensive error. Has a better duel win rate than Medel, a defensive midfielder and creates loads. Just because he's our set piece taker doesn't mean they shouldn't be factored in. Thats part of his game he's worked on for many years and without it we'd be rock bottom now.

The stats do not lie yet your only retort is stats can be manipulated and he's a luxury player.

Anybody calling Whittingham rubbish and not good enough for this level is also saying the entire rest of our squad is rubbish and not good enough for this level, Caulker aside, because he's outperformed them all.

Whittingham is easily a PL quality player and if Malky had bought a decent striker he'd have far more assists. Instead he wasted £8m on a donkey named Cornelius who has contributed nothing. Thats not Whittingham's fault.

JB why cant you just accept people see things differently. f**k me you see stuff different every week. I cant be bothered to speak to you when your like a petulant child.

James you are wasting your time people are still stuck in dungeon mentatlity they would prefer to see Gareth Stoker flying into a challenge than a player of Whitts style. Sad but true.

It was the same when Jason Bowen played for the City, he was a far better player than Gareth Ainsworth but didnt fist pump the crowd.

City fans have never appreciated players with craft, perhaps its the south wales rugby macho mentality I dont know but what i do know is tackling has practically been phased out at the top level but then we havent been here for 50 years so perhaps we can cut the cavemen in our support some slack.

JB why cant you just accept people see things differently. f**k me you see stuff different every week. I cant be bothered to speak to you when your like a petulant child.

Probably because he has started this thread in response to the 10 threads or so a day slagging off our best performer of the last 4 years.

It's obvious that you don't go to games.

Stats don't mean f**k all at the end of the day. You can say he's won a bigger percentage of duals the medel but
He's probably only been in 5 all season compared to Medels 50.

It was the same when Jason Bowen played for the City, he was a far better player than Gareth Ainsworth but didnt fist pump the crowd.

Now that's something I agree with. Cracking player Bowen was.

For me, we haven't seen Whitts at his best this season, purely because he has been stuck out on the wing. Whenever he has played in the middle, he's been excellent.

JB why cant you just accept people see things differently. f**k me you see stuff different every week. I cant be bothered to speak to you when your like a petulant child.

Probably because he has started this thread in response to the 10 threads or so a day slagging off our best performer of the last 4 years.

Spot on. Fed up of it. He's a Cardiff City legend performing at the top level and is our second best player at this level. A majority of our fan base hasn't a clue.

Craig now calling me a petulant child because I don't agree with him. My irony scale just malfunctioned.

It's obvious that you don't go to games.

Stats don't mean f**k all at the end of the day. You can say he's won a bigger percentage of duals the medel but
He's probably only been in 5 all season compared to Medels 50.

Who's the better striker then?

One thats scored 10 in 50? or 1/5 or 20% conversion rate

or;

One thats scored 5 in 20 or 1/4 or 25% conversion rate

Whittingham comes out of duels more successfully than Medel. You can only go by what they've been involved in. Those starts prove also that Medel other than tackling and retaining the ball offers very little else. He is more of a luxury player than anyone else because at least at Hull, Huddlestone and Livermore who do the defensive duties still get forward, score and create.

JB why cant you just accept people see things differently. f**k me you see stuff different every week. I cant be bothered to speak to you when your like a petulant child.

Probably because he has started this thread in response to the 10 threads or so a day slagging off our best performer of the last 4 years.

Spot on. Fed up of it. He's a Cardiff City legend performing at the top level and is our second best player at this level. A majority of our fan base hasn't a clue.

Craig now calling me a petulant child because I don't agree with him. My irony scale just malfunctioned.

I difnt call you a petulant child because you didnt agree with me. I called you that because if people think different to you you go on stupid rants and wont accept that others think different.

How many goals has he created from open play?

It was the same when Jason Bowen played for the City, he was a far better player than Gareth Ainsworth but didnt fist pump the crowd.

Now that's something I agree with. Cracking player Bowen was.

For me, we haven't seen Whitts at his best this season, purely because he has been stuck out on the wing. Whenever he has played in the middle, he's been excellent.

I wouldnt disagree with that Chuckles. He has struggled out wide.

I just think people are expecting him to control games at this level in the way he did the championship. Thats not going to happen every game at this level, he is not a Gerrard, or a Lampard, or a Yaya Toure FFS.

As Ive said on another thread he is not one of the better players but people saying he isnt Premiership class are talking nonsense. He is comfortably a player who can perform in a bottom half Premiership side.

He is is just as good as some of the players plying their trade in the midfield of the premiership, off the top of my head David Meyler, Bradley Johnson, Johnny Howson, Barry Bannan, Glen Whelan, Lee Catermole etc.etc.etc.

How many goals has he created from open play?

Malky didnt set his teams up to score from open play this season especially, not that goals from his free kicks and corners count any less

Hes scored 2 from open play though.

"Defence score"

As much as I liked him in the past, what I can see with my own eyes is he has been shockingly bad at times. Mutch has been our best Midfielder this season, with maybe Noone second.

I go by what my eyes see and what they see is sideways passing, refusal to tackle, bad positioning (defensively) and slow to close his man down. Hes a luxury player imo and we cant afford that in our situation. Stats can be manipulated to suit any opinion.

people arent a disgrace because they think differently.

Specsavers could be an option

How many goals has he created from open play?

Malky didnt set his teams up to score from open play this season especially, not that goals from his free kicks and corners count any less

Hes scored 2 from open play though.

I meant goals created, i.e. he's set up. Malky's football was sh1t, thats not an excuse for Whitts though. Good players make it happen, yeah he can whip a good ball in but when thats not working he doesnt offer much else going forward.

IMO Eikrem will be keeping him out of the side very soon.

James you are wasting your time people are still stuck in dungeon mentatlity they would prefer to see Gareth Stoker flying into a challenge than a player of Whitts style. Sad but true.

It was the same when Jason Bowen played for the City, he was a far better player than Gareth Ainsworth but didnt fist pump the crowd.

City fans have never appreciated players with craft, perhaps its the south wales rugby macho mentality I dont know but what i do know is tackling has practically been phased out at the top level but then we havent been here for 50 years so perhaps we can cut the cavemen in our support some slack.

ahhh i used to love Gareth Stoker

How many goals has he created from open play?

Malky didnt set his teams up to score from open play this season especially, not that goals from his free kicks and corners count any less

Hes scored 2 from open play though.

I meant goals created, i.e. he's set up. Malky's football was sh1t, thats not an excuse for Whitts though. Good players make it happen, yeah he can whip a good ball in but when thats not working he doesnt offer much else going forward.

IMO Eikrem will be keeping him out of the side very soon.

I know what you meant and as I said Malky didnt play open football so very difficult to create openings.

And of course a managers style of play is an excuse. Malky had the centre halfs hoofing it over the midfields head ffs.

This season we didnt get high enough up the pitch under Malky for Whitts or anyone from our midfield for that matter to play a killer ball.

It's obvious that you don't go to games.

Stats don't mean f**k all at the end of the day. You can say he's won a bigger percentage of duals the medel but
He's probably only been in 5 all season compared to Medels 50.

Who's the better striker then?

One thats scored 10 in 50? or 1/5 or 20% conversion rate

or;

One thats scored 5 in 20 or 1/4 or 25% conversion rate

Whittingham comes out of duels more successfully than Medel. You can only go by what they've been involved in. Those starts prove also that Medel other than tackling and retaining the ball offers very little else. He is more of a luxury player than anyone else because at least at Hull, Huddlestone and Livermore who do the defensive duties still get forward, score and create.

Comparing duals an goals scored in an amount of games is stupid.

How many goals has he created from open play?

Malky didnt set his teams up to score from open play this season especially, not that goals from his free kicks and corners count any less

Hes scored 2 from open play though.

I meant goals created, i.e. he's set up. Malky's football was sh1t, thats not an excuse for Whitts though. Good players make it happen, yeah he can whip a good ball in but when thats not working he doesnt offer much else going forward.

IMO Eikrem will be keeping him out of the side very soon.

I know what you meant and as I said Malky didnt play open football so very difficult to create openings.

And of course a managers style of play is an excuse. Malky had the centre halfs hoofing it over the midfields head ffs.

This season we didnt get high enough up the pitch under Malky for Whitts or anyone from our midfield for that matter to play a killer ball.

Well time will tell if it was Malky holding Whitts back as Ole's already shown he will set us up to play a more attacking style, or if Whitts is holding himself back.

Theres no denying he's a talented player, with a wand of a left foot. I just feel that he should be contributing more than he currently is. In your opinion thats Malky's fault, in my opinion the buck stops with Whitts.

I dont need to wait for any time to tell me that Malky picking Whitts left midfield was holding Whitts back or not, because it is plain obvious it was.

However, like you I think Eikrem will replace Whitts so we wont get to see how he would perform with more emphasis on our attack under OGS.

Shame.

I dont need to wait for any time to tell me that Malky picking Whitts left midfield was holding Whitts back or not, because it is plain obvious it was.

However, like you I think Eikrem will replace Whitts so we wont get to see how he would perform with more emphasis on our attack under OGS.

Shame.

Fair enough.

For me Whitts is obviously quality BUT....

He needs to be dropped for his own sake.

Look at Joe Hart. Making silly mistakes, crowd on his back etcetc but Pellegrini dropped him, took him away from the limelight and then eased him back in. Anyone seen or heard a thing about Joe Hart since? No.

In my opinion Whitts needs to be taken away from the hostility and rested for a couple of games. He is after all a 'confidence player' who depends on his excellent corner and free kick abilities. Must really rattle him to hear the crowd groan and to not hear "He does what he wants". When did that stop by the way!?!?

Got to agree with JB here.

Not a fan of stats personally. if we go by stats then Leon Brittain is as good as Xavi.

Can't doubt Whitts technique, is vision and first touch is up there with the best in the PL. Trouble is he doesn't impose himself enough in games for me. Just needs to be quicker in his work really and he'd be far more effective.

Take Jordon Mutch for example, I used to look at him and think what does he add to a team apart from a few nice touches and short passes. Now he's box to box, showing for the ball, running at defences, taking shots on and getting his foot in. He gives us so much more now that we miss him he doesn't play. Would we miss Whitts not being in the 11?

Not a fan of stats personally. if we go by stats then Leon Brittain is as good as Xavi.

Can't doubt Whitts technique, is vision and first touch is up there with the best in the PL. Trouble is he doesn't impose himself enough in games for me. Just needs to be quicker in his work really and he'd be far more effective.

Take Jordon Mutch for example, I used to look at him and think what does he add to a team apart from a few nice touches and short passes. Now he's box to box, showing for the ball, running at defences, taking shots on and getting his foot in. He gives us so much more now that we miss him he doesn't play. Would we miss Whitts not being in the 11?

I wouldnt say Whitts's vision is up there with the best at all. Far from it.