It seems almost inconceivable that Cardiff City winger Peter Whittingham is one of the most talked about players outside the Premiership, with an incredible 9 goals in 6 games following a hat-trick on Saturday which contributed heavily to a 4-3 win over Sheffield United.
Lazy, inconsistent, luxury, frustrating and lightweight are a few choice adjectives to describe the former Aston Villa midfielder. These have been used over the past few seasons after some poor form intermingled with abundant talent and flashes of brilliance.
However, this season Whittingham resolved to do better and prove his doubters wrong. He has enjoyed a new lease of life and his contribution has improved no end even when putting his goalscoring feats aside. He is not a flying winger, more a link-up man who can drift inside and has great vision and passing ability. His left-foot is a powerful weapon for the Bluebirds, and after adding a real goalscoring threat to his game - Whitts is now undropable.
It would surprise many Cardiff fans to know the Whittingham`s fine form is keeping Ross McCormack on the bench, while golden-boy Joe Ledley has had to move inside or face bench duty due to Whittingham`s feats.
Nine goals in six games is virtually unheard of in Professional football. Much less so for a midfielder! A goal every 2 games is considered impressive for natural strikers, and although Whittingham is also given the penalty-taking duties - he is yet to miss one and also finds himself in the right place more and more often.
The inclusion of Chris Burke drags opponent`s defences across and allows Whitts to sneak in - that added width on the right is crucial while Bluebirds fans will also have noticed some excellent runs by Chopra which take two defenders to the near post and allow the space for Whitts to exploit - which he has done.
Whittingham always looks a better player when we are playing well as a team. Therefore, there will be many further tests for him as we will suffer the obligatory poor run. However, the observation that he has already surpassed his previous highest seasons tally in October tells it`s own story. Well done Peter Whittingham- keep it up!
Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.
|
