by Savigma » Thu Jul 12, 2018 10:00 pm
Since I've only really been into football since 2013, starting from the second half of the promotion season. I'm 24 but yeah I was never into football before I started going to Cardiff games. So my 11 would be really limited but I guess it might be interesting for you lot to see what I think of a starting 11 for a "newby". I'm going to go with a 4-3-3 (Last seasons formation) to go through the players
Goalkeeper: (I never rated Marshall as highly as most of what I see on this forum, for every worldy save you guys said he made I saw 3 mistakes).I would have to choose Etheridge, nobody can really come close other than maybe Allan Mcgregor for his consistency...but Final Answer Etheridge so far.
Left Back: Has to be Joe Bennett, but maybe a year ago I would have said Fabio.
Center Back: Sean Morrisson
Center Back: Sol Bamba (But It's really close between him and Manga)
Right Back: I was always a fan of Theophile Caterin, I think he was under rated myself, but I can't possibly say him considering the time he was with us and his stats probably don't show him in a good light, so I'd have to go with Lee Peltier, but again tempted to say Fabio again since he did play there. Final answer Peltier
Center Mid: Joe Ralls, just think he's as consistent of a player that I have seen for Cardiff. I can't say much about Whittingham before 2013, but from a non biased huge fan of Cardiff from 2013 to now, I can honestly say Whittingham would be nowhere near my 11 (Just from my experience watching him between 2013-2017) because he often made mistakes, I didn't rate his passing during this time period as well as some of you did, and he was slow in midfield and often a slow thinker too and would be dispossed very easily, also very useless and lazy defending.
2nd Center Mid: I have to go with Gary medel. Only with us for one season but he was so consistent, in midfield consistency is what you need so that's why I went for Ralls too. Thing is with Medel though was that, although Ralls is consistent in the simple stuff and basics, Gary Medel was consistent with his reading of the game that you just can't teach, most of his challenges were so effortless and he won the ball often without having to go to ground. It's always nice to see slide tackles but he seemed to always win the ball and immediately make a quick smart pass to a creative player to start the counter. He was a very smart player for us.
Attacking Midfielder: I've always had a soft spot for Matts Daehli I can't lie, I enjoyed watching him and thought his vision was exceptional for his age. Also a shout out for Jordan Mutch too, but as good as he was for us I feel like Bluebirds over rated him just for that last minute screamer to win the game for us against Fulham (Which I had the privilage to watch). However, the midfielder I have to go with is Kim Bo Kyung, I thought he was one of our stand out performers for us in the Premiership especially. I accept there's not much to go off as far as the premiership but as much as the Man City win is talked about, I'm suprised nobody ever mentioned Kim bo's last minute header to draw against Manchester United. That was huge and felt like a win at the time. I loved Kim.
Left Wing: Sammy Ameobi (I'm joking). But seriously, It has to be Junior Hoilett. Don't need to say anything about that.
Right Wing: This is a toughy, because there's about 3 players for this position since 2013. I could go with Noone, Anthony Pilkington (Even though he sort of developed into a striker more recently) or Mendez-Laing. I really really wanted to say Noone because for a while he was my favoruite, but when we got relegated he gradually got slower, more mistake prone, and generally more of a liablity than anything. He would lose the ball in silly positions and we would concede OFTEN because of him, but I admit that only happened after the 2015 season. I have always rooted for Noone but he always let me down. I still have a big place for him in my heart (lol) but maybe due to not that many options for this position and purely just because he scored some big goals for us last season and helped us get promotion, I have to say Mendez-Laing.
Striker: Again, I want to re-iterate I have only supported Cardiff since the late '12/'13 season so I don't have loads to pick from. I have always been a huge fan of Kenwyne Jones so he isn't far behind being my favourite. Again, I have a soft spot for Pilkington too, but it has to be Kenneth Zohore, partly because of his potential too but even if he doesn't do anything else, he has still played a huge part in the last 2 seasons for us.
That's my 11. Sorry for writing an essay.