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Looks like we have a real battle here for the right back position, whos your prefered choice?

Micah will certainly want to be playing regularly but he got his work cut out for him now.

I prefer Zabaleta he seems to have improved a lot under Mancini.He has always been very dependable defensively(bar the odd daft tackle) but he seems to have added more of an attacking dimension to his game.

Hes more of an attacking wing back now linking up well in attcking moves alaways giving us an option on the right which seems to be what Mancini is after.

Zabba for me although an in form Micah is a good option too.

Anyone but fucking Jerome.

Micah for me, though Zab's ace too.

Zabs is showing more consistency, even when being moved around through various positions.

Zabba all day long, up there with Kolo as the most improved player at the club. He seems to have cut out the rashness in his game and has now added more direct forward play to his game. I bet he never thought he would be 1st choice right back but has really made the postion his own and that's credit to him for getting his head down and working.

Mad Zab all day long for me. He puts in 100% every game and sticks to the right side of the pitch. Micah follows the ball and finds himself out of position too often

For RB, i think Micah and Boateng are specialists. Micah is improving under Bob, we can all see that. Boateng is new to the scene so needs time, judging him at the mo is stupid imo.

Now Zabba is a different cup of tea altogether and in fact i would liken him to Kolarov in many ways. At one point yesterday AK decides he fancies a forage into the centre.. pushed play forward and stuck around there for a bit looking well comfortable, Barry went straight over to cover on the left. What that says to me is that AK is very aware of his options and is both good enough and used to it.. he can help the team mix up play. Zabba i think is the same because he can play anywhere competently and is aware of the patterns in the game he can switch completely and fucl up the expectations of what he is going to do.

Zabba and AK would be my choices right now,but a lot of players are improving and raising their game and offering different options, so it is kind of a close call and fuclin interesting.

Zabs on form, Micah for the long term.

Zabs on form, Boateng for the future and Micah for the past.

Mad Zabba.

Really stepping up atm, love the guy.

Pretty Boy Lee wrote:Anyone but fucking Jerome.

x2. Zabs for me, though Micah is quicker and less likely to give away daft free kicks, needlessly, or get carded. Anyone but Boateng, seriously.

Zabba is playing really well but if Micah Richards had wasted the kind of positions Zabba did yesterday, there would be a thread about it on here, with the usual claims of incompetence. He was criminally awful on several occasions yet there's no mention of it. Unfair treatment on Micah imo.


We should use both of them in rotation & we should give Boateng games v the lesser teams as well. Nothing got past him in his last game & I think he'll be a tremendous player once he settles in.

Ted Hughes wrote:Zabba is playing really well but if Micah Richards had wasted the kind of positions Zabba did yesterday, there would be a thread about it on here, with the usual claims of incompetence. He was criminally awful on several occasions yet there's no mention of it. Unfair treatment on Micah imo.


We should use both of them in rotation & we should give Boateng games v the lesser teams as well. Nothing got past him in his last game & I think he'll be a tremendous player once he settles in.

Agree. I think in the long term Boateng will be our main man here, just needs time to settle.

Micah, Zabs is doing really well, but is an accident waiting to happen. Only a matter of time before he sees red. Although to be fair, he doesn't seem to be diving into tackles like he used to.

Zabaleta. I love the guy, works tiredlessly in whichever position we play him in and he never complains. There have been long periods where he hasn't been given a look in but he keeps his head down and works for his place. The main thing I like about him is that his first thought is always to get the ball forward. He's a very good atatcking outlet and solid defensively, he could step up and become a real class right back if he keeps at it.

dazby wrote:Zabs on form, Boateng for the future and Micah for the past.

This

Chinners wrote:

dazby wrote:Zabs on form, Boateng for the future and Micah for the past.

This

Didn't Mancini say Boateng was bought to play CB, possibly a future Kolo replacement, and didn't he play CB for Hamburg?

Anyway, Zabs for me. I've always liked his tenacious attitude and feel he gives us a lot more down the flanks than Micah does. I think he also keeps AJ out of the side because he does the full FB role, if you know what I mean.

Zaba has been really good recently and is vastly improved, well done to him and the coaching team. However he got into some really good positions against Bolton and SHOULD have scored, and had our best chance against the Scum and SHOULD have scored, so he doesn't have the class for the long term.

But he is playing fantastically at the moment. Doo doo dooo, Pablo Zabalet-a!!

Zab for me as well - shows the attitude that I wish more player had - must be an Argie thing