The mancityfans.net football forum

Having seen Peps new system for our fullbacks I can't help but think Zabba will be greatly suited and be better than Sagna there as it'll be easier on his aging legs. Thoughts?

Was weird seeing them move inside and play as centre mids when we have the ball. It worked though as Sagna was left free and open for a pass quite a few times.

I think Zabba is a better passer of the ball and his thought process + decision making better too. Do get me wrong Sagna had a good game and a great 12 months for us

The only issue with Zaba is if he'll be quick enough to get back if we lose the ball.

Bluedj wrote:Having seen Peps new system for our fullbacks I can't help but think Zabba will be greatly suited and be better than Sagna there as it'll be easier on his aging legs. Thoughts?

I said that very thing earlier. Glad Zabs isnt leaving as he'll suit that system better. Also concerned that Angelino won't as he is more of a bombing forward fullback.

Think Pep like Angelino, so not massively concerned at this point in his career. Hoping Pep brings him on developmental wise

My concern of Zaba in that role is that there's more people to kick and he may get the red mist.

Clichy looked the most natural yesterday and I suspect being two footed will be an advantage for him. He was no Lahm, but I could see him growing into that role and avoiding the need to constantly bomb up and down the wing, it could lengthen his career.

It'll also be interesting in a few weeks when coaches try and counteract it. Pep's just done something unique in English football, so who will try and copy it?

Slim wrote:

Bluedj wrote:Having seen Peps new system for our fullbacks I can't help but think Zabba will be greatly suited and be better than Sagna there as it'll be easier on his aging legs. Thoughts?

I said that very thing earlier. Glad Zabs isnt leaving as he'll suit that system better. Also concerned that Angelino won't as he is more of a bombing forward fullback.

Haven't the EDS been playing a similar system? It's just one game but when I saw them in Dublin last summer they were playing this way with Smith-Brown and Maffeo playing in the fullback come midfield role.

Blue Since 76 wrote:My concern of Zaba in that role is that there's more people to kick and he may get the red mist.

Clichy looked the most natural yesterday and I suspect being two footed will be an advantage for him. He was no Lahm, but I could see him growing into that role and avoiding the need to constantly bomb up and down the wing, it could lengthen his career.

It'll also be interesting in a few weeks when coaches try and counteract it. Pep's just done something unique in English football, so who will try and copy it?

To be fair, Mourinho was doing this first time round at Chelsea. People said his teams were boring but they scored lots and conceded few (mainly because his team passed the opposition to death then overpowered them in 10/15 minute spells).

To me it also raises the question of where Toure fits in to the picture. Can we rely on him to put the shift in dropping back to the centre half position (the Makelele role as it became known), would he want that role, would we lose too much of his attacking power, or can we cycle between the full backs bombing on the flanks and him bombing through the middle?

Nice problem to have. Though it would seem at this stage Toure may not feature much under pep, I reckon he will make full use of the squad in the next few weeks and have a proper look at everyone.

I found it amusing yesterday to see Clichy essentially offering what Yaya offered to us last season, in the games when he was only half-arsing it, but with much more defensive insurance. He certainly doesn't have the extra gears or ability that Yaya has - I'm definitely not arguing that Clichy>Yaya in that position on the whole - but he allows our attacking players to take up more useful positions e.g. Sterling or Nolito the furthest forward wide player, instead of Clichy who is useless there.

Slim wrote:

Bluedj wrote:Having seen Peps new system for our fullbacks I can't help but think Zabba will be greatly suited and be better than Sagna there as it'll be easier on his aging legs. Thoughts?

I said that very thing earlier. Glad Zabs isnt leaving as he'll suit that system better. Also concerned that Angelino won't as he is more of a bombing forward fullback.

Don't worry pal. The EDS had exactly the same system already 1-2 years ago (not 100% sure on the timing but I think this was not long after that Vieira's visit to Bayern) and at least in that game Angelino was bossing the game in that role.

Actually it was U19's as the game I'm talking about is the game when we hammered Bayern 6-0

Foreverinbluedreams wrote:

Slim wrote:

Bluedj wrote:Having seen Peps new system for our fullbacks I can't help but think Zabba will be greatly suited and be better than Sagna there as it'll be easier on his aging legs. Thoughts?

I said that very thing earlier. Glad Zabs isnt leaving as he'll suit that system better. Also concerned that Angelino won't as he is more of a bombing forward fullback.

Haven't the EDS been playing a similar system? It's just one game but when I saw them in Dublin last summer they were playing this way with Smith-Brown and Maffeo playing in the fullback come midfield role.

I think Vieira's trip to Bayern Munich some time ago might explain the reason we were playing in a way Pep liked, and that certain youngsters were seemingly played out of position at times.

Mase wrote:The only issue with Zaba is if he'll be quick enough to get back if we lose the ball.

I think this is a big part of why Sagna is first choice.

loved watching our fullbacks positioning ... going to be interesting too see us develop the rest of the team around that and how/where our youngsters push through.

Its a more inclusive style, both fullbacks saw a lot of the ball Saturday, I would not think that they can keep doing it for the amount of games we have. Expect to see a lot of full back rotation this season.

sheblue wrote:Its a more inclusive style, both fullbacks saw a lot of the ball Saturday, I would not think that they can keep doing it for the amount of games we have. Expect to see a lot of full back rotation this season.

I thought they did well. It's a massive change after bombing up and down the line for 14 years.

However with the greatest of respect to both I think Lahm and Alaba are better players in midfield so it's 'watch this space'.

Actually I think both Maffeo and Angelino have the technique to perform this role well if required. Interested to hear Doug and Two Sips views about that. Still they're only 19 so another year may be needed before they're ready for the first team squad. The difficulty will be finding a loan club which gives them the demanding game time they need to progress. On another subject what a capture Sagna was. He's been an excellent free transfer!

Yaya is not travelling to Bucharest by the way. I'm sure the Club would like him to move on but he may prefer to draw his 220,000 a week for another year. No one's going to pay him anywhere near that.

The EDS lads who played full back are certainly used to the tactic of becoming a midfield player when we have the ball, drifting inside while the pivot defensive midfield player drops deep centrally and the 2 center backs split wide. Not 100% convinced they are naturally suited to the role just as Clichy/Sagna aren't but they could do it.

I see Angelino more the attacking wide full back which is the way Barca use their left back and Maffeo a more traditional full back, good defensively and providing good support to the right wing player. There is no certainty ( not yet anyway) that Pep will always play in the same way as he did against Sunderland although we know he does like to dominate midfield and have the right set up to deal with when we lose the ball to stop counters.

Yaya is an interesting one not travelling. Maybe not injured but I do wonder what kind of influence he would be if he isn't happy with his lot. I cannot see it being positive and Pep would not want a negative vibe in the camp for such an important game or any game for that matter