Ted Hughes wrote:Zabba is below par this season defensively, but stil having an effect getting forward.
I think it's down to having no cover last season, & the World Cup. Should be fine next season.
Sagna has done well recently imo but Zabba is Zabba & he's a talisman for the team. Made at least as many mistakes as Clichy though, but people don't want to see faults in him.
Still, he will turn in some big performances if we go on a title winning run, as will Yaya. Bank on it. Two Champs.
Problem is for all the fullbacks, you can't expect them to sprint the length of the pitch in attack, then get back and be fully on it immediately. As much as I'm critical of Kolarov part of his problems may be that he's a lot bigger than Clichy or Zaba and needs a lot more recovery time, hence the wandering back.
If you want overlapping full backs, the wide midfielders and the defensive midfielder have to be willing to fill in. That's a particular problem on the left, where we haven't got a natural winger and none of the central midfielder are left footed and hence tend to drift the other way. Makes it exciting, but we're always at risk on the counter, hence why Chelsea are better at attacking and defending than we are ;-)
