Richards this season

Richards all the way.. He has shown us great loyalty, time we did the same!

Love to see him bomb forward too, and i think he's improved defensively in the past few seasons so is an all round package great at both defending and going forward.
 
All I know is to get in the England squad he needs to score 50 league goals a season from right back.
 
For me Richards is the better player, pace, natural ability, great going forward, good heading ability etc but he still needs to learn that once you have been tackled and there is no whistle you get up and help your team defend not lie on the floor shouting "ref".

Zabaletta is a warrior. When he first joined us he worried the hell (SFW) out of me and looked like he was going to get sent off in every game, and did in a few. Thing is he has matured and learned which, IMO, Micah is still doing.

Richards to win you a game, Pab to make sure you don't lose it, just depends what Mancini thinks is required in any given game. I think they will both get plenty of game time next season.
 
RandomJ said:
Now I think we can all agree last season Richards had a blinder and was easily the best English right back and should have gone to the euros etc etc. However I think we can also all agree that Zabaleta also had an amazing season and even managed to take Richards place in the team for the run in.

My question is who do you think Mancini will give preference to this season? I know it's a squad game and rotation will happen but one will be playing more than the other and I really don't know who Mancini will go for. I feel he trusts Zabaleta a lot more at the back but then we also lose Richards' ariel dominance and powerful runs forward.

It's a nice problem to have but I don't think Richards would be too happy playing second fiddle to Zabaleta.
Click to expand...
It does not hinder the team giving neither the 'main' role and ketting them share it. They are equally as good as each other with different attriubutes that add to the whole performance of the team. Two GREAT players for City! Two of the most likable players at City too!<br /><br />-- Fri Jul 06, 2012 2:02 pm --<br /><br />
MCFC1993 said:
All I know is to get in the England squad he needs to score 50 league goals a season from right back.
Click to expand...
25 assists minimum too.
 
Didsbury Dave said:
Richards is a miles better player than zabaleta. 90% of games next year we will be trying to unlock packed defences. In that scenario zabaleta is not the right option. Look at the qpr game for a typical example of what I'm talking about. Zabaleta had tons of the ball wide right, arguably more than any other player. He just kept poking it or lobbing it into the box: meat and drink for Nedum et al. Richards can get to the line in a way zab can't. He's a threat in the air and recovers much quicker because he has pace.

Zab can be our utility man, but there's no way he should be a first choice right back. If he's fit, Micah every time.
Click to expand...

DD,

Seriously? "recovers quicker because he has pace"???

Do you actually watch Richards "recover"? Heck, he even said he preferred playing with Milner in front of him so he DIDN'T have to run back!! Sadly, one of the WORST parts of Micah's game is his recovery....fit though he might be!

Micah is young and has a great future ahead of him, even though he is already playing at the top. However, Zaba is technically superior in almost all regards other than heading, and he still wins his fair share of those!

I love Micah to death. HE is everything we want at City....relatively local lad, coming up through the system, and leaves it on the field. Sadly for him, he has someone in front of him that has BECOME a "local lad," and leaves everything AND MORE on the field!

How lucky are we to have them both?!
 
ANewEra... said:
I think micah will be first choice hes only 23 and its similar to the shay given/joe hart thing a couple of seasons ago
Click to expand...

Not this year, and he will probably miss start of season due to Olympics recovery period. Just coz Zaba is losing his hair, do not mistake him fro being old. He is in his prime!
 
ChicagoBlue said:
Didsbury Dave said:
Richards is a miles better player than zabaleta. 90% of games next year we will be trying to unlock packed defences. In that scenario zabaleta is not the right option. Look at the qpr game for a typical example of what I'm talking about. Zabaleta had tons of the ball wide right, arguably more than any other player. He just kept poking it or lobbing it into the box: meat and drink for Nedum et al. Richards can get to the line in a way zab can't. He's a threat in the air and recovers much quicker because he has pace.

Zab can be our utility man, but there's no way he should be a first choice right back. If he's fit, Micah every time.
Click to expand...

DD,

Seriously? "recovers quicker because he has pace"???

Do you actually watch Richards "recover"? Heck, he even said he preferred playing with Milner in front of him so he DIDN'T have to run back!! Sadly, one of the WORST parts of Micah's game is his recovery....fit though he might be!

Micah is young and has a great future ahead of him, even though he is already playing at the top. However, Zaba is technically superior in almost all regards other than heading, and he still wins his fair share of those!

I love Micah to death. HE is everything we want at City....relatively local lad, coming up through the system, and leaves it on the field. Sadly for him, he has someone in front of him that has BECOME a "local lad," and leaves everything AND MORE on the field!

How lucky are we to have them both?!
Click to expand...
Couldn't agree with you less.

When you say 'recover' in football it means that if someone gets in behind you or knocks it past you, you have the pace to catch them up. You're talking about that fan cliche that came to life about 2 years ago when he lost concentration and ambled back after marauding forward . He did it 2 or 3 times and it came to define him in some people's minds. When a fan gets one of these cliches embedded in his brain it's hard to get out I suppose.

You have your opinion of course, and you seem a nice fella but it's laughable to me to suggest zab is superior to Micah in any department, let alone every department.

Zab is a hero, a fighter and I like him a lot as a utility man--a great sub. But there's not a winger, or fullback, in the land would prefer to Face Micah ahead of zab. Zab offers nothing going forward beyond powder puff crosses from deep. He's short of pace defensively. To be fair to him he's learnt to compensate for that well recently, a bit like Phil Neville. And he's great in the heat of battle. And he can play in several positions.

But all things being equal Micah has always been, and will continue to be, first choice. He's quicker, stronger, bigger, more powerful and far more dangerous going forward. That matters when you are playing teams Trying to close you out.
 
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