West Ham United fans were asked on Twitter who they would prefer to start at right-back next season and the majority of them all appeared to favour one man over the other.
Hammers Chat decided to pose the question to their followers on Tuesday evening with fans seemingly giving Ryan Fredericks the nod over Pablo Zabaleta for the upcoming campaign.
Fredericks managed just 15 Premier League appearances in his debut campaign for us, which included 12 starts (Transfermarkt) following his arrival from Fulham last summer.
It would have likely been more if he did not miss out on two months of action with an ankle injury that had ruled him out of the festive period.
Zabaleta stepped in and made 26 appearances for us in that time, however, he was fairly limited in what he could offer us moving forward. The 34-year-old only managed to provide one assist in those matches, but perhaps that was a sign of time catching up with him (Transfermarkt).
The Argentine recently extended his contract with us for another year (official club website), however, it would appear as though West Ham fans hope that is just to keep him on the books as because of his experience and act as cover and competition for Fredericks.
Many of them took to Twitter to suggest it was the perfect time to see what the 26-year-old can provide them with this season and to see if he is good enough for them in the future.
One fan stated that it was ‘his time now’ whilst another thought it was a ‘no brainer’.
Here are just some of their reactions…
Frederick’s he finished quite strongly last ter
— Mark heyward (@Markheyward4) June 25, 2019
Fredericks no brainier.. this is his season to step up
— RickyG89 (@Ricky_Gavin) June 25, 2019
Fredericks. He needs game time to get better.
— Dan (@WestHamWazzock) June 25, 2019
Fredericks of course
— Dunc9 (@WHU99) June 25, 2019
Fredricks 100% Zaba looked like his old legs had given up in a few games last season but great back up to have
— PDJ (@Patrickj1976) June 25, 2019
Fredericks… it’s he’s time now
— Bry ⚒ (@bryrev79) June 25, 2019
Fredericks. Zaba is retiring after next season. We need to know if Fredericks can be our RB going forward. Need to give him games to find that out.
— ☘️Irish Tommy 5280 ⚒️ (@tomster36) June 25, 2019