Has to be Yedlin. Anita is decent but, for me, he isn't really a full back. He's good and competent but so is Yedlin and Yedlin has pace, real pace. The pace thing makes the big difference between the two.
Yedlin's pace is awesome but I don't think he's particularly good at defending. Anita is better at defending but still not really that good at it and he's a bit worse going forward. It's a tie for me. Rafa loves pace though so I think Yedlin is his first choice now.
Both have pretty similar ish qualities as a defender.. Little Vurn is adaptable, dependable and other words ending in 'able', particularly defensively But when Yedlin hits the afterburners is where he shines .. plus he is only 23 so he should improve by being Rafa'd
I think some of you are smoking crack. Yedlin is a good option if we're playing a more attacking game but OBJECTIVELY... Anita is our most defensively astute player by a mile. He's consistent, solid and barely puts a foot wrong. He's also improved to be able to handle the physicality of game, and isn't even put off by balls over the top of him. He adapts and uses what he has. Furthermore he is a proven premier league fullback and Yedlin really isn't yet. Yedlin adds pace and more attacking threat, but Anita is excellent positionally because he knows when to bomb forward and his passing, despite not really create many chances, is consistent and he can play his part in attacking move. Anita is a premier league proven defender. Case closed.
Agree with some of your points but not the conclusion. Yedlin has played full back in PL with Sunderland. Anita is not our most astute defensive player. Currently Clark for me. Anita is a proven PL squad player not full back.
Anita's definitely the better full back, Teflon is good, but too attack minded and leaves us exposed sometimes, Anita's much more intelligent player and links the team up far better.
Anita played as fullback towards the end of the season under Rafa in the PL and was solid. He's also played there a few times before then and proven himself a useful player. Defensively he's miles better than any fullback we've had since Enrique. Clark is a good defender and surprisingly cool on the ball, and he defenitely has his advantages over Anita but it's a bad comparison because he's a CB and Anita is a fullback. When it comes to reading the game and making the right decisions, I don't see anyone in that back line that has proven themselves more tactically aware and smarter than Anita. He's not just good at defending he also barely gets caught at all because of his decision making and his passing is consistent and he barely ever gives the ball away. Anita and Clark are our best defenders, but Anita's got the edge in tactical awareness and intelligence which has obviously come out of necessity because of his small physical nature.
