Team Of The Season Winners: Right-Back
All week we will be unveiling the winners of our Team of the Year voting with a mixture of regular and guest writers.
Mattia Cassani has exhibited all the qualities of a great right back for the Rosanero, earning him accolades and acknowledgment as one of Serie A’s best at the position. Possessing a quiet leadership that earned him the vice-captaincy at Palermo to go along with superb technical abilities, Mattia commands the right line week in and week out.
Perhaps no other fullback in Italy can control one side of the pitch the way Cassani does. His frequent runs forward to aid in the Palermo attack have earned him no less than four assists this season from his excellently delivered crosses. Furthermore, it is his defensive qualities that have seen him cancel out some of the best attacking players in the league with many a critical tackle to his credit. Such great showings over the past few years have led many to compare him to Gianluca Zambrotta in his prime. And while that comparison is quite the compliment to a player, the greatest has come at the national level.
If there were any doubt about Cassani’s place among the elite at his position, then his starter’s spot on the Italian national team should end all that. Much like he has solidified his place in the Azzurri starting eleven, Mattia Cassani has established himself as the best right back in Serie A. This was reflected in our poll, in which he garnered 43% of your votes, edging Milan’s Ignazio Abate (34%), Lazio’s Stefan Lichtsteiner (12%) and Napoli’s Christian Maggio (9%).
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