I know a hero when I see one and when Zaba speaks I listen – this guy as John Lennon once remarked of someone else – he’s the “toppermost of the poppermost.”
Zaba’s my personal front runner for Hammer of the Year so far although it’s a tight one with Snoddy on his shoulder and he has just given us all another perfect gift in his latest interview on www.whufc.com where he declares: There was something in the papers saying ‘Zabaleta is thinking about retiring’ and let me tell you that is absolute rubbish!
“I’m 33 and I’ll be 34 in January but physically I feel very well. I am playing in every game and I hope I can continue like this and be injury free.
“If I can go for a few more years or at least one more season in the Premier League, this is what I wish because it’s a league I’ve been in for a long time and especially because I am enjoying my time at West Ham.”
“I always appreciate the love and respect from the fans and, as I said last week, I’m enjoying my football and am so proud to be part of West Ham United Football Club.
“We’re here to try to help the club to be better. This is what I wish. I came at the end of my career. I’m not getting any younger, so the main thing for me is to bring a winning mentality to the club.
That’ll do for me because this is not a man who talks for the sake of it and if he wants to indicate that another year at the club is what he wants that’s just fabulous news.”
Even when the vastly younger Ryan Fredericks was available Zaba was keeping him out and that to be honest is a pretty extraordinary achievement.
He was a legend at Manchester City where a personal friend and season ticket there simply cannot speak highly enough of the great man.
Every week here has shown total and utter commitment to the Hammers cause and his exciting lap overs on the right side of the box before delivery is still something to behold.
His is the name on the back of my shirt!
COYI COYZ