After the international break Angelo Ogbonna will be close to a return to full fitness and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him go straight back into the team with defence the weakest part of the team at the moment, that therefore means that Slaven Bilic is left with a headache, who plays at right back?
If you look on pure performance and clean sheets then James Tomkins should be playing at right back, despite it not being his favoured position it is one he has taken to very well and the team have managed clean sheets against Arsenal and Liverpool as well as Newcastle however he only played there for 30 minutes then moved into central defence to replace Ogbonna. The club were extremely keen to re-sign Carl Jenkinson at the end of last season and with good reason, he, alongside Cresswell was a standout performer and created so much for the team, it wasn’t just his amazing crosses like the Burnley game it was inch perfect defending in the Chelsea at home game however that is not form that has been replicated this season.
He has received a lot of criticism from the fans on social media for his inconsistent performances and the Sunderland game summed his season so far up pretty well, his first goal for the club showing he can put in good performances but then also a mistake giving away a silly free goal for their first goal. It may turn out this isn’t a decision that needs to be made for a few weeks if Ogbonna is not quite ready to return to full team action, however against Crystal Palace the team will need Jenkinson to deal with Palace’s quick wingers as he is a lot faster than Tomkins. It will be interesting in the coming weeks or months to see which one can hold down that right back place and help the team sort out the mistakes at the back.