Regarding Abidal, I've not watched him play for Barca, but whenever I've seen him play for France lately, he's not been great. As left back, his passing range seemed limited to 10 metres (the player closest to him) and as a centre back (he's had to play there a bit as France had injury trouble in the centre and Evra and Clichy could slot in), he was a complete liability, getting red carded and giving away a penalty. He doesn't fill me with confidence and I wouldn't want him in our team.
