Throughout their time in the Premier League, Crystal Palace have developed a reputation for not taking risks. The style of play employed by the Eagles under managers such as Sam Allardyce, Alan Pardew and Roy Hodgson could at best be described as pragmatic.
When deciding on a new direction post-Hodgson, Patrick Vieira was far from the first choice for the managerial hot seat at Selhurst Park. The list included Lucian Favre, Steve Cooper and the job would have gone to Nuno Espírito Santo had his staffing demands not been over the top. But Vieira did have a quality that the Palace system needed, a willingness to use the newly revamped Crystal Palace academy and to improve the young players already in the first team. This has been the hallmark of Viera’s time at Selhurst Park so far.
This season’s transfer plan was simple: continue the success of last year and carry on moving out some of the older players from the club. In the season before Vieira arrived, under Roy Hodgson the average age of the squad was 28.8, the oldest in the league. But under Vieira this season that average age has gone down to 26.4. Already this year, the likes of Christian Benteke (31) and Cheikhou Kouyaté (32) have been let go whilst the incoming Cheick Doucouré (22) from Lens and the American Chris Richards (22) from Bayern Munich show that not only are Palace interested in youth, but that they won’t settle for sub-standard players either. It’s not just transfers though; three of the most important players in the Eagles starting XI came through the academy in Nathaniel Clyne (31), Tyrick Mitchell (22), and of course the jewel in their South London crown, Wilfried Zaha (29). Since the start of the 2020-21 season Zaha is the fifth highest scorer in the Premier League, tied with Bruno Fernandes on 28 goals. In a similar way to Mahrez at Leicester or Hazard at Chelsea, it seems that Zaha has been eager for an attacking coach his entire career. While he has thrived in a counter attacking style over the years, Zaha has always seemed keen to show that he can do more than hit teams on the break and under Vieira he is certainly getting that chance. That’s not to say that Zaha’s pace and directness isnt used to counter teams when the situation calls for it. Against Liverpool his threat in behind was key to Palace’s excellent performance in the first half and his goal was incredibly well taken. Zaha is definitely key to any success Palace may have, and with his contract expiring next summer, fans will be hoping he signs another extension and stays for the foreseeable future.
The youthful squad isn’t the only thing exciting about Vieira’s Palace; he’s paired them with a tactically diverse, attacking style of play that can humiliate clubs at either end of the Premier League table. Deploying his side in a standard 433, Vieira prefers his right back (typically Clyne or Joel Ward) to tuck in and make a back three in possession with dynamic left back Tyrick Mitchell becoming almost a left winger. This, in turn, allows Zaha to roam inside in search of goals. On the other side, the right winger, which so far this season has predominantly been Jordan Ayew, hugs the touchline and makes space in the middle for the two central midfielders to get forward and sometimes become a front five. Out of position, Palace are happy to sit in a mid to low block in a 451 shape and invite pressure so that players like Eberechi Eze or Zaha have space to break into and cause problems for the opposition.
Many may look at four points from three games and see a mid-table team but Palace could argue they deserve more from their performances in their opening fixtures. Against Arsenal they were admittedly poor in the first 30 minutes against an impressive Gunners team but in the second half, thanks to Vieira’s impressive in-game management, the Eagles were unquestionably the dominant side and were impressive in their pressing and possession. In the final 15 minutes of the first half, Palace had 60.2% of the ball and that trend continued into the second 45, outshooting Arsenal seven to five and with an xG of 0.8 to Arsenal’s 0.3 (their second half strike coming from an own goal). Against Aston Villa, these stats were even more impressive with Palace having 52% possession and an xG of 3.1 to Villa’s 1.2. Vieira played usual winger/attacking midfielder Eze in a midfield eight position and the gamble absolutely paid off with Eze making a game high ten progressive carries and the most attempted dribbles in his side. In a team that contains Wilf Zaha, that is seriously impressive.
Given all that’s been mentioned above, you’d think many were confident heading into this season but Palace didn’t exactly have the smoothest pre-season. Not in terms of results, they only lost to Liverpool and Manchester United in the summer, hardly a problem, but in the organisation of the friendly matches the Eagles have played. Before the pandemic hit, both Palace and fellow premier league team West Ham had agreed a deal to participate in the Queensland Champions Cup and although the Hammers eventually pulled out, The Eagles went ahead with the trip. The likes of Zaha, Eze, Guehi and Olise were left at home under the charge of assistant manager Osian Roberts and first-team coach Kristian Wilson to play teams such as Ipswich Town and QPR. In fact the only friendly that the entire squad played together was a 4-2 win against Ligue 1 side Montpellier on July 30th only 6 days before the opening game against Arsenal. It’s been argued that the benefit of spreading the playing minutes around the squad helped younger players get a chance they wouldn’t have otherwise. But the lack of time to build squad cohesion could possibly cause a problem at some point this season. Would they have started so slowly against Arsenal if they had gotten used to each other and the new tactics earlier?
If you’d said four or five years earlier that Patrick Vieira would be managing a premier league side, many would have assumed he’d have returned to his former side Arsenal. However, it’s another London team that is reaping the benefits of backing the French-Senegalese tactician. And with a cauldron-like atmosphere at Selhurst Park for almost every matchday, the fans are fully behind him and hopeful that the exciting football and youth prospects can propel Palace to a top ten finish.
By Tom Haddock
