Wilfreid Zaha the future of english football?

Wilfreid Zaha - A Senior England Call Up

As you all know by now Wilfreid Zaha has been called up to the senior England squad against Sweden on Wednesday. I have some conflicting views on the whole Affair. I want to start by saying that I'm very proud of Wilf and it is something he deserves. From a young age he has been given a great deal of playing time in the Palace squad and the experience has helped him grow into a mature player and also a player who is quite different from most players we see in the Championship. To see a Crystal Palace called up to the England squad is quite special I am sure the last England call up we had was Andy Johnson and that was a great moment for us Palace fans. The fact that Wilf has been called up whilst he is still in the Championship shows his potential and I'm glad other managers see his potential and raw skill. Dougie Freedman saw a spark in him from an early age and he told Paul Hart to give him a run out in the squad and since then his match time grew and it has brought him to where he is now. I liked the way Dougie Freedman managed him and you could really tell Wilf looked up to Dougie and they had a decent friendship. Dougie Freedman really got the best out of Wilf and he helped mature him into the player he is today. We all know Ian Holloway rates him highly also and I hope they strike up a decent relationship and I know Holloway will be able to bring out even more in Wilf.

Now Zaha's skill lays in a few areas. Firstly his blistering pace is key to his game as he can turn defense into attack in a matter of seconds and this allows any team he is in to break away and become very dangerous on the counter attack. His other main skill is his talent at dribbling with the ball. He is fearless and he wants to take on 2 or 3 players at once and most of the time you'll see him wriggle between them and set himself up for a shot on goal or a simple pass. My main concern with Wilf can be his decision making as he tries to do too many players at times when he needs to lay the ball off. The other aspect of his game is the ball in the final third. This is a problem for many a winger who are similar to Wilfreid Zaha may it be Oxlade - Chamberlain or Aaron Lennon. This part of a players game will eventually come with time Wilf will know when to play that final ball and hopefully it will lead to even more assists. Zaha has only just turned 20 this weekend and he has along way to go before his game can get close to perfect but he is definitely on his way. Playing for England may help Wilf and it may even make him more hungry to succeed now the media spotlight is fulling on him. As a Palace fan we get to see him play week in and week out and we all know how good he really is, but now I have plastic fans asking me about Zaha and is he actually that good? I explain that he is the real deal and I am hoping he gets some decent playing time to show everyone how good he actually is. His ability to take on a player and beat him 9 times out of 10 is something special to watch, the way he moves on the ball is mesmerizing and he is just so quick with his skills and step overs.

Now Zaha was born in the Ivory Coast and he lived there until he was 3 years old and he then moved to the UK. Now Zaha has the opportunity to play for the Ivory Coast or England. It has been documented that Didier Drogba has called Zaha and he said he can play for the Ivory Coast in the up and coming African cup of nations. This will be tempting for Zaha as will be able to represent the country of his birth but the prospect of playing for England will be very tempting also. Wilf has lived in the UK most of his life and I have heard some rumors that Roy Hodgson has persuaded Zaha to continue with his England career and he will pick him for the 2014 World Cup. I would prefer Zaha to play for England as I am also an Englishmen and to me it seems the better prospect but I am a bit biased. As the game tomorrow against Sweden is only a friendly Wilf will be able to play for the Ivory Coast if he does indeed change his mind but tomorrow will be a special occasion for him. Other players have commented on how good he is, such as Daniel Strurridge and Sturridge knows what it is like to enter the England senior team from a young age. Do not miss the game tomorrow other wise you will regret it. It will be the perfect opportunity to see Wilf take on some of the worlds best players and not only that he will glide past them with ease.

With this massive media attention it puts some pressure on the Crystal Palace board. We all know that Wilf was creating quite a buzz and various clubs such as Arsenal, Man City and Liverpool have been looking at him but the recent England call up has turned the whole thing into a media frenzy. CPFC 2010 have said they will not sell Wilf for anything less then £20M and I think that is a fair estimate. This gives the board the chance to hopefully hang onto him until the end of the season and if we do not get promoted it is time to let him go. Wilf has expressed his desire to play in the Premiership and who would blame him. On that note he has also said he would be happy to do it with Palace but that tells me if we do not make it to the Premiership his time in a Palace shirt is well and truly up. If we do fail to achieve promotion we will have to let Wilf go but on the plus side it will be for a pretty penny.

All I can say now is good luck Wilf, show them what you are made of and do us Palace fans proud.

Peterborough 1 Crystal Palace 2

Another brilliant come back at London Road moves The Eagles back to the top spot!

As I mentioned in my previous post I was hoping Grant McCann would not start for the posh but he did and he nicked the first goal of the game in the 6th minute. After some poor Palace defending the unmarked Grant McCann was able to knock the ball in the back of the net from some good build up play by George Boyd. After the Posh goal Peterborough were resilient and Crystal Palace found it hard to break them down. During the second half of the game I was starting to fear the worst and I thought our unbeaten run was going to slip away, but boy I was so glad I was wrong. Glenn Murray missed a golden opportunity with a free header at the back post as he was unmarked and it seemed easier to score then to miss but some how he manged to head the ball at the deck and the ball bounced over the bar. After that awful miss by Murray I thought it was going to be one of those evenings but Palace proved resilient and they eventually they wore the home team down.

A great move from Palace in the middle of the park saw the ball slipped into the path of Andre Moritz he took on the shot and coolly slotted the ball past the Austrian keeper Robert Olejnik. To be fair the goal was coming and Palace finished the game with a total of 22 shots. The Peterborough performance reminded of the old Crystal Palace a couple of seasons ago when we would score an early goal and sit back on a 1 nil lead and we would eventually be punished. The goal by Moritz gave Palace the belief and hunger to go and score the second, no way were they going to settle for a draw. A Peterborough corner was cleared and the ball fell to Zaha. He took the ball down well and sprinted with the ball a good 70 yards shaking off challenges and slotting the ball into the path of KG. KG decided to take the shot on first time and it was a brilliant finish into the bottom corner, it was a similar finish to the goal previously scored by Andre Moritz. The counter attack was text book and other teams should watch the footage over and over again as it was the perfect example of defense turned into attack. Counter attacks are defiantly part of the Ian Holloway philosophy and that was a move he would be proud of. These types of games really test a teams mettle as when your backs are to the wall and you are desperate to score goals you can be caught out at the back and you can become frustrated but the team remained calm and they scored the vital goals they needed to win the game.

Happy Birthday Wilf, once again you produced another mesmerizing performance. I do like to buy the Sun on Sunday especially when Palace win and it is refreshing to see Wilfried Zaha in the team of the week, he is literally in there every week the kid is something special. He is now 20 years of age and his game is really starting to mature and it won't be long before he is the complete player. We really need to hold on to him this season as he really is the key to promotion. Talking about the Sun I have a gripe with them. A chap called Geoff Knox (@GeoffKnox67) wrote the piece about the Crystal Palace in the paper and it was a fairly decent review however he described us a "the skint Londoners." I am really starting to get sick of the media portraying us as this poor football club that does not have two pennies to rub together. Yes a few years ago we were in administration but the club was bought out by CPFC 2010 and they do not want to throw money at players and won't allow the club to slip back into administration. When will the media do their homework and understand that we may not be Leicester City but we certainly have more cash then a lot of teams in the championship.

Derby County next week, lets hope for 3 more points.

Peterborough Vs Crystal Palace 10th Nov 2012

Captain Fantastic hopes to keep the posh quiet today!

Mile Jedinak has been fantastic recently for Crystal Palace and I believe some of our recent fortunes can be placed on Jedinak's head. In the middle of park he commands the flow of the game and he adds some much needed support to the back four by blocking shots and literally winning every header that comes his way. Passing has been one of Jedinak's weaker points of his game but even that has improved. In past seasons Jedinak and KG have been criticised for poor passing and overall bad performances, but this season they are a great pairing. They do really work well together as they work off one another and they both know if one is to push forward the other will stay back. It is good to have two physical presences in the middle of the park which as I have mentioned gives the back four some support but it gives us some bite. KG and Jedinak you are both doing brilliantly keep up the good work and keep the posh quiet please.

The formation today should stay the same. The classic saying "if it's not broke don't fix it" really does apply. I would like to give Moritz a bit more of run out and he should be introduced a bit sooner in the second half. The team news on injuries seem that Johnny Williams is still out and the same with Paddy McCarthy. For Peterborough it seems Grant McCann is out with a groin problem but that is not 100% I would prefer him not to play as I do rate him and he is a goal threat.

So my predictions for today:

Peterborough 1 (Boyd)

Crystal Palace 3 (Zaha x2 Murray x1)

Att. 11,532

 The Posh will score today, they are a very attacking side and I am hoping for a very open game. The difference I am hoping is our defense and our ability to counter attack at pace. Plus it is Wilfried Zaha's birthday today so Happy Birthday Wilf! Please Score us more then the two goals I have predicted. Middlesborough beat Sheffield Wednesday 3 - 1 last night and currently they are top of the league, we are the only team that can go top if we win and on current form we should definitely be beating a Peterborough side who are 22nd and sitting at the top of the relegation zone.

So all I can say now is, COME ON YOU EAGLES!!!!!

 

 

How many penalties?

Glenn Murray loves a match ball!

So here we have Ian Holloway's first game in charge of Crystal Palace and what one hell of an impact he has made. So a lovely 5 - 0 win at home to a lowly Ipswich who created very little all game, sees the mighty Eagles go to the top of the Championship. During the Blackburn game we saw the Eagles awarded two penalties with Murray missing one for his hat-trick. In similar circumstances we have seen the referee award 3 penalties in the matter of around about 10 minutes. Murray could have had a hat-trick of penalties but as he did on Saturday, he missed the final penalty. Missing penalties does not seem to be Murray's style but if you're awarded 5 in 2 games he will cause issues for a striker as he wants to think of different areas to put the ball which can cause some in-decision. Despite the miss, Murray was still hungry and he bagged his second hat-trick of the season taking his total to 13.

Murray may have scored three of the goals but you can not take away a superb performance by the young Yannick Bolasie. He scored the games opener with a lovely goal, where he lifted the ball over the on rushing Ipswich keeper Stephen Henderson. Bolasie has added another dimention to the Palace attack and it takes some pressure off Wilfried Zaha as we have another player with bags full of skill can run at defenders, cross the ball and finally score goals. I predict big thinks for Yannick Bolasie - he is only 23 years old and has a sparkling future. Wilfried Zaha does rightly get the big price tag and the media attention but Bolasie should also receive some of the plaudits, and it is a nice touch when the fans also sing "he's just too good for you" about Boloasie. Well done Yannick, I hope your first Palace goals leads to many more.

I said in my last post I wanted a 5 or 6 goal win and Holloway has produced in his first game. The team is playing as a unit and for once you can see real promise in a side that our determined to work together. I love the balance and the shape of the squad which allows so much more space for players to roam and create real chances from so many different opportunities. The night was summed up by the final goal and the brilliant counter-attack by the team. A brilliant clearance by Dean Moxey which found Andre Moritz, Moritz passes the ball to Johnny Parr on the break away and another reverse ball back to the on running Moritz gives him enough time to slot the ball past Stephen Henderson to seal a resounding victory. If the team keeps up the momentum and play like this week in week out promotion is definitely in the teams grasp.

Welcome Ian Holloway!

Ollie Ollie Ollie, OI OI OI!

Since the departure of Dougie Freedman, a spot was left at the helm of Crystal Palace Football Club. The club was flying high so whoever decided they wanted the job would inherit a brilliant team. To be fair to Dougie Freedman, he had created a brilliant squad. With the likes of Wilfried Zaha and Yannick Bolasie tearing up the wings, and the brilliance of Mile Jedinak holding the team together in the middle, any manager would be in for a treat. Not only that a top striker in the form of Glenn Murray, who finally found his form and his potential in a squad that plays to his strengths. Murray is now the 2nd highest goal scorer in the in the Championship behind Charlie Austin with an impressive 16 goals. Murray has now broken into double figures an impressive 10 goals. He really should have had his second hat trick of the season but missed the second penalty against the brilliant shot stopper, Paul Robinson. I mention these players as they have been outstanding this season but I should also include Julian Speroni, Damien Delaney, Owen Garvan and Joel Ward who have all played a massive part in the club's recent success.

So... Ian Holloway has the job of guiding the football team to the Premier League. I have heard our chairman Steve Parish mention that his main goal is to steady the club, not throw money at it, and that he would like Premiership football. He also mentioned that when people look at Crystal Palace they see a club they assume to be skint, relegation fodder and have zero chance of reaching the Premier League. To be fair two years ago this was the way I sometimes looked at the club, but none of it is true anymore. We need to keep up the momentum and aim for promotion this year, as we have proven we can beat any football team in this league (home or away). Ian Holloway's main goal is to keep the team playing well week in and week out. The team has such momentum behind them at the moment and this really needs to continue if we have any chance of reaching the holy grail of Premiership football. Holloway has already said the kit looks like Barcelona's and he want us playing like them. Passing the ball, neat movement and turning the team from a defensive stance straight into a quick counter attack. To be fair to Holloway he has the perfect team for such a style of football, with the blistering pace and skill on the wings with Zaha and Bolasie and the excellent passing skills of Garvan and Moritz it should make way for consistently exciting football. I have full confidence in Holloway to produce the goods and get us into an automatic promotion spot or at the very least the play-offs by the end of the season.

Our next game is on Tuesday against the team rock bottom of the Championship - Ipswich. Ipswich also have recently picked up a new manager Mick McCarthy; not only that he has steered them to a much needed win away to Birmingham, He was quoted saying, "I just said to them you should be embarrassed that you're bottom of the league. If they'd have worked like that, played like that and blocked things like that then I wouldn't even be in the job". This proves that the game on Tuesday night will be tough, but it will help us see what Holloway is really made of. Yes Ipswich are bottom, and we are simply on fire at the moment but I still expect a tough game. I am also excited to see what squad Holloway picks and if we play any differently to our style of recent weeks. On Holloway... I want to say, 'Good luck Ian, do us proud and make sure we keep up the momentum'. Not only that I want to see us beat a team 5 or 6 nil this season, and I'm sure he is the sort of bloke that will secure such a result.

Holloway is also known for his sense of humor so I leave you with one of my favorite quotes of his:

   “He’s six foot something, fit as a flea, good looking – he’s got to have something wrong with him. Hopefully he’s hung like a hamster – That would make us all feel better. Having said that, me missus has got a pet hamster at home, and his cock’s massive.” – talking about Cristiano Ronaldo.

Welcome one and all step up and ride the crystal palace roller coaster!

I have decided to create this blog to express my views on being a Crystal Palace fan. I know there are a few CPFC blog spots out there but I wanted to create my own and put my personal view out in to the CPFC community. Being a Palace fan has been described as the ultimate roller coaster ride and that is truly the best way to describe the team, I am pretty sure very few other clubs have seen the complete highs and lows as Palace have and we all know it has been one hell of a journey.

My journey as a Palace fan began on 12/8/1995 I was 9 years old; it was a brilliant game against Barnsley. I went with my parents and my brother, and I got my face painted red and blue. Palace ended winning that game 4-3 with Iain Dowie scoring a brace, and I knew from that moment even as a 9 year old lad I would be hooked for life. To be honest I was more mesmerized by the shear amount of people together in one place it. It was a warm Summer day all the fans were in great spirit - since that moment I have never looked back. My love grew each week for the club and it has never stopped growing. This roller coaster we live each day is something I would not change for the world. We've seen administration twice in the last 10 years, promotion, relegation and utter heartache when we thought the club may never exist. Would we change the way Crystal Palace are? Never!

Recently the team's fortunes have gone from serious highs to lows and back up to highs in a couple of weeks. We have seen the departure of a club legend in Dougie Freedman who was a very good manager and had the team playing incredibly well, to join a lowly Bolton which seems to have been for more money. Dougie to me was a manger I loved and respected. I remember playing football with my mates as a young lad pretending to be Dougie Freedman, so to see him move to Bolton for a side which I believe is not up to the current standard of our squad, was very disappointing and leaves a real bitter taste in the mouth. It was the manner in which he left the club and his words afterwards which left no comfort for any of us saying "he wanted a challenge". I'm sorry Dougie, how many years were you at Palace? You know how much the club is a challenge and if you really want the impossible chance of taking Bolton to the Premier League, then be my guest.

Freedman has left the club so I won't be harping on about about him anymore. It is time to get behind the excellent Ian Holloway, and hope the team keeps this brilliant 11 game UN-beaten streak running and hopefully gain promotion to the promised land. See what I mean by a roller coaster!!? One week we lose the manager we love, then after his departure the team keeps churning out brilliant results beating Leicester who were top of the league at the crisp bowl, then beating newly relegated Blackburn Rovers expertly. We show off our brand new manger Ian Holloway at half time and it seems the roller coaster has almost reached its peak.  This blog will follow my thoughts on the happenings at Crystal Palace. I will be updating the blog a few times a week so I hope you all enjoy a good read about the Crystal Palace roller coaster.