The English Football Thread

[Laylabelle 9,296]

Despite the dodgy start United are on 12 unbeaten run..7 in the league. They'll be there right till the end..hopefully behind us though!

Think we always play after them.

[Pizy 17,860]

That second penalty United were awarded says everything you need to know about Jon Moss. Just sees someone hit the ground out of the corner of his eye and his first instinct is immedietly to award a pen. What a bastard.

He and Anthony Taylor are the two worst refs in the league.

[Vesper 27,310]

massive game

Sheff U  may be on top of Manure (they should be) and only 4 behind us if we win

but still would prefer they beat Manure

the Mancs have only that game, SOTON (maybe one could call that a bit of a test, given their form) and Leicester (last day of the season and Leicester may have already clinched top 4 by then so little incentive) as their hardest fixtures left

such as easy run in

BHA, Bournemouth, Villa, Palace, West Sham, <<< the other 5, arffffff 

really wished they had dropped all 3 tonight

[Vesper 27,310]

5 minutes ago, Jason said:

Like they even care at this point. 

deep in the subconscious it can make a wee difference

[Jase 43,479]

4 minutes ago, Tomo said:

We had a lot of draws though, those two went on crazy winning runs that were sustained for about 2/3 months.

Not much difference really.

Arsenal - P14 W12 D4
Chelsea - P12 W8 D4
Man United - P12 W10 D2

[Jase 43,479]

Just now, Vesper said:

deep in the subconscious it can make a wee difference

You're being "optimistic".

[Vesper 27,310]

16 minutes ago, Milan said:

This is also huge from the City European ban perspective. As things stand, the 5th takes the CL spot so there can be a solid gap if we beat Villa.

the shitty appeal result will be known before the season ends

maybe even in 2 or 3 weeks

[Jase 43,479]

Just now, Vesper said:

the shitty appeal result will be known before the season ends

maybe even in 2 or 3 weeks

Will likely be announced in early July. 

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11679/12004199/man-citys-uefa-ban-appeal-to-be-decided-by-cas-in-july

[Laylabelle 9,296]

Just now, Vesper said:

the shitty appeal result will be known before the season ends

maybe even in 2 or 3 weeks

Thats it once that is known be clearer if any wriggle room or not. Not writing off Wolves or Sheffield however. 

I think be one year. Be surprised if two just cause.

 

[Atomiswave 6,072]

 

11 minutes ago, Pizy said:

That second penalty United were awarded says everything you need to know about Jon Moss. Just sees someone hit the ground out of the corner of his eye and his first instinct is immedietly to award a pen. What a bastard.

He and Anthony Taylor are the two worst refs in the league.

They are all horrible, name me one ref that is even semi decent? All controversial all bent, its on display every single match, with multiple techs at hand and they still look clueless.

And fuck udt bastards, diving cunts left right and center, they get awrded fake and super soft pens all game.

[Vesper 27,310]

10 minutes ago, Atomiswave said:

 

They are all horrible, name me one ref that is even semi decent? All controversial all bent, its on display every single match, with multiple techs at hand and they still look clueless.

And fuck udt bastards, diving cunts left right and center, they get awrded fake and super soft pens all game.

Michael Oliver overall (even though I bitch about him) is pretty decent

not much after him

any ref I mention I will get flamed, but I think Howard Webb and Mark Clattenburg were decent

[Magic Lamps 11,449]

Its a good result. Obviously Utd were never gonna lose with the ref, VAR and the FA backing them. But 1-1 does not really help any of the two teams and Spurs are only 6 points off so you never know. Could have been much worse. And as long as Utd dont score from open play, they have that monkey on their back again. Never seen a team awarded so many soft penalties. You can bet you ass on us not getting such an easy pen as Utd today. Corrupted refs ruining the game, Corona or not

We obviously need a win vs Villa to widen the gap.

 

[Vesper 27,310]

Ripped and raring to go – Mason Greenwood is ‘looking more and more like a man’

https://theathletic.com/1880630/2020/06/19/mason-greenwood-manchester-united-weight-body/

Comparing recent training pictures of Mason Greenwood to those from before football’s break is to be reminded of adolescent school years when heightened hormones over summer holidays meant significant physical changes appeared as if overnight.

Hidden away from the Premier League cameras for 12 weeks, Greenwood has re-emerged with added muscle on his teenage frame. “Mason is a young boy, still 18, and during this lockdown period, it has done him all the good in the world,” Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said on the eve of Manchester United’s restart. “At this age, they do fill out and Mason is looking more and more like a man.”

It has not been a deliberate programme as such: just the natural result of a reduction in cardiovascular exercise and a rise in the kind of weight training that suits a solitary lifestyle. It is understood Greenwood has added 3kg — all of it biceps, triceps, and quads.

A United source said: “Young kids have very hand-to-mouth energy systems as they’re still growing. A downturn in demand allows them to put weight on and the following training will turn it into muscle. A lot comes down to testosterone levels.”

Adam Owen is high performance director at MLS champions Seattle Sounders, having worked for 10 years with Wales and forged close relationships with Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey, who have both altered their physiques during their careers. “Players increasing muscle mass is normal as they go through the final maturation stages,” he tells The Athletic. “You can see the development over time with players who have good nutrition and good habits off the pitch.

“This is especially pronounced when not doing as much high-intensity based training. Eating more protein and doing more gym-based sessions within the house may lead to an increase in muscle gain. During lockdown, the players were not training as hard as they would be out on the pitch.”

For a forward who has shown himself adept at Premier League level, with five goals in 647 minutes at a ratio bettered only by Sergio Aguero and Jamie Vardy, the extra power could mean Greenwood comes back with a particular bang. Or rather, he is now more able to deal with the bangs that come his way.

“Definitely, it will help him,” said Solskjaer. “Sometimes, earlier on, you could see he was a kid. Now, in training, he can use his strength better. He has done really well over the three, four weeks we have been training now. His quality in front of goal is always going to be there — now he has more muscle to fend defenders away.

“The fitness coaches work really well with him. He has done the rest and recovery period. It has been an intense, first full season with the first team, so he is looking really good.”

While Greenwood’s youthful fearlessness might have encouraged shooting from distance for goals against Everton, Newcastle and Norwich, his developing body was cited by one source as the cause of a difficult appearance away to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup. Greenwood, positioned on the inside right, was substituted at half-time after being unable to get into the game.

In the 18th minute, Greenwood controlled a high ball but was harried out of possession by Joao Cancelo and Ilkay Gundogan as Aaron Wan-Bissaka burst forward into space on the overlap.

A minute later, Rodri got his body in the way of Greenwood while challenging for a loose ball and the young player lost out.

Greenwood did well in the 27th minute to beat Gundogan to the ball and set up a counter-attack but it was generally an evening of frustration.

That is part of the learning process, of course, mentally and physically, but it was the January 29 contest against City that solidified Solskjaer’s determination to bring in a striker before the winter window shut.

Solskjaer signed Odion Ighalo on loan and that is who United’s manager turned to when his team were attempting to see out a 1-0 lead over City in their final Premier League match before lockdown. Solskjaer had preservation in mind and Ighalo’s ability to hold up play and feed team-mates was crucial in alleviating pressure, as an 88th-minute replacement for Bruno Fernandes.

In the 91st minute, Ighalo backed into Fernandinho — no easy thing in itself — to gather a high clearance from David de Gea. He then added silk to his steel by controlling instantly and passing to Fred.

Four minutes later, Ighalo beat Cancelo to another high ball to pass to Fred once more, and the pair combined for a third time 60 seconds later.

This time, Cancelo was climbing over Ighalo’s shoulders as if attempting a wrestling takedown but the Nigerian stayed firm and flicked the ball to Fred at just the right moment to spark a break that would eventually lead to Scott McTominay’s clinching goal.

Both Ighalo and Greenwood, who has 12 goals in total this campaign, are fit and firing for the visit to Tottenham Hotspur, presenting Solskjaer with plenty of options from the start or off the bench.

The home game against Spurs was Greenwood’s first Premier League start of the season and Solskjaer would have no qualms about replicating that decision for the trip to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

“He played really well in that game,” said Solskjaer of the 2-1 win in December. “His positioning, his movement caused a lot of problems for them. Those experiences will stand him in good stead for the rest of his career. He is just going to grow and grow. I am sure he will have an impact towards the end of the season.”

Solskjaer’s conviction comes from Greenwood’s preeminence for scoring, even when only given limited time. Three of his five Premier League goals have come from off the bench and as Andreas Pereira revealed to The Athletic, scoring is often the only thing on his mind even at Carrington.

“He is very quiet; a very good guy,” Pereira said. “In training, sometimes you don’t see him a lot but when he touches the ball, it’s a goal. He is a real, real finisher. A No 9. He is always there to get a tap-in or score from far. He doesn’t want to waste his energy. He just wants to score.”

[Vesper 27,310]

Cox: Limiting Luiz’s space worked at Chelsea but errors only rising at Arsenal

https://theathletic.com/1879833/2020/06/19/david-luiz-arsenal-manchester-city-red-card-chelsea-mahrez/

Very rarely, you witness an individual performance so disastrous that you suspect the player might never play for his club again.

Ali Dia’s sole appearance for Southampton springs to mind, as does Gary Neville’s farewell performance for Manchester United on New Year’s Day in 2011, when he was hauled off with just under 20 minutes to go against West Brom and realised, suddenly, he wasn’t up to it any more.

The latest candidate for this exclusive list is David Luiz, whose performance against Manchester City was so calamitous that he felt compelled to give a post-match interview admitting Arsenal’s 3-0 loss was entirely his fault. He wasn’t a pure bluffer like Dia and he wasn’t on his last legs like Neville. It felt, if anything, like a typical Luiz display.

There was an unforced error for the first goal, then a foul that brought a red card and a penalty for the second. That was the Brazilian’s second dismissal of the season, which brings a two-match ban and means he’ll miss Arsenal’s trips to Southampton and Brighton. Only one match remains before his contract expires, with no sign that it’s likely to be extended.

If that’s that, then the signing of Luiz might be remembered as among the least successful in Arsenal’s recent history. The financial implications of signing the Brazilian on a one-year deal are stark but purely in terms of on-pitch performance, this has been a campaign littered with avoidable errors. It was, on paper, a reasonable purchase: an experienced centre-back who might have brought some leadership to a shaky defence which has regularly been exposed against strong opposition, particularly away from home.

But Luiz had let Arsenal down three times in big away matches already. Away at Liverpool last August, he conceded a penalty for unnecessarily tugging back Mohamed Salah after Roberto Firmino had diverted a pass from Trent Alexander-Arnold…

…and then found himself left miles behind by Salah’s swift turn close to the halfway line. In that incident, Luiz actively jumped out of Salah’s way — he feared a second booking, having already been cautioned for the penalty incident.

Away at Chelsea, in a dramatic 2-2 draw in January, he was put in a difficult situation by Shkodran Mustafi’s woefully underhit pass but proceeded to jump on Tammy Abraham’s back to concede a penalty and a red card.

It was a similar incident to Wednesday’s foul on Mahrez. Since the “double jeopardy” rule was changed, it’s rare for a defender to concede a penalty and red card in the same incident. Luiz has done it twice this season. No other player in the Premier League has conceded more than two penalties in 2019-20 — Luiz has conceded four. In terms of red cards and penalties, his statistics at Arsenal are considerably worse than at Chelsea.

Luiz has quite specific defensive shortcomings. There has long been a feeling that he is simply “not a natural defender” but that belies the fact he’s often performed extremely well in a traditional defensive sense. In Chelsea’s European Cup success in 2012, for example, he spent almost the entirety of matches inside the penalty box, doing little other than holding his position and heading the ball away. He did that magnificently and was probably Chelsea’s best player in the final in Munich.

He really struggles, however, when he is given a large amount of space to patrol himself. This was most evident in 2011 when Jorge Jesus’ Benfica travelled to play Andre Villas-Boas’ Porto. At this stage, Porto’s most dangerous player was Hulk on the right wing, so Jesus pushed left-back Fabio Coentrao to the left of midfield and used Luiz at left-back. It backfired spectacularly: Hulk and Porto ran riot. All five goals — without answer — came from that flank. Luiz joined Chelsea later that month.

His most impressive run of form came when deployed as the spare man in Antonio Conte’s 3-4-3 formation, which took Chelsea to the title in 2016-17. Again, this was largely about limiting the space Luiz was required to cover — Gary Cahill and Cesar Azpilicueta chaperoned him. He rarely needed to shift from a central role and seldom found himself forced to engage in individual battles out wide.

That doesn’t entirely explain his poor form for Arsenal, however, because even when deployed in that role, he’s often committed basic mistakes. When Unai Emery used a three-man defence for a 2-2 draw with Southampton back in November, Luiz managed to get himself in a terrible situation entirely of his own making.

Initially in this situation, he seemed in a good position against Danny Ings…

…but he then suddenly decided to push 10 yards higher up the pitch and play offside against him. Perhaps the defenders on the far side could have followed his lead but equally, you expect Luiz, as the central player of the three centre-backs, to be the one ordering the defence up together.

That brought him into a curious position, but then — when Southampton won a free kick close to the touchline — he made things worse by instantly turning his back, which meant he was completely unaware that Ryan Bertrand had played a quick free kick to Ings.

Luiz was miles away from being able to stop him. In the space of 10 seconds, he had gone from no danger to out of position and facing the wrong way. Ings opened the scoring.

It’s not merely about the formation — he needs to be part of a solid defence where the other defenders aren’t dragged out of position.

Maybe Luiz has struggled as Arsenal’s defensive leader, in part, because he’s the opposite to Laurent Koscielny, the club captain until last summer.

Koscielny wasn’t the most intimidating penalty box defender, lacking the height and stature you expect of a true defensive leader. But he was, at his peak, the Premier League’s best player at sprinting out wide to shut down a quick forward in the channels, then either nipping in to win the ball ahead of them or waiting and coming out on top as the forward attempted a dribble. Koscielny was the master in that situation but Luiz looks completely uncomfortable out there. And for a side that depends upon overlapping full-backs, they desperately need centre-backs who can take responsibility and cover space out wide.

In mitigation, it should be mentioned that Luiz’s distribution has probably never been better. At Chelsea last season, Maurizio Sarri learned to live with his defensive shortcomings because of his precision in possession and his long-range diagonals — often no-look diagonals — became a fundamental part of Chelsea’s approach play.

This season, he’s swapped booming long-range diagonals for more methodical balls through the lines for the forwards. For Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s goals against Crystal Palace and Everton, it was Luiz’s incision which started the move from the back.

But even for a manager like Mikel Arteta, who wants his side to play possession-based football whenever possible, this quality surely isn’t enough.

If Luiz’s Arsenal career ends with a red card and a penalty concession, it will be fitting finale — but there was also a fitting start. His first notable contribution in an Arsenal shirt, on debut against Burnley, was a square ball across his own six-yard box to Mustafi, which left Arsenal fans gasping because the ball narrowly avoided hitting goalkeeper Bernd Leno or cannoning off the post.

It’s difficult to think of another defender who has such scant regard for the traditional defensive handbook. Ultimately, it’s become impossible to justify the indulgence.

[Vesper 27,310]

Friday June 19 2020 Football Nerd

Bournemouth could have an edge in relegation fight while Watford must improve By Daniel Zeqiri Does Eddie Howe have a secret weapon? CREDIT: REUTERS   Bournemouth arrived in the Premier League in 2015 with a reputation for intricate passing football, but this season have relied on more direct methods with almost a third of their league goals coming from set-pieces. Only Liverpool have scored more than Bournemouth's 15 from dead ball situations, a specialism that could give them an edge over relegation rivals Brighton, West Ham and Watford all of whom are in action on Saturday. Not only have Eddie Howe's team reaped the benefits of choreographed offensive set-pieces, they have also been proficient at defending them despite being far from the tallest or strongest team. When goals conceded from set-pieces are subtracted from goals scored, Bournemouth are the only team in the Premier League's bottom six with a positive goal difference having conceded 11. Only Burnley, Liverpool and Wolves better Bournemouth's set-piece goal difference. Efficiency from set-pieces is frequently cited as a cornerstone of Sam Allardyce or Tony Pulis's success in relegation fights and Howe deserves due credit despite his association with a different style of football.   Only three of Bournemouth set-piece goals arrived via the right foot of Ryan Fraser, who is soon to depart on a Bosman after refusing a short-term contract extension. Harry Wilson has extended his loan deal from Liverpool, and Howe will look to him and the returning David Brooks for quality delivery. Only one of Bournemouth's 15 set-piece goals was a penalty, which makes their tally all the more impressive. Nigel Pearson will be desperate for Watford, who have converted a meagre six set-pieces into goals, to start maximising these situations. Only Norwich have a worse offensive record. Given the height throughout Watford's team - central midfielders Étienne Capoue and Abdoulaye Doucouré are as tall as some centre back pairings - and the threat posed by Troy Deeney, they should be capable of far more. Watford have not excelled defensively either, conceding 16, although the division's worst defensive set-piece record belongs to Aston Villa with 19 shipped. Add Sheffield United's 'ghost goal' from Wednesday's draw at Villa Park, and the against column should be a nice round 20. At the other end of the table, set-pieces have fueled Liverpool's red machine with Jurgen Klopp's team scoring 16 and conceding just five. Defending corners was a recurring problem in Klopp's first two years at Anfield but no longer. Sheffield United have the league's best defensive record with just four conceded, a credit to Chris Wilder and his staff.

[Vesper 27,310]

It will still be a joy to watch the entrancing Wilfried Zaha, even in absentia

https://theathletic.com/1864172/2020/06/18/wilfried-zaha-crystal-palace-fans/

The venue was a rather neglected office in an outbuilding at Crystal Palace’s training ground, complete with scraggy carpets and battered boxes of old merchandise stacked higgledy-piggledy along one wall. A young Wilfried Zaha, just about clinging to his teens, was holding court. This was his maiden high-profile interview, the first time he had really embraced the media frenzy being whipped up around him. One of the two newspaper reporters present had just asked him to elaborate on his thought process when facing up an opponent.

What goes through your head when you collect the ball on the touchline, then look up to see a defender, or three defenders, descending upon you? Does instinct take over, or do you always have a plan?

The winger launched into a stream of consciousness, gesticulating wildly to portray the familiar body swerves, feints and slaloms between markers that were already becoming his trademark. “I just think about gaps I can go through. I’m looking where I can go before I attempt any skills. Like, mostly, stepovers… if I do a shimmy, I’m thinking, ‘This one might move here, so that gives me the chance to push the ball through there instead, then run past this guy…’

“If I’m taking someone on out on the wing, I’ll do a stepover like I’m going to run that way, and I’d take it inside. If I’m on the left and going at you, you’d be prepared for me to go down the outside but I’d cut inside with a stepover and, by the time you’ve turned, I’ll have pushed it and run off with it.”

His wide-eyed enthusiasm was infectious. Even talking about beating his man, then gliding away into space, seemed to thrill him. There was also baffled delight that a breakdown of what came so naturally might be of interest to others. He name-checked players at Millwall and Manchester United — who he helped beat in a League Cup tie at Old Trafford 12 months previously, in November 2011 — whom he had left humiliated. “I’m always thinking ahead. If I take a touch, I’ve got a couple of seconds to think about what I should do before the players come at me. Whatever happens after that just happens. This is my moment.”

Zaha was a star in the making. A few days later, on his 20th birthday, he would propel Palace to the top of the Championship with a win at Peterborough. His display that afternoon so startled the home side’s manager, Darren Ferguson, telephoned his father later the same evening and suggested the kid who had just put his own team to the sword might be worth a second look.

By the time Sir Alex and Sir Bobby Charlton summoned the forward to a central London hotel to discuss a move to United later that month, Zaha was a full England international and his valuation had escalated accordingly. Wigan had scoffed at paying £3.5 million in the summer of 2012, while Reading had a bid of £6 million rejected on deadline day. United ended up paying £15 million for an exciting talent with all the attributes to thrive in the top flight.

Seven and a half years on and, some might argue, not a huge amount has changed.

Admittedly, that tatty outbuilding down at Beckenham has been spruced up a bit. In normal circumstances, it would host Roy Hodgson’s pre-match press conferences. But Zaha is still a Palace player, albeit one whose reputation in the top flight is established. Most significantly, that capacity to entrance, compelling his audience to rise to their feet in charged anticipation, is still as irresistible as ever.

Of all the things for which the club’s support have pined over the last 15 weeks — from Jordan Ayew’s newfound cult hero status and Vicente Guaita’s consistent excellence to the din inside Selhurst Park in happier times — the sight of their youth-team graduate skipping gleefully beyond a panicked full-back, twisting his marker inside out, will be most welcome.

Bournemouth have the dubious honour of attempting to subdue him first. Plenty in their number will remember failing to nullify his threat at Selhurst Park on the final day of last season when even Jefferson Lerma’s strong-arm aggression merely served to fuel the forward’s display. For a while that afternoon, as the visitors chipped away at what had once appeared an unassailable lead, Zaha had looked rattled. He was battered, bruised and, incensed by perceived injustice, booked. The referee, Roger East, waved away the Palace players’ calls for greater protection so, as the visitors’ support chortled “he’s going to cry in a minute”, the forward took matters into his own hands.

He had a role in all five of the hosts’ goals that day, but his furious surge down the left away from a trio of opponents, Lerma included, to set up the fifth lingers longest in the memory; a blistering, unstoppable run which utterly overshadowed a tidy finish from Andros Townsend at its culmination.

It is the sight of Zaha in full flight that Palace supporters have missed most. Those skills, developed mimicking Ronaldinho while practising with a tennis ball in his bedroom back at his family’s home in Rothesay Road, a stone’s throw from Selhurst Park, have long since become second nature. Project Restart, even with its uncomfortable choice of canned crowd noise or disconcerting silence, will feel more real once the winger has left a defender bamboozled and floundering, possibly on his backside.

Competitive football will only truly be back once an opposing midfielder has launched into a crude lunge as a riposte.

The young Zaha would have been reassured to know he invariably remains the centre of attention all these years on, even if he never envisaged spending so much of his career in this corner of south London.

Plenty still point to that stunted spell at Old Trafford — which yielded two substitute appearances in the Premier League and as many loan spells elsewhere — as evidence that the winger does not quite have what it takes to excel in the highest echelons. That theory does not take into account the unmitigated struggles. He was a young man alone in alien surroundings and on the periphery of a team in transition post-Ferguson. Mistakes were made on both sides. All should have handled it better.

He has restored his reputation since. Rival clubs are still feigning incredulity at Palace’s valuation (there has never been an “asking price”) if they ever pluck up the courage to lodge a bid for a player now capped competitively by Ivory Coast and contracted through to 2023 — although his suitors tend not to be the likes of Wigan and Reading these days. Palace chairman Steve Parish has resisted attempts to part with the club’s prized asset in each of the last three summers. Arsenal and Everton tested their resolve last year and Zaha was so keen for a new challenge that he took on Pini Zahavi as his representative to sound out prospective suitors. He even requested a transfer as the August deadline approached.

But, as the player put it, “Things never worked out”. No one ever came close to recognising what the forward is worth to his current employers — especially since United are obliged to receive a proportion of any profit — and, global pandemic or not, that situation has not changed. The market may be deflated but the cost of relegation is still crippling. Why would Palace be willing to accept less now? Beyond an initial wave of disappointment on the eve of the campaign, his professionalism has never been questioned in the period since. He is the only player to have featured in all of Palace’s games this term.

Indeed, while his goal and assist returns have dipped on last term’s numbers, he has still been a heavy contributor. A crunched equaliser at home to Brighton in December might be the most obvious highlight but he has mustered considerably more dribbles and crosses than at the same stage last season. His mere presence has probably allowed Ayew, the campaign’s surprise contributor, to prosper as a more conventional centre-forward. While opponents swarm to quell Zaha out on the wing, others have space in which to make their own mark.

Paris Saint-Germain have been mentioned in dispatches as a possible destination ahead of this summer’s merry-go-round, a move that would sate Zaha’s understandable appetite for trophies. Yet the suggestion in France is that the lockdown and early cancellation of Ligue 1 have taken their economic toll, even on the Qatari-backed French champions. That will limit their spending power. Regardless, the addition of a winger to a mouth-watering front line was never likely to be a priority.

Palace, for their part, do not expect Zaha to agitate again. There has been no inkling that he will. Neither would they welcome any interest from elsewhere. The transfer window will be more condensed than normal given rescheduling and there would be precious little time to secure a replacement. In any case, a sale would probably necessitate two or three additions to fill the void given how integral Zaha remains to the collective’s approach. A shorter pre-season would hardly offer much scope to adapt.

But that will be August’s problem. For now, it is enough to sit back and hope the 27-year-old conjures his usual end of season rush of form to propel his team to their best points tally in the revamped Premier League.

It will be intriguing to see how a player who tends to revel as the pantomime villain copes without the adrenaline rush of crowd noise driving him on. Cardboard cutouts will not have quite the same effect. Zaha’s emotions have always been exposed out on the pitch and opponents, both players and fans, have targeted that as a weakness. Southampton, and James Ward-Prowse in particular, have succeeded in driving him to distraction. The likes of Watford, Brighton, West Ham and Huddersfield, on balance, have probably wound him up at their peril.

It remains to be seen whether the deafening silence gets his juices flowing or whether the occasional snapped tackle at his ankles will suffice. Regardless, that desire to collect possession and take on his marker will be as urgent as ever. Zaha spoke to Rio Ferdinand on the latter’s The Locker Room vodcast over lockdown and was posed a similar question to that asked in his first interview all those years previously.

When you receive the ball and face the full-back, in the final third, what’s the first thought in Wilfried Zaha’s head?

“What movement I can make first, to make them go for it… that movement I do will give me that split second to think about what I can do next. I’ll do a stepover or a feint, and that gives me a slight second to look up and see if I can cross it in or supply a through ball to someone. What can I do quickly? I want to get an assist, I want to score goals but, at the same time, you want to enjoy what you’re doing and you want everyone watching to enjoy it as well. When I go on the pitch, I’m there to entertain.”

Some things have not changed. For Palace’s support, even in absentia, watching Zaha is still as joyful as ever.

[Jase 43,479]

 

[Special Juan 27,101]

I just keep re watching that Keane rant, it was fucking hilarious.