Roy Hodgson has now made a remarkable return to Crystal Palace at the age of 75 following the sacking of Patrick Vieira.
The south Londoners have decided to rehire the man they initially replaced with the Frenchman following a dreadful run involving zero wins in 2023, which has left the Eagles just three points above the relegation zone.
Steve Parish’s decision to bring Hodgson back to Selhurst Park has not gone down well with the Crystal Palace supporters, and we believe Wilfried Zaha will also be furious based on his previous comments.
What’s the story?
Well, the Ivory Coast international seemed hugely frustrated under Hodgson prior to Vieira‘s arrival.
Crystal Palace hardly attacked opponents during the 75-year-old’s final two campaigns in charge, with one 4-0 defeat against Liverpool at Anfield seeing the south Londoners fail to have a single touch in the opposition box.
Early on in Vieira’s tenure at Selhurst Park, Crystal Palace beat Tottenham 3-0 in SE25, which saw a delighted Zaha praise the new playing style in a post-match interview, where he seemed to critique Hodgson’s philosophy.
The Crystal Palace official website quote him as saying: “The way we’re playing, we’re bound to get a chance. I feel like it’s not just counter-attacks and hoofing the ball around, when it’s properly planned, the way we’re playing, the goals are going to come eventually.”
Roy Hodgson will frustrate Wilfried Zaha
Zaha enjoyed the best goalscoring campaign of his career last season with 15 goals in all competitions under Vieira, where an attacking style of play brought the best out of him.
In total, the Crystal Palace No.11 scored 21 goals in 60 games under the Frenchman, roughly one every three games.
Now, we would expect the Ivorian – who Crystal Palace brought back from Manchester United for £3m – to see his goalscoring opportunities dry up in a more defensive style of play.
For context, Zaha scored 34 goals in 134 appearances under Hodgson, which roughly equates to a goal every four games, which reinforces the fact his attacking opportunities will suffer.
Hopefully, that isn’t the case, and the Crystal Palace talisman can add to his tally of six goals this season to save his side from relegation.
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