Ebere Eze’s lack of Premier League minutes under Patrick Vieira is a source of bafflement for former Premier League midfielder Danny Murphy, speaking to talkSPORT (22 March, 12.50pm).
Say what you want about Roy Hodgson – a man more renowned for pragmatism than pressing or possession – the former England boss certainly got more out of arguably Palace’s most naturally-talented player than his predecessor did.
Eze was outstanding during the final few months of Hodgson’s final spell at Selhurst Park; gliding through games and combining elegance with end product. The former QPR talisman, who would have been included in England’s provisional Euro 2020 squad before suffering a serious injury, contributed 10 goals and assists combined in a single campaign under Hodgson.
And Murphy believes that, with the 75-year-old returning to his old stomping ground, one of Hodgson’s first acts will be to jolt a man who fell out of favour under Vieira back to life.
Roy Hodgson and Ebere Eze reunited at Crystal Palace
“He will get the best out of him. (Palace) are not very productive. He has got to give them the confidence and the kick up the backside to be more at it in games,” says Murphy, who captained Hodgson’s Fulham side.
“Palace have been a little bit unlucky. They’ve lost a point of points in the last few minutes of games. But it doesn’t look like there is the same energy or intensity. And that comes from the manager.
“They are a bit pedestrian, a bit predictable. They are overplaying. Olise is a good player, Zaha, (but) Eze is the one for me. I don’t know why I’ve seen him on the bench so much under Patrick Vieira.”
Eze has started 20 of Palace’s 28 league games this season but has found game time increasingly hard to come by of late. He played a combined 18 minutes during recent defeats to Manchester City and Arsenal.
“I don’t see him train. I don’t know his character, so I wouldn’t even go there,” Murphy adds. But I saw him at the start of the season really impacting games. (Vieira) played him in the middle of the park, which I don’t think he’d played before, more of a midfield role. Going past people, getting on the ball…
“I think Hodgson will put Eze in and give him the platform.”
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