The sought after England U21 international was unplayable against Blackburn on Saturday, and his continuing development at Palace is a lesson to young players everywhere.
The valuations now being bandied around for Wilfried Zaha, admittedly mostly by Palace’s chairman, demonstrate just how highly rated he has become in the past few years.
Now into his third full season with Palace, Zaha has shown a developmental trajectory that indicates a player on his way to the very top. In recent matches for Palace, for whom he has been integral as they have put together an 11 game unbeaten run, Zaha has been almost untouchable, and the quality he is now showing can be directly linked to his extended spell at his club.
This year is not the first time Zaha has been repeatedly linked with a move to the Premiership. Despite only being 19, Zaha has been impressive in the past two seasons in the Championship, and consequently has been linked with many top sides. For whatever reason, moves away have not happened, and credit has to go the club and player for ensuring he has stayed.
As a result, Zaha has developed in a side where he is not only an exciting prospect, but a vital player in the here and now. Too many young players leave clubs they are excelling at, only to become a bit part player. The rapid development of Zaha has occurred because he is starting games, and is relied upon by his manager and teammates. As a consequence Zaha is comfortable with his position at the club, and also with the style of football they are playing, and the results of that are that he can produce his best football, whilst still progressing as a player.
Nearly all Premiership clubs are guilty of snapping up young stars from the lower leagues and failing to integrate them (I’m avoiding going into my side Spurs’ past dealings with Palace). Even if they have the best intentions a young player may not be comfortable with the style of football immediately, or may struggle to produce their best performances without first getting a run in the side. Players are now moving at an absurdly young age, just to be farmed out on loan or play in an academy, when they could be getting first team experience.
Players also often move at the height of their form, and when they have an inevitable dip in that form, a dip that they would have been supported through at their original club, they can find it hard to recover.
If Zaha was to move now, he has come on as a player to a level where he should be able to overcome the tricky transition period at a new club. But even now the value of staying at Palace should be clear to him. At 19, Zaha has plenty of time to make “the big move” sometime in the future, and in the present he is a crucial cog in a side riding high in their division. The future could hold almost anything for Zaha, but one thing is clear right now, he is becoming a better player at Crystal Palace because of Crystal Palace, not purely because of his own talent.
image: © OliverN5
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