It’s difficult to work out which is the more damning statistic for Crystal Palace supporters. The fact that they have won just one of their last 14 Premier League games. That they’ve scored just six goals in that run. Or the fact that Palace recently became the first side since records began to fail to muster a shot on target in three straight matches.
A lack of prolific finishers has so often been highlighted as Palace’s biggest problem. But, while Odsonne Edouard and Jean-Philippe Mateta are cutting rather maligned figures amongst a frustrated fanbase, it’s maybe telling that both players have found goals far easier to come by at the past, under other managers and at other clubs.
Edouard netted 74 times in his final three seasons at Celtic. Mateta hit 14 in the Bundesliga back in 2018/19 with Mainz. Wilfried Zaha, meanwhile, is down from 15 last season to six this. Even Jordan Ayew, who’s presence in the Palace attack continues to baffle some, hit the target nine times under the famously pragmatic Roy Hodgson in 2019/20.
Patrick Vieira under rising pressure at Crystal Palace
“I think it’s just the lack of confidence at the moment. A lack of belief,” Vieira tells Sky Sports. “It’s important for us to keep creating chances, and keep working hard in training.”
Forgive us if we’ve missed something but it’s it the job of the manager to instil that ‘confidence’ in his players? It is surely no coincidence that Mateta and Edouard – such reliable finishers elsewhere – suddenly look a shadow of their former selves at Selhurst Park.
Reports from The Guardian suggesting that Michael Carrick may be one of the candidates to replace Vieira in South London, then, may be music to the ears of Crystal Palace’s out-of-sorts number nines.
Chuba Akpom’s remarkable form under Carrick, for instance, is in stark contrast to that of Edouard, Mateta, Ayew and, to a lesser extent, Zaha. Before this season, the most Akpom had ever scored in a single league campaign was eight at PAOK in Greece. In his previous campaign at the Riverside, he notched just five times.
Akpom has already broken the 20-goal barrier under Carrick however – 24 in all competitions – and appears to be storming towards the Golden Boot. Much of the credit must go to the former Manchester United midfielder. Not just for his impressive man-management skills but also for his eye-catching tactical acumen.
Michael Carrick has Chuba Akpom scoring for fun
It was Carrick who freed up Akpom from his centre-forward role; utilising the one-time Arsenal youngster as something more akin to a roving ‘number ten’.
“I knew Chuba is talented. I just wanted him to play a position we felt suited him; that loose position where he’s not up against centre-backs,” Carrick explains. “He’s in a great place. You can see that. When you’re confident, things come freely.”
“I feel like I’m playing the best football of my career so far,” Akpom adds. “I feel like the gaffer has given me that freedom and license to get on the ball. To express myself, dribble and create opportunities for my team-mates.”
According to talkSPORT, Akpom is high on Crystal Palace’s summer radar. Hiring Carrick would do their hopes of signing him from under the noses of Leeds and Everton no harm at all. But even if Akpom does not end up at Selhurst Park, his career-best form at Boro should give Palace supporters hope that a similar magic can be worked with Edouard or Mateta.
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