Wilfried Zaha’s recent run of good form is down to his work out of possession, says Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira.
The Eagles winger is nominated for the Premier League Player of the Month award for February and got his March account up and running on Saturday by scoring a penalty in the 2-0 win at Wolves.
His work off the ball at Molineux was pinpointed by Vieira as being just as important as what he did with possession, with Zaha constantly harassing the Wolves players in search of a quick break up the pitch.
By full-time he had made 13 successful pressures of the ball that led to a turnover. In Zaha’s last five seasons of Premier League football he has only done that once before - in a 1-1 draw against Arsenal at Selhurst Park in January 2020.
Considering Roy Hodgson’s propensity for defensive stability over attacking output, it’s a good sign that Zaha is mixing up his game to give Vieira the best of both sides of his game which he did at Molineux and at Vicarage Road against the former Palace boss last month.
“Wilfried is in a really good period right now,” said Vieira. “We talk a lot about him when he is in possession of the ball but against Watford, against Stoke [in the FA Cup] and again against Wolves, he was fantastic out of possession.
“We played well and he was part of the team who defended well. He supported Tyrick [Mitchell] on the left side and he had a fantastic game."
Regular criticisms of Zaha - who is now the Eagles’ top scorer this season with nine goals - are that his temperament can sometimes get in the way of his football. That the way he plays the game on the edge can too often lead to him putting his own feeling ahead of what’s good for the team around him.
That was clear with his red card against Spurs on Boxing Day but since then, or since he has returned from the Africa Cup of Nations, he’s yet to receive a booking in over 600 minutes of action.
And after being booed with almost every touch by Wolves fans on Saturday, Zaha celebrated his goal with one hand mimicking a mouth talking and the other with his thumb pointed down.
“I don’t want [his temperament] to change,” added Vieira. “This is part of who he is and we need this kind of passion. I don’t want to take that away from him.
“It’s about him understanding that the game is about 11 players on the field that need to work together and football is about having the ball and not having the ball.
“He has a massive part to play when we do not have the ball and I think when he worked like he did today or he did against Watford, he’s always going to manage to create chances and score goals. [His defensive work] will always put him in a situation where we win the ball higher and he can express his talent.”
Zaha is now just two more goals away from equalling his best Premier League tally of 11 set last season under Roy Hodgson. At his current rate of form he should surpass that total comfortably and can now focus on driving Palace towards a top-half Premier League finish and a shot at FA Cup glory.
