In charge: Patrick Vieira
(Picture: AFP via Getty Images)So much of the progress of Patrick Vieira’s first season in charge of Crystal Palace was about style of play.
His side have had precious little opportunity to show it during a devilishly tricky run to kick off the new term, so it is with a doff of the cap both to Vieira’s tactical versatility and the strength of positivity around the club that it still feels as if the Eagles have made an encouraging start.
Matches at home to Arsenal and at Liverpool have yielded only a point, and in the first half-hour of both games, Palace were played off the park. But against the Gunners they rallied well and should have equalised before Marc Guehi’s unfortunate own goal, while at Anfield, Vieira’s rope-a-dope ploy after switching to a back-five worked almost to perfection.
"Of course playing against two teams who are fighting to win the Premier League is going to be challenging,” he said after that match. "I’m more interested in performances that will help us win football matches. The game against Arsenal, second half, was a good performance. We are on the right track, we have to keep working well.
“We have players who can make a difference so we have to keep performing.”
Already, Palace have shown they can play more than one way but this weekend’s visit of Aston Villa really ought to see more of the dynamic, attacking football that became a hallmark almost overnight following Vieira’s arrival, particularly at home.
Palace’s defeat in this fixture last term was one of only four at Selhurst all season, the others coming against West Ham, Liverpool and Chelsea and though the pace of the likes of Olise, Wilfried Zaha and Ebere Eze means the Eagles will always be a potent threat in transitions, increasingly, Vieira is looking for his team to assert themselves in possession and play with more control.
Villa were beaten at newly-promoted Bournemouth on the opening weekend and then won a turgid affair against Everton last weekend, before being hit by the news that summer signing Diego Carlos has torn his Achilles.
There is a vulnerability there, and with another daunting trip to follow, this time to Manchester City, it is vital Palace take the chance to exploit it.
