Wilfried Zaha says Crystal Palace’s run to the semi-finals of the FA Cup is the sign of a bright future at Selhurst Park.
Patrick Vieira has revitalised Palace since taking over last summer and they thrashed Everton 4-0 yesterday to set up a last-four showdown with Chelsea at Wembley next month.
“The team is just proving how good it is,” said Zaha.
“Some of the players haven’t even played together that long, but it just shows what is in store for the club, the players who have been signed, what is in store for the future.
“It is good to be involved in it and going to Wembley.
“It was a tough start but that happens, we managed to weather that difficult start and implement our game onto them eventually.”
Vieira says Palace are enjoying an “exciting period” and he is relishing their first appearance at Wembley since reaching the FA Cup Final in 2016.
Six days after holding Manchester City to a 0-0 draw at Selhurst Park, Palace fans were treated to arguably their most free-flowing performance of the season against Everton.
The Eagles are energised by the youth of Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise. Eze is starting to look like his old self following his Achilles injury, while Olise impressed again.
Marc Guehi celebrated his England call-up with another impressive display as Palace kept a clean sheet, and Zaha is thriving at the heart of the team.
Vieira said: “I think what is important for those young players is to play games and this is how they’re going to learn.
“As a football club, we give them the pathway that allows them to play and to improve.
“But there’s a lot of credit as well with the experienced players that we have in our team and all of them play a really important role to be a positive example.
“A lot of credit has to be given to those players that we have in our football club who know what you need to do to be a Premier League player.”
