As a long and tedious international break comes to an end, Aston Villa set their sights to Crystal Palace. Palace have picked up 7 points from their first four games with wins coming against Wolves and Sheffield United.
Let’s see how Palace fans are feeling ahead of the game!
THE OPPOSITION VIEW
In my opinion, the best word to describe Palace’s start to the season would be stable. What have you made of the Eagles start?
“I’d probably agree with you to be honest. I’m really pleased with our start especially given all the uncertainty we were in towards the end of last season. Ultimately, we are a solid mid table team so we should be beating other mid table teams which we have. We’ve beat Sheffield United and Wolves and we’re arguably unlucky against Brentford. The biggest tests will come when we face the Europe chasing teams such as yourselves”.
There’s a distinct difference between the team we saw under Vieria and the team we see under Hodgson. Why didn’t the Vieria system work and how did Hodgson rescue normality?
“I honestly think that the opportunity came too early for Vieria. I think he lacked an identity to embed within the team. Having said that though, he did try and implement a more defensive style which just did not work with the players we had. That brings me on to Roy. He has bought us to stability by playing to our strengths which is attacking. Our squad is filled with young attacking talent and Roy just simply utilises it”.
When you look at the Palace squad, there is a lot of young attacking talent. Who are the hidden gems that consistently play well for the Eagles?
“Oh that’s an easy one. Eberechi Eze is a phenomenal footballer who just doesn’t get the praise he deserves. He has at least put in a solid performance off the bench for England. Eze is a really good footballer when he’s on his game and could do damage against any team in this league”.
Finally, what’s your score prediction?
“It feels from an outsider that Villa have been very hit and miss this season which gives us some hope. I think if you’re off your game we can punish you so with my slightly biased hat, I’m going to go 2-0 Palace”.
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OPPOSITION FOCUS | EBERECHI EZE: A STORY OF REJECTION AND PERSEVERANCE
As I said earlier, Crystal Palace’s start to the season has been far from a nightmare. They’ve managed to accumulate two wins and a draw against similar levels of opposition. A lot of that decent start has to do with one man – Eberechi Eze.
Eze has always been a very good talent at the Premier League level. However, this season, Eze seems to have taken his game to the next level. I’m not the only one who’s seen this, though. Eze must have impressed, as England manager Gareth Southgate actually picked him due to his form! *Cough: Maguire and Philips! It’s not just me and Gareth that can see Eze’s increased levels; 10% of FPL managers have included Eze in their starting eleven.
In this Opposition Focus, I’ll be taking a look at the rise through English Football of Eberechi Eze.
It wasn’t an easy start for the Londoner as he has floated around several London academies. At just 13 years old, Eze was left clueless as Arsenal released him. Determined to not let this ruin his footballing dream, Eze looked elsewhere. Successive spells at Fulham and Reading ended up with Eze applying his trade in the academy of Milwall.
At 18 years of age, Eze experienced yet another rejection as Millwall declined the chance to offer Eze a contract. For many that would have been it, it wasn’t for Eze. He trialled out for QPR and was offered a contract. In January of 2017 Eze made his debut before signing a contract extension.
In order to get some crucial first team football, Eze was sent out on loan to Wycombe Wanderers. Here he made many milestones such as his first goal and first brace. His first goal was nominated for the Goal Of The Season! Eze impressed at Wycombe helping them to a promotion. When he returned to QPR, his career really began to soar.
In Eze’s last season at QPR, many finally began to recognise some of the talent he possessed. He was named QPR’s Player of the Season and was included in many Championship Team Of The Seasons. It wasn’t just fans that were appreciating Eze’s talents, the Premier League was too.
In August 2020, Eze made his move to Crystal Palace. His first couple of seasons didn’t really go how Eze would imagine as he was plagued with injury issues. Having said that, when he has played, he has shown his quality in abundance.
Following the departure of Wilfred Zaha from Crystal Palace, there is a real chance for the likes of Eze and Olise to step up and be Palace’s new hero. Should he be able to keep fit, this could be a very exciting and promising season for one of football’s brightest talents.
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MY PREDICTION
So far this season, Aston Villa have comfortably dealt with teams of Palace’s level. Add to this the fact that Emery has had an international break to collect his thoughts and feelings. He’s had the chance to work with a large portion of his squad to get the best he can out of the team. That excites me and should scare Palace fans. I’m going with a big 4-0 win in front of the Villa Park faithful.
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