Wilfried Zaha helped Crystal Palace to their first away win of the season on Saturday.
Roy Hodgson’s side hadn’t even scored a goal away from Selhurst Park before the match with Leicester City, but managed to put three past the Foxes and move away from the relegation zone. Zaha was excellent in the victory, scoring a very well-taken goal to put them 2-0 up before half-time.
Palace had a miserable start to the season, but their upturn in form has coincided with Zaha’s return from injury. The 25-year-old has scored four goals in 12 Premier League appearances this season, and has played a key role in most of Palace’s positive play. He created James McArthur’s late winner against Watford earlier this week and will be vital to their chances of remaining in the top flight.
Zaha’s brilliant form will inevitably see him linked with a transfer to a top six team. However, the Ivorian has already played for a team at the top of the table. He was Sir Alex Ferguson’s final signing for Manchester United in January 2013, but by the time he joined the club, the Scot had retired and had been succeeded by David Moyes.
The 2013/14 season was a disaster for United and Moyes, and didn’t go particularly well for Zaha either. The winger ended the season on-loan at relegated Cardiff City, after making just four appearances for the Red Devils. Moyes didn’t appear to think he was ready for the United first-team and either did Louis van Gaal. The Dutchman allowed him to return to Palace in 2014 on-loan, before he made the move permanent the following January.
Rio Ferdinand, who was Zaha’s teammate at Old Trafford, has offered an explanation for why the player failed to succeed at United. According to the former England defender, the player’s talent was obvious, but the move came too soon for him. He does, however, think Zaha is now much better prepared to play for a team challenging for trophies.
“I think with a lot of transfer comes timing. That determines whether it is a go or a failure,” Ferdinand said on BT Sport.
“I think he was young, inexperienced, needed time to mature and I don’t think he was probably given enough opportunities. David Moyes was under a lot of pressure at the time and he didn’t see him as one of his go-to guys, so timing was a key factor. I think if he had his time again he’d maybe do a few things differently, but what I will say is as far as raw ability goes, he’d be up there. This kid, if you said to him I want you to play against a full-back, stand him up and beat him one-v-one, he’d be one of my first picks in the league. Because he has that ability, he can move anybody.”
Rio also said that he was one of the Zaha’s most vocal critics at the club, because he recognised his potential and felt he needed to be pushed.
“I was probably on the training pitch always shouting at him and demanding of him,” Ferdinand said.
“I was trying to spark something inside of him and help realise his potential. I always say to young players, ‘if I’m not shouting at you and pulling you up in training, that means I don’t think you’ve got a chance, I don’t care about you, you’re not going to help my team win something’. But I saw huge potential in Wilf.”
