Player admits he rejected Palace pay rise as he was desperate to leave South London

Crystal Palace under Roy Hodgson have been brilliant to watch in the main, and they’ve begun this season as they ended the last under the Premier League’s elder statesman.

Hodgson has proved that age is no barrier to success, and indeed, experience often wins out in the end.

The Eagles have a superb crop of young, hungry players in their ranks, and it isn’t too much of a stretch to believe they might get close to approaching the successes of the side of the early 1990s when Ian Wright, Mark Bright and Alan Pardew were in their pomp.

Wilfried Zaha decided that staying in south London wasn’t for him, a decision he may come to regret, whilst Vicente Guaita was another to pack his bags and move on from Selhurst Park.

Both decided to reject pay rises to stay at the club, and though it’s believed that Zaha really took his time before making a final decision, it appears that Guaita couldn’t wait to leave.

“At Crystal Palace, they offered me to extend my contract and be able to earn more money, but one of the things we wanted was to return to Spain, to be a little closer to the family and feel that human warmth, because in other countries they have different customs,” he was quoted as saying by Plaza Deportiva.

“In the club there were many things that I did not understand and it was better to put an end to it,” Atlantico also reported.

After appearing to kick up a real fuss behind the scenes at Palace, there was little doubt that the club would dispense with Guaita’s services.

With such strong team spirit at the club at present, the last thing that Hodgson needed is a dissenting voice upsetting the dressing room equilibrium.

 

 

 

 

Aston Villa man Boubacar Kamara must be ready for tough battle v Crystal Palace star Eberechi Eze after impressive start

Aston Villa will have been keen to bounce back from their 3-0 defeat to Liverpool at the beginning of September as soon as possible.

But an international break has prevented that from happening, with the thinking time available to Unai Emery perhaps the only positive from the recent lack of club action.

However, his side are back on the pitch on Saturday (16 September), hosting Roy Hodgson’s Crystal Palace at Villa Park.

There will be plenty of individual battles between several players on the day, with one of the most important potentially involving Boubacar Kamara and Eberechi Eze.

The former will more than likely start in a holding midfield role for Villa, with the latter expected to adopt an attacking midfield position for Palace.

Eze has impressed for the Eagles this season, with the 25-year-old sitting on one goal and two assists from his five matches in all competitions.

Such form saw him earn an England call-up for the recent international break, with the attacker undoubtedly keen to continue his displays back at club level.

One area that he has clearly been working on is getting more shots at goal, with only Manchester City star Erling Haaland (20) having more attempts than Eze (19) this season, as per the official Premier League website.

Villa can, however, somewhat breathe a sigh of relief in this regard, with the player only having five of those 19 shots on target.

Moreover, they have a hugely talented, defensive-minded player on their hands in Kamara, who boasts an 86% tackle success rate so far this season, with 20 duels won and 30 recoveries made, according to the official Premier League website.

Of course, Emery could choose Douglas Luiz as the man to keep tabs on Eze, or even use both parts of his defensive midfield duo to stop the Palace ace from getting any space at all.

Either approach could work well, with Luiz posting an 80% tackle success rate, with 13 duels won and 17 recoveries made, as per the official Premier League website.

His figures and indeed his ability going forward suggest that Kamara will sit tight on Eze at Villa Park, allowing Luiz to focus more on the attack.