Crystal Palace: Patrick Vieira building something special at Selhurst

Steven Gerrard, for instance, took charge at Aston Villa in November while Frank Lampard has been Everton boss since February.

Meanwhile, Mikel Arteta continues to take Arsenal forward with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer not long out the door at Manchester United. Patrick Vieira, however, might be doing the best job of all his iconic peers.

At surface level, Crystal Palace have achieved only incremental progress under the former midfielder - they sit in 11th place in the Premier League table having finished 14th last season - but this doesn’t do justice to the fundamental overhaul that has taken place at Selhurst Park since Vieira’s arrival last summer.

Indeed, Vieira is building something special.

Under Roy Hodgson, Palace were renowned for being a solid, yet uninspiring side. Now, though, they are playing a brand of fluid, dynamic football that has caught the eye of many this season.

This was certainly the case in Sunday’s emphatic 4-0 FA Cup win over Everton with Crystal Palace now booked in for a semi-final date at Wembley.

Palace playing style transformed

Last season, only Newcastle United (41.6%) and West Brom (41%) charted a lower average share of possession per Premier League match than Crystal Palace (42.9%). This season, though, the Eagles are ranked ninth for average possession share, claiming 50.4% per match. For context, that puts them within touching distance of the ‘Big Six.’

Vieira’s Palace team pass with a purpose too. There is verticality to their attacking play, demonstrated by their average of 9.9 dribbles per match this season - only Wolves (11.9), Manchester City (11.6), Tottenham (10.4), Watford (10.3) and Southampton (10.1) have averaged more.

Everton had no way to cope with this direct running with Eberechi Eze, Connor Gallagher, Michael Olise and Wilfried Zaha all impressive against the Toffees. Crystal Palace’s front three were effective at cutting inside to create overloads and overwhelm the opposition defence who were forced to step out, which in turn opened up space in behind.

While Vieira’s methods and ideas have revitalised the Crystal Palace team on the pitch, the South London club have also benefited from a new transfer market strategy. In the past, Crystal Palace were all too willing to take the cast-offs of their bigger Premier League rivals. Michy Batshuayi, Mamadou Sakho, Christian Benteke and James McCarthy all arrived at Selhurst Park, often for significant expense (Benteke and Sakho cost a combined £53m from Liverpool).

Since then, though, there has been a clear change of tact in the transfer market. Palace are now targeting young players with potential to grow and develop - see Odsonne Edouard, Eze, Marc Guehi, Jean-Philippe Mateta and Olise. If these youngsters continue on their upward trajectory, Crystal Palace’s ceiling could be even higher.

“What is important is to play games and this is how they can learn,” Vieira said after the win over Everton with regards to his youthful team.

“As a club we give them the pathway to allow them to play and improve. There is a lot of credit with the experienced players we have. All of them play a really important role to be a positive example. A lot of credit to those in the club who know what you need to do to be a Premier League player.”

'Everton lacking in identity'

All this is in stark contrast to the fortunes of Everton, the opponents Palace swept aside in Sunday’s FA Cup quarter-final. They too have a former Premier League icon as a manager, but unlike Vieira Lampard has been unable to make any sort of meaningful mark on the group of players he inherited.

Everton are a team without an identity. The Toffees’ defensive structure is shaky in most matches they play while there is no discernible pattern to their attacking play.

Everton fans point to a lack of effort and commitment from their players as reason for the team’s struggles, but Lampard has done nothing to put in place a framework to support the individual talent within his squad.

This season, Everton have conceded 13.6 shots per game - for context, Palace have conceded just 12. Lampard has attempted to place an emphasis on attack after the conservative approach of Rafael Benitez, with Anthony Gordon, Richarlison and Andros Townsend fielded as a front three from the start at Selhurst Park, but this has come at the cost of control in midfield.

Of course, Lampard cannot be solely blamed for Everton’s current condition. The Toffees’ transfer strategy has followed no coherent path with the Goodison Park club guilty of picking up damaged goods from rivals they are trying to catch (see Fabian Delph, Alex Iwobi, Donny van de Beek and Theo Walcott). Like Crystal Palace, Everton need a change of approach on and off the pitch.

These are good times for Palace who have a top half finish within their sights and a second FA Cup semi-final in 25 years to look forward to, but the full potential of Vieira’s team has only just started to be realised. Lampard and Everton could afford to learn a few lessons from how the Eagles took flight.

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