After a contradictory adventure in Nice, the former France international is enjoying a promising start with the London club.
Amazing comeback. A living Arsenal legend, Patrick Vieira returned to London this summer after his successful stint between 1996 and 2005. Despite a mixed experience off the bench in Nice, the certified Londoner had a successful debut in the Premier League, a tournament that He left lasting memories.
positive budget
After arriving with great fanfare at Crystal Palace, Patrick Vieira needed a few weeks to infuse his style with the Eagles. To open the tournament, Wilfried Zaha’s teammates leaned hard on Chelsea’s lawn (3-0). Meanwhile, Palace prematurely left the Carabao Cup against Watford (2-1). The trigger came for Patrick Vieira and his men on 9/11. After four unsuccessful matches, Palace receives the leaders of the tournament Tottenham. The London derby that will turn into a show for sponsors Patrick Vieira who won 3-0.
A great success gives a lot of confidence within the team. Gradually, the eagles will rise in the rankings and achieve some achievements. In the face of the champions, Crystal Palace holds a high performance, as evidenced by its victories over Tottenham and Manchester City (0-2), and its draw with Leicester (2-2) and Arsenal (2-2). Under their new coach, the Eagles will rack up seven unbeaten league games, a record-breaking Premier League tie for the club, with a successful 2018 streak, which is also shared by his players like Wilfried Zaha. “It’s a bit surreal when a legendary player becomes your manager. There are a lot of things you can take from him. He has a lot of ideas, and if you subscribe to them, like everyone else, you can see that they make a huge difference.»
Eleventh, with only three defeats in thirteen days, Crystal Palace had a good start to the season in terms of accounting. The results have their origins in the game played by order of the French coach.
Bielsa’s popular playing philosophy under the influence of magic
Already notable in his early days with Nice, Patrick Vieira advocates a clearly identifiable philosophy of play. The former Juventus midfielder asked his team to start over from behind, to deny his opponents the ball, and to turn football towards attack. Theatrical style strongly reflects that of his predecessor, Roy Hodgson. Ideas in the service of the result, which was praised by Marcelo Bielsa, the Leeds coach.
«He changed the style of the team. It is a team that manages the ball carefully and achieves clear and positive results. The coach’s job is to get his team to play the way they want them to. It’s impressive to see how well he has been able to install his ideas at Crystal Palace.»
Great mastery of the game is shown in the stats. Despite the honorable results, Crystal Palace performed poorly, and should have scored more points according to the statistical tool with expected goals and expected goals vs (measures the percentage of a goal scored and a goal conceded). In the Xpoints ranking (measures the difference between the expected goals and the goals expected against them), Crystal Palace is in fifth place. In this streak, the Eagles are ranked third in the expected goals against them.
In short, they are giving away more goals than they should be giving up according to this statistical tool. The Eagles conceded in set-pieces, conceding 10 goals out of 19 in this playing area.
Offensively, Crystal Palace is the seventh attacker in the tournament with 19 goals. Rediscovering competence in a sector that faced difficulties during the previous fiscal year.
football attacking
Crystal Palace has a leading offensive arsenal. The gameplay allows a large number of players to find themselves in good scoring conditions. Wilfried Zaha has been the focus of the Eagles’ offensive since 2014. The big English cars have always been a regular coveted, Ivory Coast is an essential part of Patrick Vieira’s system.
Happy with this system, the former Manchester United player praised his coach for his attacking style of play. “It quickly changed things because everyone is ready to change and to understand new technologies that we can do to improve our game. Now, when we go forward, if we counterattack, it’s not just one or two players against four defenders.»
Patrick Vieira has given great confidence to Christian Benteke, who has scored 4 goals since the start of the season. The Belgian international is used as a pivot and allows Zaha or Ayo’s arrows to be fired on the wings, making a great effort.
“In the air, he’s the best in the Premier League”
Patrick Vieira
In playmaker, Conor Gallagher, on loan from Chelsea, is Vieira’s cornerstone. Participating in 7 goals in 12 Premier League matches, the English midfielder is the technical guarantee in the midfield. A fortune in the offensive plan, which is also evidenced by the success of Odsonne Edouard, the author of three goals, but also the presence of very promising young wings with Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze. An important offensive capital that Patrick Vieira seeks to highlight. Just four lengths out of the top six, the French coach can count on his offensive weapons to review the ambitions of a club that used to fight for maintenance.
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