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Wilfried Zaha

2211 said:
Rumours we could make a bid before the window shuts.

I think Zaha is a skilful player, dangerous in 1 on 1 situations with good strength and a decent goal return.

He’s in the last year of his contract so if Gordon isn’t possible for a sensible price then Zaha could give us a couple of seasons at a decent price.
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It's a scandal we haven't signed him already.

Wilf has played 3 games this year and is just 1 goal away this season from matching Pulisics career average annual output and has already matched the average number of league goals Ziyech has scored for us per season.

Honestly given what we need, what we have, his premier league record, desperation to prove himself at the highest level and his contract situation there isn't anyone who ticks more boxes for us than Zaha.

Crazy to me how anyone can see us with attacking midfielders on the wings, see the difference between them and a pacey winger who can beat a man at pace like Sterling and not think Zaha can bring a lot to this squad.

 
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Didn't want him in years past and often found him frustrating, but that was also at three times the reported price. I'm so sick of most of our attack I'm up for anything different... except Gordon.

Playing with better players might see him step up. We used to sometimes complain that Hazard didn't have many at his level to link up with, imagine having to be Palace's main attacker!

 
HazardousChoice said:
It's a scandal we haven't signed him already.

Wilf has played 3 games this year and is just 1 goal away this season from matching Pulisics career average annual output and has already matched the average number of league goals Ziyech has scored for us per season.

Honestly given what we need, what we have, his premier league record, desperation to prove himself at the highest level and his contract situation there isn't anyone who ticks more boxes for us than Zaha.

Crazy to me how anyone can see us with attacking midfielders on the wings, see the difference between them and a pacey winger who can beat a man at pace like Sterling and not think Zaha can bring a lot to this squad.
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There are loads of them out there if we actually scouted well. Won’t be the 1st defender playing out of his mind when he is due a final contract. Wouldn’t touch him mind you; for the exact same reasons why no top club has approached him, his passing stats are atrocious for a player in a top team. He is also few months from 30. Last thing you want is having 6-7 starters in their 30s.

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I don't think they would sell now anyway, I think they would rather lose him on a free than sell him now. They lose Zaha and they suddenly become one of the favourites for relegation, he's that important to them. Everything about Palace is built around Zaha.

 
ducavis said:
There are loads of them out there if we actually scouted well. Won’t be the 1st defender playing out of his mind when he is due a final contract. Wouldn’t touch him mind you; for the exact same reasons why no top club has approached him, his passing stats are atrocious for a player in a top team. He is also few months from 30. Last thing you want is having 6-7 starters in their 30s.

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That's exactly what Tuchel wants, he's just like Jose in terms of experience over youth. You need to be a ready made top performer or carry huge status in order to make his 11 as a youngster.

I think he's sick of Pulisic, CHO etc. having ups and downs, it probably is better to have someone with a great long track record of performing consistently.

 
ducavis said:
There are loads of them out there if we actually scouted well. Won’t be the 1st defender playing out of his mind when he is due a final contract. Wouldn’t touch him mind you; for the exact same reasons why no top club has approached him, his passing stats are atrocious for a player in a top team. He is also few months from 30. Last thing you want is having 6-7 starters in their 30s.

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He's the same age as Ziyech...just 3x the player and do you think Pulisic will ever be close to Zaha's current level at any point in his career?

It's far more important to get the right level of quality than solely think of age. If we could find a 20 year old with the quality that's obviously better but who is it? And would they cost 7 or 8x what Wilf in his last year will?

2 years ago we had a young "promising" attack of Werner/Pulisic/Havertz/Tammy and CHO and how's that worked out for us? Their values have tanked and they've all failed to varying degrees to the point We've been forced to move Mount into the attacking positions.

 while Liverpool had Firminho, Mane and Salah who are all older than Zaha and have seen goal after goal and now have Younger players like Jota and Nunez playing alonside high quality attacking players in their prime.

Those aren't bad stats at all.  Wilf plays less passes because Crystal Palace themselves are a very direct side that don't seek to retain possession.  It's completely a style of play choice, Wilfs actual pass completion rates are solid, he passes the ball into the box more than most players in the league as well which are typically the hardest passes to complete and as stated he's both a regular goal scorer and a successful dribbler which naturally means he'll occupy defenders.

Strange to say no top club has approached him though given both Arsenal and Tottenham have gone in big for him in the past but he's been priced out of a move by Palace because he's so valuable to them. Not sure how you can suggest he's playing for a final contract either when he's been a consistent performer for years now. 

The only reason he may be avaliable for a low price now is because he has a year left on his contract.  There simply won't be a better player avaliable for what Wilf is this summer.

 
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Scott Harris said:
I don't think they would sell now anyway, I think they would rather lose him on a free than sell him now. They lose Zaha and they suddenly become one of the favourites for relegation, he's that important to them. Everything about Palace is built around Zaha.
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Personally I think they'd be happy to take Gallagher who was their player of the season last year on loan + a small fee.

Zaha is clearly their best player but with Eze, Olise and Eduard they actually do have more attacking quality now than what they've had in previous years when they were solely dependent on Wif.

 
sonic90 said:
I think he's sick of Pulisic having ups and downs, 
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I think he's more sick that there are no ups.

I don't think you can Argue he's been inconsistent he's just been terrible.

You can persevere with a young player showing promise but a lack of consistency but when players are just consistently bad I think any manager is going to want to go into the market rather than hope a guy that hasn't managed a single good season his career has one on the 8th attempt.

 
HazardousChoice said:
He's the same age as Ziyech...just 3x the player and do you think Pulisic will ever be close to Zaha's current level at any point in his career?

It's far more important to get the right level of quality than solely think of age. If we could find a 20 year old with the quality that's obviously better but who is it? And would they cost 7 or 8x what Wilf in his last year will?

2 years ago we had a young "promising" attack of Werner/Pulisic/Havertz/Tammy and CHO and how's that worked out for us? Their values have tanked and they've all failed to varying degrees to the point We've been forced to move Mount into the attacking positions.

 while Liverpool had Firminho, Mane and Salah who are all older than Zaha and have seen goal after goal and now have Younger players like Jota and Nunez playing alonside high quality attacking players in their prime.

Those aren't bad stats at all.  Wilf plays less passes because Crystal Palace themselves are a very direct side that don't seek to retain possession.  It's completely a style of play choice, Wilfs actual pass completion rates are solid, he passes the ball into the box more than most players in the league as well which are typically the hardest passes to complete and as stated he's both a regular goal scorer and a successful dribbler which naturally means he'll occupy defenders.

Strange to say no top club has approached him though given both Arsenal and Tottenham have gone in big for him in the past but he's been priced out of a move by Palace because he's so valuable to them. Not sure how you can suggest he's playing for a final contract either when he's been a consistent performer for years now. 

The only reason he may be avaliable for a low price now is because he has a year left on his contract.  There simply won't be a better player avaliable for what Wilf is this summer.
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I'm not talking about Zaha in particular but Tuchel is going for proven talent in general. Of course not every say 27+ footballer is going to be a stable performer so Ziyech doesn't really prove anything. Just saying from now on that's the transfer strategy from Tuchel it seems, no more promising talent he has to nurture, just ready made tools to use immediately.

Although you might get some anomalies like 21 year old Gordon but he needs to have some qualities that he really wants in the team.

 
sonic90 said:
I'm not talking about Zaha in particular but Tuchel is going for proven talent in general. Of course not every say 27+ footballer is going to be a stable performer so Ziyech doesn't really prove anything. Just saying from now on that's the transfer strategy from Tuchel it seems, no more promising talent he has to nurture, just ready made tools to use immediately.

Although you might get some anomalies like 21 year old Gordon but he needs to have some qualities that he really wants in the team.
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Are Cucurella and Fofana not young players? Or the 2 wonder kids we've signed this summer for sizable fees? We've attempted to sign Dembele, Raphina, De Ligt, De Jong, Kounde this summer certainly not a bunch of old heads.

I don't feel the signings we've made indicate Tuchel would rather work with experience than Youth but the talent has to be there to nurture.

Our young attacking players don't have the talent to nurture. A manager can sharpen the attack but Tuchel can't turn a bunch of spoons into knives.

If there were younger options of equal ability avaliable I'm sure we'd all over them. 

 
I really like the idea of Zaha tbh.

Quick, strong, can beat a man, can finish. He is just what we need. I do get he has his flaws, especially the mental side of the game, but hes just the type of game changer we need. Especially as CHO and Ziyech are now likely leaving, it makes sense.

 
Oli said:
I really like the idea of Zaha tbh.

Quick, strong, can beat a man, can finish. He is just what we need. I do get he has his flaws, especially the mental side of the game, but hes just the type of game changer we need. Especially as CHO and Ziyech are now likely leaving, it makes sense.
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I saw a stat and I think Zaha was number 3 in successful take ons since a certain year 

behind Messi on #1 and Hazard on #2

 
Zahas name has popped up again today as an alternative to Auba because that deal is becoming difficult. 

Now I wonder of his name has popped up again not because of Auba, but because of Gordon and his signing looking dead in the water. 

We hear all about how TT wants Gordon as wingback cover but I am not buying that, I think it is more that Gordon is flexible to work across the front line and is a hard worker. Zaha has the same flexibility but is not as hard a worker and is moody bit a much better eye for goal.

I could see a situation where we sign Zaha and Auba and loan Broja to Palace to keep them happy to make the sale.

 
Where would he play though? He is a LW for me, same position Sterling plays, and the same position Gordon plays for Everton. Hope we don’t fall into the same trap Utd did with Sancho thinking because he can do a job on the right, he is a RW. With the Antony signing they have spent £161m on 2 players to fix their RW.

There is a dearth of RW in world football which is why they are priced at a premium , the only quality ones in my opinion are Tete on loan at Lyon from Shakhtar, & Yeremy Pino at Villarreal linked with Arsenal. I’d rather wait till next summer to make the right signing than buy the wrong players in Gordon & Zaha.

 
Not first choice by a long way, but that Auba deal is not getting done, so absolutely worthwhile to exploit other options. For me he's always a big fish in small tank, how is he going to be cope being just another player at Chelsea? It's probably his last chance to play for a CL club, so I think it will be easier to persuade him than Auba. He could play as striker or LW, no problem there. Can't see him cost anything more than 30M, probably throw in a loan player to smooth over with them. You know what, if this means stop dealing with Barca and not buying Gordon for 60m+, I'm in.

 
I wasn't keen on Zaha yet think he is a better gamble than Auba.

Arsenal are also interested so not a foregone conclusion.

I don't dislike Gordon either yet see him as an attacking midfileder rather than an outright attacker. 

We need another option besides Sterling and Havertz and think TT does not rate Broja. 

 
We 100% need another attacker for this season, especially if we are getting rid of Werner, CHO, Lukaku & Ziyech.

Losing all these players and expecting us to do better than last season attacking wise doesn’t make any sense to me.

Even buying Zaha and possibly having him as a false 9 and moving Kai to the right would at least be trying something different.

If the PEA transfer isn’t going to happen then this would be worth a shot, he won’t be too expensive.

 
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