Until very recently, it would have been a heretical notion amongst the Holmesdale Road cognoscenti, but things change and perhaps Crystal Palace can finally look beyond the Wilfried Zaha era with confidence.
Zaha has left Selhurst Park once before, but returned after his hopes of a successful Manchester United career turned sour. Since then, he has become the club’s talismanic figure and arguably one of their greatest contributors in their history.
But he is set to leave this summer if he does not sign a new contract, leaving both his and the club’s future uncertain.
Here is why life after Zaha might not be as bad as Palace fans may have once feared.
Player and club felt responsible for each other
Zaha has carried Palace for too long. Their leading scorer for the past two seasons has been their outstanding contributor since he replaced Stern John for a 10-minute cameo in a Championship home defeat by Cardiff City in March 2010, days after manager Neil Warnock had departed.
As Zaha established himself, Palace flirted with relegation to League One, but when, in Jan 2013, he left for a disappointing spell at Old Trafford, he could not fully drag himself away. He stayed as a loanee for the rest of the season to usher Palace into the Premier League. Zaha’s swift and inevitable return to SE25 – so eager, he joined on loan, days after Tony Pulis’s departure – suggested neither party could flourish without the other. After that, managers from Alan Pardew (present at Saturday’s game) to Roy Hodgson came and went, a succession of striking partners from Christian Benteke to Alexander Sorloth also came and went.
Two things, however, remained stable: Palace’s place in the Premier League and, since none of the signings were at his level, Zaha’s pivotal contribution towards keeping them there. The boy who had gone to school around the corner from Selhurst Park, who had joined the academy aged 12, had deep roots and a deeper sense of responsibility. He could not leave.
A case of now or never
Zaha returned on Saturday after missing four games since hobbling out of the victory over Leicester City on Apr 1. He scored his first goal since November with a simple tap in, but even a defence as rickety at West Ham’s did not quake before him, although he did tempt Vladimir Coufal into a yellow carded lunge.
Just two assists this season hints at waning, but nobody would be foolish enough to question his commitment, for Zaha took yet another knock on his knee and afterwards his manager Roy Hodgson lauded the striker’s stubbornness (as much a Zaha trademark as a mazy dribble) in ignoring medical and managerial advice to stay on until the 84th minute. Yet, as Harry Kane – whose goalscoring prowess remains undimmed irrespective of how those around him fluctuate – would attest, the burden of so solely carrying a club’s hopes weighs heavy.
The well-remunerated deal he signed in 2018 expires at the end of the season. With Zaha having turned 30 in November, the clock is ticking, but the door to a top-four move may still be open and suitors from long-term admirers Juventus and Arsenal (who signed Nicolas Pepe ahead of him in 2019 against Unai Emery’s wishes) to Barcelona and Chelsea would at least match Palace’s contract offer, while presenting new challenges and perhaps new climes. Like Kane, it is probably now or never.
Palace finally have successors
Zaha has thrived alone at Palace for so long that it is startling to see he now has equals. Tyrick Mitchell is still prone to moments of rawness, but he is so solid at left-back Zaha is spared the need to track back. Curiously distrusted by Patrick Vieira, Eberechi Eze is thriving, so a maverick tendency will remain should Zaha leave.
And then there is Michael Olise. Prised from Reading for just £8 million in the summer of 2021, he took time to settle and with just two league goals in 16 months, he is certainly no goalscorer, but he outshone Zaha on Saturday and the man who gifted West Ham their opener after 10 minutes had the mental strength to create two goals for his team-mates in the next 10.
His strength, pace and way with a dribble evoked peak Zaha with a conviction that always seemed beyond, say, Yannick Bolasie.
Palace are evolving without him
Hodgson has surprised himself, by not only securing Palace’s safety with four games remaining, but in changing the club’s culture. He has brought goals and a concomitant sense of joy that eluded him first time around at Palace. He has also brought a new mindset, building Palace around a collective rather than a single player. Zaha is now one of many and therefore more dispensable. They are not a long ball team, but last season no Premier League player completed more long balls than centre-back Joachim Andersen and this season he trails only Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Ruben Neves.
Cheick Doucoure has brought a new level of midfield steel and Ayew has scored three in his last five games. Hardly Kane-esque, but remarkable for one who had scored just four league goals in his previous two seasons.
Hodgson remains determined not to discuss his own future and anyone turning 76 before next season begins might find the hurly burly of the Premier League too onerous, but he has purged the disappointments of his ill-fated stint at Watford so if he retires for good this time, he will retire fulfilled. There may be the option of consigliere to his successor, but if not, Hodgson has laid the foundations for a new era at the Palace.
