Refreshed: The bulk of the Crystal Palace did not go to the World Cup
(Picture: Getty Images)The full impact of a winter World Cup on the club season will become clearer in time, but Eberechi Eze is confident Crystal Palace have reason to be more optimistic than most.
Only two Eagles players were involved in Qatar, Jordan Ayew and Joachim Andersen featuring for a combined 406 minutes as Ghana and Denmark exited in the group stage.
By comparison, Fulham, who Palace host at Selhurst Park in their first match back on Boxing Day, had six players tot up a total of 1,334 minutes. In the Premier League, only Southampton players (270 minutes, all from Ghana’s Mohammed Salisu) saw less action.
Palace manager Patrick Vieira has, therefore, had an almost full-strength squad available to work with on the training pitch and in four recent friendlies.
Eze believes that will benefit Palace as they target a strong second half of the season.
“We have to take this opportunity, we’ve pretty much all been together,” the 24-year-old tells Standard Sport.
“It’s going to be difficult for teams having to manage players who have played loads of games and travelled a lot. It will be a challenge to keep them fit. We didn’t have so many players at the World Cup, so we’ll use that to our advantage.”
After a year returning to fitness following the ruptured Achilles he suffered in May 2021, Eze’s form and performances improved as the season progressed before the World Cup.
His influence on the Palace team has been growing under Vieira. He has moved into a central role this season, starting every Premier League match, and his manager described him as “different class” after one particularly impressive display at Anfield in August.
Playing against Vieira in his pomp was rarely fun, but working under the Frenchman is evidently much more enjoyable.
“It’s very fun,” Eze says. “All his experience, all that he’s been through, he’s got so much knowledge to pass down. I’ve been learning a lot. We’re being given a platform to express ourselves, and that’s the most important thing. At times this season things haven’t worked as well as we’ve wanted them to, but we’re growing and getting better.”
Eze’s form earned him a place in England’s 55-man preliminary squad for the World Cup, 18 months on from being named in Gareth Southgate’s provisional squad for Euro 2020 before he cruelly picked up the Achilles injury on the same day.
Marc Guehi and Conor Gallagher were in the England Under-21 side when Eze made his debut three years ago, and both have since earned first senior caps based on their performances for Palace. Eze looks set to follow that path.
“That’s the stage everyone wants to play at,” he says. “It’s inspiring to see these guys at the highest level, but it’s not motivating me.
“As a player, I’m already as motivated as I can be. I’ll continue to work hard to get there.”
