Patrick Vieira “proved a lot of doubters wrong” in his first season as Crystal Palace manager in the Premier League.
The former Arsenal captain took on his first management role in England’s top flight last summer as the successor to Roy Hodgson at Selhurst Park. With an ageing squad that had struggled to score goals in recent seasons, some touted Vieira’s Eagles to be close to the relegation scrap last term.
Despite just one win in their first nine games, Palace became somewhat of a surprise package. Emphatic victories against Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United came their way, as well as a trip to Wembley for an FA Cup semi-final, losing out to runners-up Chelsea.
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Vieira guided Palace to a respectable 12 th placed finish in the Premier League, finishing two places higher than Hodgson achieved in his final two campaigns in charge of the club. More importantly, the Eagles achieved a positive goal difference for the first time in their nine consecutive seasons in the top-flight.
Former Palace striker Clinton Morrison says his former club transformed into a young, exciting Premier League team and that the next step for Vieira is to keep the club evolving. “You always want to improve as a manager for sure and I thought last season they were brilliant,” Morrison told Online Betting Guide (OLBG).
“Patrick Vieira will be the first to admit that there were too many draws, if they had fewer draws then they would have finished in the top half of the table. But to get them to the FA Cup semi-final was a great achievement and I think he proved a lot of doubters wrong because a lot of people thought Palace would struggle last season.
“People said they lost too many experienced players, but the recruitment was superb with some of the young players he brought in as well as Conor Gallagher on loan. It made Palace one of the most exciting young teams in the Premier League.”
Palace had an incredibly busy transfer window last summer that saw the average age of the squad drop dramatically. A long list of players aged over 30 were let go and the Eagles spent a majority of their budget on bringing in talented players aged 25 or younger, such as Marc Guehi (21), Odsonne Edouard (23), and Michael Olise (19).
So far this summer, Palace have continued this trend with the likes of Chris Richards and Cheick Doucoure, both 22, joining from Bayern Munch and RC Lens respectively. Morrison has praised the club’s recruitment over the last year and believes people’s perceptions of the club has changed as a result.
Morrison added: “This season I still think they could do with a few more signings, but they've done reasonably well so far and kept hold of their star players. I think Viera will just want to keep evolving and keep improving.
“Palace have been in the Premier League now for 10 years and for me that's a great achievement for the club. People used to think they were a club that would go up and down, but it's not the case anymore. They're an established Premier League team, so Patrick Viera just needs to keep that up.
“Another thing I've noticed under Patrick Viera is the way the team has tried to evolve their football. Under Roy Hodgson it was counter attack, but now Palace like to dominate possession and play out from the back. It lets everyone believe in themselves in their abilities both on the training pitch and matchdays.”
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