Patrick Vieira has laid down the gauntlet for Wilfried Zaha by telling him he should be scoring at least 20 goals a season for Crystal Palace.
The Ivorian winger is currently enjoying his most productive-ever spell in front of goal, netting 13 times across all competitions for Vieira’s side. His latest goal was a stoppage-time winner against Southampton at St Mary’s Stadium where he fired past Fraser Forster from the edge of the box to seal all three points on the south coast.
The goal secured Palace’s first win since beating Arsenal 3-0 at Selhurst Park in early April and reignites the Eagles’ bid to finish Vieira ’s first campaign in charge of the club in the top half of the Premier League. To do that, they’ll need Zaha firing on all cylinders for the remaining four games of the season.
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But although he is currently hitting new heights in a Palace shirt - only Mohamed Salah, Son Heung-Min, Cristiano Ronaldo, Diogo Jota, Sadio Mane and Harry Kane have more league goals than him this season - Vieira still thinks he should be chipping in with even more considering the chances his Palace team are creating.
“He should be higher than that,” joked Vieira in his post-match press conference at St Mary’s when asked about Zaha’s record goal tally. “We bring [in] some players around [him] and that improves Wilfried’s ability to score goals as well.
“When you create chances [as a team], he will have chances to score those goals. He’s always been scoring goals. If we play the way we played and we create the chances, he will definitely score goals. I believe that he’s got the ability and quality to score around 20 goals, to be honest with you.”
Vieira has previously tipped Zaha to one day be included in the Premier League Hall of Fame, which the Frenchman himself was inducted into only last month. Zaha has spent the majority of his playing career in the top-flight of English football and is one of the most recognisable figures in the league.
However, playing for a team outside of the traditional top six clubs might hurt his chances, with Vieira telling reporters that players like Zaha and Southampton’s own club legend Matt Le Tissier deserve recognition for what they achieved for mid-table sides. Le Tissier spent virtually his whole career with the Saints, scoring a remarkable 209 goals in 540 games for them. His most prolific league campaign saw him score 25 goals in 1993/94, finishing behind only Blackburn Rovers’ Alan Shearer and Newcastle’s Andy Cole.
“Wilfried is a little bit like Matt Le Tissier,” said Vieira. “When you play at Palace, you play at Southampton, you may not get the credit that you deserve if you’re not playing in one of the top four, top five teams.
“Matt Le Tissier, like Wilfried, hopefully, they will get to the Hall of Fame. Because of what they did for Crystal Palace and Southampton, you can’t take that away. Wilfried, since he’s been in this football club, has been an important player, delivering every year and that’s why it’s important for people to recognise his talent.
“There’s a different way of looking at quality players, talented players, and Wilfried Zaha and Matt Le Tissier deserve a lot of credit for what they achieved for their respective football clubs and that’s why I’m saying Wilfried – he’s got a special talent and he’s showed it year after year.”
