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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Jonathan Gorrie

Ralph Hasenhuttl praises ‘fantastic’ Patrick Vieira rebuild as Crystal Palace head to Southampton

Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl has praised Patrick Vieira for the work he has done at Crystal Palace.

The Frenchman has quickly gone about developing the team he inherited from Roy Hodgson into a more progressive outfit, earning plenty of plaudits along the way.

While the season is at risk of fizzling out, Palace reached the FA Cup semi-finals and have claimed big scalps against the likes of Tottenham, Arsenal and Manchester City.

Having seen a similar gamble fail when appointing Frank De Boer in 2017, Palace took a risk in appointing a manager without Premier League experience, particularly during a summer in which a raft of first-team players also departed.

The early evidence, however, suggests Vieira is building something at Selhurst Park and perhaps next season can be even stronger for the club.

Palace travel to Southampton on Saturday and could still finish in the top ten but will need to improve on recent results.

"He was an amazing player, and for his first job in the Premier League, I think it is fantastic what he has done so far really,” said the Saints boss.

"His mood is very calm and I also like the way he sets his teams up. For the first year, it is amazing what they have done.

"They were never easy to play against to be honest, because the quality was always there, but I think they play a little bit more football now, especially building up from behind.

"I think this is, overall, a high-quality team and with a manager that lets them play a little bit more football and show what they can do. It’s quite tough to play against them."

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