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da bet nacional： This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…
Crystal Palace’s best player is Wilfried Zaha.
Crystal Palace are better when Wilfried Zaha is on the pitch.
Crystal Palace have a higher chance of winning when Wilfried Zaha plays.
If he is fit and available, the Ivorian has to start.
However, context and common sense can sometimes be useful, although Roy Hodgson didn’t seem to have either of these when making his team selection against Sheffield United.
The Eagles lost 1-0 and looked absolutely dire, but that is besides the point.
The fact of the matter is that Hodgson dropped Jordan Ayew – a player who was voted as Man of the Match last week against Everton – in order to bring Zaha into the side.
As aforesaid, Zaha is the best player at the club.
However, this is a sulky Zaha. This is a player who handed in a transfer request on the eve of the transfer deadline and was said to be ‘devastated’ that a move away from Selhurst Park never materialised.
So, what message does Hodgson send to the rest of the squad by dropping Ayew – who was sensational against the Toffees and worked his socks off – for a player who quite simply doesn’t want to be at the club anymore?
It must be appreciated that Hodgson wants Zaha to play – that much is fine.
But Christian Benteke wasn’t amazing against Everton. Neither was Andros Townsend – the aforementioned pair didn’t even have a single shot combined. Either of these players could’ve been dropped and quite rightly have few complaints.
However, it was instead Ayew, and the Ghanaian can have plenty of complaints given the level of effort he put in last week.
It wouldn’t surprise anyone if the former Swansea man now becomes disillusioned or doesn’t put as much effort into games anymore, as he knows he is still the first in line to be dropped no matter how well he plays and how poorly everyone else plays – he didn’t even get off the bench against the Blades.
Work, work, work but at the end of the day the guy that doesn’t want to be here gets a start over you?
Hodgson’s big decision may have sent out entirely the wrong message to the team.
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