Chris Richards, Maxence Lacroix, Jaydee Canvot and Chadi Riad have all been forced to step up since Marc Guehi left Crystal Palace in January.
Eyebrows were raised when Steve Parish opted to take a £20m fee from Manchester City for the England international in January rather than lose him on a free transfer at the end of the season.
Oliver Glasner voiced his frustration several times in the media, as it seemed like those in the boardroom at Selhurst Park had settled for cash instead of giving the 51-year-old the best possible shot at winning the UEFA Conference League by keeping his captain around.
It was a tough moment for the Eagles when Marc Guehi departed, and Chris Richards has now revealed that Crystal Palace players were starting to ask questions after that £20m deal was agreed.
Chris Richards admits Crystal Palace players had questions over leadership
The United States international has now told GOAL how the squad reacted to losing Guehi.
Richards – who Eddie Nketiah has praised – said: “When Marc left, people were looking around like, who will be the guy to step up? And I think a few of us have. It’s something I did all summer long with the national team, and that helped me at Palace.
“I think everyone talks about being a leader, but it’s not something you can force. You look at our Palace team, and I think everyone knows the captain is a leader, but there’s so much more to leading than the person wearing the armband.”
Since the end of January, Glasner has overseen four wins and two draws from eight games across all competitions, suggesting Crystal Palace have managed to steady the ship after a truly turbulent winter.
It is testament to the players and the unity within the squad. Not only did Guehi leave, but Glasner also announced he would be departing at the end of the season.
The Austrian even shared his news at the same time as when he revealed Guehi would leave – out of apparent frustration towards Parish – so the players deserve immense credit for managing to ignore the noise and grind out some positive results.
If Richards – who mocked Liverpool after they failed to sign Guehi – and his teammates can steer Crystal Palace to another trophy with UEFA Conference League success at the end of this season, that moment in January when all seemed lost will be nothing more than a distant memory.
