Crystal Palace have several players away on international duty right now, with a lot of eyes on Jean-Philippe Mateta in particular.
Jean-Philippe Mateta has earned his first call up for France and will play in World Cup qualifiers against Azerbaijan and Iceland during this October international break.
Mateta’s turnaround at Crystal Palace has been praised by many fans, pundits and neutrals alike, with the 28-year-old having now scored 32 Premier League goals since the start of the 2023/24 season.
It was tough at first but Mateta is now one of the Premier League’s deadliest strikers, albeit still a bit rough around the edges as we saw against Everton last time out.
He’s on track to become one of Crystal Palace’s most prolific strikers of the 21st Century. But strikers haven’t always found form at Selhurst Park, as Alexander Sorloth proves.
- READ MORE: Roy Hodgson got hammered for shaming Crystal Palace trio in 2023 but has since been proven right
Sander Berge hails former Crystal Palace man Alexander Sorloth
Fans will remember Sorloth as a striker who flopped at Crystal Palace. The towering Norwegian joined from FC Midtjylland in January 2018 for a reported £9million fee, but in two years he’d play 20 times and score only one goal, spending time out on loan before leaving permanently in 2020.
He then flopped at RB Leipzig but Sorloth later found form at Villarreal, and now plays for Atletico Madrid where he’s become one of Spain’s best strikers. He scored 20 goals in 35 La Liga games last season and has two in seven so far this season, and is currently away on international duty with Norway.
Speaking to TV 2 Sport on TikTok whilst on international duty, Fulham’s Sander Berge was comparing Martin Odegaard, Erling Haaland and Sorloth, and he described Sorloth as a ‘great’ player.
- READ MORE: Alan Pardew explains why he would have thrown his toys out the pram at Crystal Palace this summer
Why it didn’t work out for Alexander Sorloth at Crystal Palace
Sorloth arrived under Roy Hodgson who quickly cashed in on the striker after he realised it wasn’t working out. Hodgson spoke positively of the striker upon arriving but never really commented on why it didn’t work out.
At the time, though, Sorloth still looked very raw. It’s taken him several years to become the player he is now, and it’s taken him several different clubs and leagues too.
Some strikers just aren’t suited to the Premier League and are better suited to leagues in Spain or Germany or wherever that might be. Sorloth perhaps wasn’t fast enough to keep up in the Premier League.
And then there’s the suggestion that Hodgson’s style of play just didn’t suit the striker, whereas Simeone’s more compact and perhaps more physical style of play is seemingly getting the best out of Sorloth.
