Michail Antonio says player who left Crystal Palace was such a handful

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West Ham striker Michail Antonio has explained how much of a handful one former Crystal Palace player used to be.

Michail Antonio is one player who’s become a Premier League stalwart and for this reason, he’s someone who’s opinion is valued highly.

So when he praises a player, it’s worth taking note.

In his latest podcast episode, Antonio, alongside Fulham’s Tom Cairney, has praised one former Crystal Palace player who was long a thorn in the side of Premier League defences.

Having departed the side with his contract expiring in 2023, now it’s almost nostalgic to reminisce over how good he was.

Let’s have a look at what’s been said…

READ MORE: Eight Crystal Palace players out of contract who could leave Selhurst Park in summer 2024

What has Michail Antonio said about Wilfried Zaha?

Antonio and Cairney were speaking on The Players Channel podcast on Thursday and ended up discussing one important quality in a player.

The quality was looking at how vital it can be to have a player who’s capable of winning fouls during games.

To this, there was one player that came to mind for the two current Premier League stars, that being Wilfried Zaha.

Antonio began, “Zaha used to be good at it, obviously he’s moved on now from the Premier League.”

To this, Cairney responded, “He always used to win most fouled player didn’t he.”

“Always, always,” Antonio agreed.”

Cairney later remarked this is a “priceless asset”, which is “invaluable” to have in the team.

The Selhurst Park legend departed last summer, heading to Turkey and has already been tipped for a possible return this summer.

How good was Wilfried Zaha at drawing fouls for Crystal Palace

It was long one of the most widely known qualities of Zaha in the Premier League which proved a tremendous asset to Palace time and time again.

Here’s a look at just how good he was.

Wilfried Zaha fouled stats for Crystal Palace – 2018-2023

Clearly, this is a quality that Zaha had on lock, better than any other player in the league during his last five years by quite some distance.

An impressive player who we’re all secretly keen to see a return to Copers Cope.