Maxence Lacroix made his Crystal Palace debut in Saturday’s 2-2 draw against Leicester City.
The Frenchman – who was signed in an £15.2m deal from VfL Wolfsburg on transfer deadline day – found himself immediately thrown into the starting XI by Oliver Glasner to replace Joachim Andersen, starting alongside Marc Guehi and Nathaniel Clyne.
In case you were unaware, Maxence Lacroix was vice captain at VfL Wolfsburg, and the Crystal Palace No.5’s leadership skills were there for all to see just before kick-off against Leicester City…
What Maxence Lacroix did before 2-2 draw
Due to his deadline day arrival and then the international break, the 24-year-old hasn’t been able to spend much time gelling with his new teammates.
However, that did not stop Lacroix getting stuck in straight away, as he could be seen delivering a passionate speech in the team huddle before Saturday’s 2-2 draw against Leicester City.
Fan footage posted by Yichen Peter Zheng on X (previously known as Twitter) shows the man from Villeneuve-Saint-Georges gesticulating quite wildly with his arms in the huddle, before passionately clapping his hands and shouting some rousing words, as seen below.
Of course, Guehi is club captain, and we also boast other leaders such as Jean-Philippe Mateta, who captained France at the Olympic Games this summer, so it was interesting to see the new man take control of the huddle and deliver a speech, when he had every reason to stay quiet and observe on this occasion.
In our view, Glasner was surely pleased to see these leadership qualities from Lacroix, especially on his debut.
How Crystal Palace No.5 fared against Leicester City statistically
Glasner was presumably unhappy with how his side defended against the Foxes, conceding two sloppy goals to Jamie Vardy and Stephy Mavididi against the run of play.
Lacroix was not directly at fault for either goal, and while the defence admittedly seemed far from cohesive due to the change in personnel after Andersen’s departure, he performed well individually.
The £15.2m man won four of his six duels on the ground, and four out of six aerial duels, while also making one key pass.
Interestingly, Lacroix seems set to be a direct replacement for Andersen in regards to the Dane’s trademark long range passes as well, interestingly completing 11 of his attempted 14 long balls, as SofaScore shows.
With some more time on the training ground at Copers Cope to familiarise himself with Guehi, the Frenchman should be a hit at Selhurst Park.
