SAKA, ANTONY AND 10 PREMIER LEAGUE STARS HEADING TO THEIR FIRST WORLD CUP
It’s been a while since we’ve had a manager who seems to care about the rivalry between Crystal Palace and Brighton.
Roy Hodgson never seemed to get livened up about anything, whereas a succession of quick-fix managers never hung around long enough to care.
Now, it sounds as if Patrick Vieira is right up for this Monday’s clash, and it’s extremely refreshing to see.
What has Patrick Vieira said?
Speaking ahead of the feisty encounter with Graham Potter’s men, Crystal Palace’s official website quote Vieira as saying: “The game is important for every single person in the football club. I look at the documentary the football club made, and I fully understand now the rivalry between the two clubs.
“The fans are looking forward to these kinds of (games). That’s why we have to play with passion, we have to play with determination. That is a really important element.”
We don’t know about you, but that’s music to our ears.
After watching Amazon’s When Eagles Dare documentary, we felt whoever replaced Hodgson should also have been asked to watch it.
Evidently, our wishes have been granted.
It’s such a great documentary, one which truly captures what we’re about as a football club, so it’s pleasing to hear that Vieira has cast his eyes over it.
Is Patrick Vieira worried about anything?
The Frenchman didn’t sound especially worried, although he did opt to praise Brighton forward Neal Maupay.
Football London quote Vieira as saying: “Neal Maupay – I believe he is a really clinical number nine. He has a lot of energy upfront and is a really good finisher.”
The 25-year-old has netted against us at Selhurst Park before, scoring the opener in a 1-1 draw back in December 2019.
So far this season, Maupay has scored three goals in five Premier League games, so he’s definitely someone we’ll have to look out for.
If we can keep him quiet, there’s every chance we’ll go to bed on Monday with three points in the bag.
