Cross or shot?
Wilfried Zaha is the talk of the town. His incredible form last season for Crystal Palace and unique skillset have several of the top teams in the country trying to sign him this summer, but Palace are desperate to keep him and it’s not hard to see why.
He didn’t make it to the World Cup after the Ivory Coast failed to qualify, so after the hectic month of football we’ve just had, you’d be forgiven for forgetting just what he can do with a ball at his feet. But thanks to social media and drone cameras, we have been reminded by this absolutely batshit mental wondergoal that Zaha scored in training.
A perfectly weighted crossfield pass is floated over by Jairo Riedewald to Wilfried Zaha, who is able to take it in his stride. He could take a touch and run with the ball, he could cross it on the volley using his weaker left foot. He does neither. Instead, Zaha unleashes the most audacious of volleys, looping the ball over the helpless goalkeeper’s head into the far corner.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BlnwelVnrym/?taken-by=cpfc
Ok, it might have been a cross, and he couldn’t recreated it given 100 attempts, but it’s an unbelievable display of control and skill.
Many of Zaha’s teammates were adamant that it was a cross, as Roy Hodgson asked the squad whether they thought he meant it or not. But like a true forward does, Zaha claimed it, saying on his own Instagram account: “haters will say it was a cross.”
It’s moments of magic like this that make Zaha irreplaceable to Palace, and why they’re likely to turn down all offers, even those in the region of £60m.
What he offers could not be easily replaced and losing a player of his quality would likely see the South London team return to the Championship, or at least put them in another relegation battle for the sixth season in a row.
