LUKA WHO HODGSON JUST LOVES
ROY HODGSON hailed Luka Milivojevic for having two of the qualities he values the most in a player – reliability and consistency.
While Hodgson has been forced to chop and change in goal, in defence and up front due to form and injuries, midfielder Milivojevic (left) has been a rare constant for the Crystal Palace boss.
Milivojevic, 27, is Palace’s leading appearance maker – featuring in all but two league games – and scorer with 10 goals. Kevin De Bruyne ........ Leroy Sane ................... David Silva ..................... Dele Alli ......................... Henrikh Mkhitaryan ..... Paul Pogba ..................... Christian Eriksen .......... Mohamed Salah ............ Pascal Gross .................. Mesut Ozil ................... Raheem Sterling .... Riyad Mahrez .......
And Hodgson said: “Luka is one of those guys from the start who has played 90 minutes and then trained every day and got ready for the next game.
“As a football coach that is the biggest compliment you can pay a player that a) you go out on the field and do your job every week and b) do it well.
“Those players are the ones that, as a manager, I am looking for because, for me, reliability and consistency of performance are two factors in a football player I praise unbelievably highly.” Ryan, Schelotto, Duffy, Dunk, Bong, Stephens, Kayal, Gross, Izqueirdo, Murray, Knoackaert
Andre Marriner Palace 34, Brighton 37, Draws 25 Palace 10/11, Brighton 19/5, Draw 11/5