Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
ROY’S MARC OF QUALITY EZE DOES IT FOR PALACE
Hodgson shows that reputation counts for nothing in the Premier League as classy Eagles pounce on Bielsa’s leaky defence
MARCELO BIELSA has suffered two heavy defeats by an identical scoreline in the last week.
And on both occasions the winning British manager has given the same tetchy reaction to the Argentine’s loss.
After thrashing Leeds at Elland Road last Monday, Leicest er boss Brendan Rodgers sarcastically said it was, “Because I’m a British manager – I got lucky”.
And after watching his Crystal Palace side conquer El Loco’s men on Saturday, former England boss Roy Hodgson went crazy when asked if he got satisfaction from a result against the “renowned” Argentine.
He said: “Does that mean that people like myself, Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp, Jose Mourinho and Brendan Rodgers are not renowned managers?
“Is it only when you play against someone who you have decided is renowned that I should be pleased with the result?
“I regard the question as insulting. It is a match between two managers who have had a long career in the game and a lot of success.
“I think both of us prepared our teams well for the game and as a result we produced a very good footballing spectacle.”
It is fair to say that Hodgson, 73, does not regard 65-year-old whippersnapper Bielsa (below) as a coaching messiah.
And the last two results suggest the Argentine is more like an emperor with no clothes – or defence ence – in a ruthless Premier League where performances es count more than reputation. on.
The former Argentina gentina and Chile coach is already lready adored by the likes es of Guardiola and Pochethettino. And he now has as 30 more games this season to win over the non-believers – and make his team more re streetwise.
Leeds are great to watch but teams who regularly ly concede four goals s– – three times now in eight Premier League matches atches – tend not to stay up for long.
Hodgson’s post-match bad mood was not helped by the conduct of Leeds director of football Victor Orta.
With the stadium without fans, the Spaniard could be heard throughout behaving like Donald Trump after losing the election.
Bielsa looked uncomfortable when refusing to disclose why he had left Pablo Hernandez out of his 18-man squad.
And in the absence of Kalvin Phillips, the Leeds boss asked Stuart Dallas to man-mark Eberechi Eze.
Patrick Bamford was denied an equaliser by an offside call and Palace’s Palaces third goal took an outrageous deflection off Helder Costa.
But
Hodgson’s experienced side had the ability to absorb Leeds pressure and then use the pace of Wilf Zaha, Jordan
Ayew and Eze to hit back on the break.
“I think they knew our game plan well, they j umped and took the ball in key positions,” admitted Bamford.
And forget coaching gur us, Pal ace have better players.
How many L eed s starters would get into this Eagles team? Not many.
Scott Dann opened the scoring by heading home an Eze corner, before the EX-QPR playmaker curled home a freekick.
Bamford pulled one back before Patrick van Aanholt’s cross went in off Costa. But Palace could have scored more than Jordan Ayew’s 70th minute strike.
“All defeats are complicated and when there are two defeats i n a row it increases this,” admitted Bielsa.
“And in all games if you concede four goals and only score one, then it is going to be a hard reality.”
EBERECHI EZE promised the best is yet to come from rejuvenated Crystal Palace after scoring his first Premier League goal with a stunning free-kick against Leeds.
Only relegated Norwich scored fewer goals than Palace’s total of 31 in the top flight last season.
But the £19.5million summer addition of England Under-21 Eze has injected youth and energy. And after scoring three times at Old Trafford, the Eagles hit four in a Premier League game for the first time since beating Bournemouth 5-3 in
May 2019.
“I think it’s only the start,” said Eze. “I think we’re working hard. I’m learning a lot and growing as a player. That’s the most important thing – as long as I keep learning and keep pushing and keep working with the guys around me.”
Palace boss Roy Hodgson said Eze had helped take the focus of opposition defences off Wilfried Zaha. “His performance was so good and he was able to get on the ball in midfield and run with it, which is sometimes a problem for the Leeds defence because of the space they allowed us,” said Hodgson. “But I also think Jordan Ayew’s performance gave another freedom to Wilf.
“He took a lot of the heat off Wilf in the attacking positions.”