ROY’S JOY AS ZAHA STAYS AT PALACE
<M<IP B@:B# <M<IP >F8C# <M<IP >8D<# Hodgson happy Wilfried i ready to fight for Eagles
ROY HODGSON is thrilled that Wilfried Zaha has not had his head turned by all the attention being paid to him.
Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool are among the clubs understood to be keen on the talented Crystal Palace winger.
Unlike the Gunners with Alexis Sanchez, who was left out of the Arsenal squad once again as his Manchester United move edged closer, this has not been a jumpy January for the Eagles when it comes to their best and most valuable player.
Boss Hodgson said: “We do of course realise that we’ve got a prize asset on our hands.
Desire
“And we do realise the day might come when someone comes and tries to steal him from us – but that could be a long way off.
“Wilf has shown no desire to leave the club, and we certainly are not going to let him go.
“We’ll cling on to him for as long as we can and with as much tenacity as we can.”
Ivory Coast star Zaha, 25, was a rare bright spark for Palace in a match where they got off to a terrible start, conceding four goals – from Nacho Monreal, Alex Iwobi, Laurent Koscielny and Alexandre Lacazette – in the first 22 minutes.
Zaha got precious little from the officials all game, despite appearing to be fouled on numerous occasions.
He became more and more frustrated and responded to home fans’ boos by clapping his hands at them and cupping a hand to his ear.
But he still kept up his surging runs at Arsenal’s defence, earning the corner that led to a consolation goal from Luka Milivojevic in the 78th minute. Hodgson added: “I thought there were several occasions when he was fouled and unbalanced and we didn’t get the free-kicks. “It’s all very well for me to stand here and say, ‘You’ve got to put up with that’. But it’s very difficult when you are on the field – people are emotional beings.” Arsenal’s last remaining superstar Mesut Ozil was at his brilliant best, especially in the first half in tandem with Jack Wilshere. The two linking together in such an advanced role is something Arsenal fans have seen very rarely. It left doubts about how Arsene Wenger will shoehorn his signing from United, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, into his midfield. And Aaron Ramsey’s chances of playing as an advanced midfielder, as he does for Wales, look even more remote.
Wenger admitted he had appreciated the spectacle of Ozil and Wilshere working together.
He said: “We combined well from midfield, yes. In the first half it was enjoyable to watch.”
Arsenal fans will no longer be able to enjoy watching Sanchez turn on the style for their side following his switch to United.
Wenger’s admission that the uncertainty surrounding Sanchez’s future had adversely affected his side is certainly borne out by results.
But after notching their first win in six games, Arsenal skipper Koscielny is hopeful the Sanchez storm has finally passed.
Koscielny said: “It was very important because the last few games we didn’t play well and we didn’t give as much as we need to.
“We were focused on what we want to achieve together, we know we have the quality technically and physically but mentally we needed to push ourselves more.
“We just had one target and that was to win, and the first half was very good. It was important for our confidence and confidence comes with results and wins.”