Allardyce hails ‘genius’ Zaha as survival scrap heats up
looks a bit miserable so I say, ‘Wilf, come on lad, you’re the luckiest’ because he doesn’t realise how enjoyable this game is. Smile, smile, smile. You need to enjoy yourself because it doesn’t last as long as you think it does.”
Zaha was only able to parade his abundant talent in bursts before he was subjected to an onslaught of fouls which were shared out among the Watford players.
“He gets terrible treatment off the opposition because he’s so skilful,” said Allardyce. “He gets kicked as much as [Eden] Hazard. He’s got to realise that’s down to his genius ability, that these lads can’t cope, and because they can’t cope they’ve got to end up fouling him all the time.”
Watford right-back Craig Cathcart was the player most frequently confronted by an impish Zaha and believes the winger is one of the best he has faced.
“On his day, he is more or less unplayable and I think he has a great future ahead of him,” said Cathcart.
Watford manager Walter Mazzarri shrugged off talk of an impending relegation fight, despite the club winning only twice in 13 games, but Catchcart is less relaxed.
“We can’t afford to drop too many more points, the next three games are massive for us,” said the Northern Ireland defender.
“We’ve got 31 points and we have to get to that 40-point mark as quickly as possible. We can’t afford to be complacent.”
Nor can Palace ahead of a difficult looking set of fixtures when they play five of the top six. “It’s a bit daunting with Man United away, Man City away, Liverpool away, Arsenal at home and Spurs at home,” said Allardyce. “The other games are going to be critical for us to try and get three points.”