VIEIRA’S PALACE COUP
Thomas hails the impact on Selhurst stars as immense
PATRICK VIEIRA’S Crystal Palace young guns are emerging as one of the surprise packages of the season.
And they could put a giant dent in Arsenal’s Champions League hopes at Selhurst Park tomorrow night.
Given their transformation under the inspirational Frenchman, that would be no surprise to former Palace great Geoff Thomas, who believes Vieira’s achievements in south London are little short of miraculous this season.
In 2020/21 Roy Hodgson’s Palace had the highest average starting XI of any team in the Premier League.
Now Palace have some of the most promising players in the top flight.
A trio of the club’s stars were in England’s recent squad for their friendlies against Switzerland and the Ivory Coast.
As well as Tyrick Mitchell, Marc Guehi and Conor Gallagher – the latter is a loanee from Chelsea – on full England duty, Palace had two players in the Under20s side – Jesurun Rak-Sakyi and Luke Plange – and one in the U18s squad – Jack Wells-Morrison – for their matches last week.
They also had one player with Scotland U21s and three with Irish age group sides.
In short, the club’s future has rarely looked brighter since Thomas and his team-mates took Palace to the FA Cup Final against Manchester United in 1990.
“Patrick has built on what Roy had been doing for a while,” says Thomas, who was recently awarded an MBE for his Leukaemia Research fundraising (left).
“Roy was well known for getting the background stable, that foundation.
“But I think Patrick has come in and allowed the flair players the opportunity to show what they’re all about.
“They have become a different team, without doubt they’re a completely different team to watch this season.
“It’s amazing. When you look at the players, their ages don’t show at all.
“I watched them up at the Etihad putting in a really solid show.
“But they’ve done that twice against Manchester City, the champions, and it has been a really good illustration of what they’re capable of.
“I don’t think you can overplay the influence that Patrick has had on this team.”
Even in the mega-bucks world of modern football, the boys from the Palace still have their feet firmly on the ground.
The rapid rise of the Palace starlets under Vieira has their supporters buzzing.
And the former Arsenal and France great hopes they can sparkle again tomorrow night and trouble his former club.