Olise and Eze performance gives Crystal Palace fans cause for optimism
Sunday’s game at Elland Road was a historic one for Crystal Palace, and not just because Jordan Ayew scored twice.
A 5-1 victory over Leeds United went down as the club’s joint-biggest away win in Premier League history, matching a 5-1 triumph over West Bromwich Albion in December 2020 that was also overseen by Roy Hodgson.
Moreover, Palace completed 34 successful dribbles against Leeds, a top-flight record since such data began to be collected in 2003/04. Ebere Eze (9) and Michael Olise (6) were responsible for a large chunk of the total, as the dynamic duo inspired Palace’s most impressive performance of the season.
Olise in particular was electric at Elland Road. The winger provided three assists in the second half, 37.5% of his tally for the entire campaign. None were from set-pieces, so the 21-year-old became the youngest Premier League player of all time to provide three assists from open play in a single match. Little wonder that his performance earned a perfect 10 in WhoScored’s rating system.
Some of Olise’s touches and feints were breathtaking. Hodgson will have been even more pleased with his decision-making and end product. Whether it was crossing for Ayew’s first goal, teeing up Eze for his strike, or playing in Odsonne Edouard for Palace’s fourth, Olise consistently made the right choice in possession. He has now made 1.8 key passes per match season, a tally that only 13 players in the division can better.
This match showed that the France Under-21 international is at his most dangerous on the right flank, from where he can cut inside onto his stronger left foot. Patrick Vieira often preferred to deploy Ayew on that wing, with Olise used centrally. But Hodgson’s decision to move Ayew left and put Olise in his best position paid dividends.
Eze was not far behind his teammate in the player of the match stakes - WhoScored’s rating system gave him a 9.18. After injury disrupted his season in 2021/22, the former Queens Park Rangers man has again found himself in and out of the team this term. He started only one of Palace’s last seven matches under Vieira, who was unable to find a place in his team for the attacking midfielder.
In fairness to the Eagles’ former boss, Eze had not exactly set the world alight post-World Cup, and there were questions of balance when he, Olise and Wilfried Zaha all started in the same side. It is to Hodgson’s credit, though, that he found a way to fit that trio into the same XI for the 2-1 victory over Leicester City without harming Palace’s coherence.
No player completed as many dribbles as Eze against Leeds. Nine of his 10 attempts were successful, giving him an unrivalled completion rate of those who attempted more than one. The attacking midfielder is a master at resisting pressure in the centre of the park, and his ability to wriggle away from opponents is a sight to behold. No Premier League midfielder who predominantly plays centrally can match Eze’s rate of 1.8 dribbles per game.
Palace have not yet done enough to secure their Premier League status, although two more wins from their remaining eight matches should be enough for them to get over the line. There was plenty of scepticism when Steve Parish chose to fire Vieira and rehire Hodgson, but the 75-year-old has dramatically exceeded expectations in his first two games at the helm.
If Palace pull further clear of the dropzone, attention will quickly turn to Zaha’s contractual situation: the Ivory Coast international is set to become a free agent on June 30. Palace are desperate to keep hold of their greatest ever player, but in all likelihood the 30-year-old will seek a new challenge elsewhere.
That would once have been a source of trepidation for Palace fans, and there is no doubt that the team would be stronger with Zaha in it. But the continued development of Olise and Eze should offer the Selhurst Park faithful a degree of comfort. Signed from the Championship by sporting director Dougie Freedman, the pair bring no shortage of guile and invention to this Palace side.
Both Hodgson and his successor will want to see more goals from them, though. Eze has five to his name this season, a decent return considering he has started only 22 games in a team that has struggled for much of the campaign.
But Olise has found the net just twice and only once from open play. Speaking at an event at the French Embassy in London last year, Arsene Wenger implored his compatriot to "score more goals".
That will surely come. Olise is only 21 years old and he is already more polished than many wingers of comparable age. With him and Eze in the same side, Palace fans have cause for optimism once more.
