patrick vieira manager
What were your initial thoughts on the game?
I think it was a really good team performance. We started the game quite well with a lot of energy. We competed quite well, managing to win the ball quite high. I’m really pleased with that performance that we had today.
Were you pleased with that performance from Odsonne Edouard?
I think it’s a dream start for him. He came on and was among space which allowed him to score those two goals. But we have to give credit to Christian Benteke who worked really hard in the first 70 minutes and then when Edouard came on he just finished the job and took his chances well.
Red card and penalty – initial reaction to those?
I was too far I couldn’t see, it was on the opposite side to where we were. It’s difficult for me to talk about it. Obviously, it went in our way so I’m pleased, but next time it could go against us.
Was that win made better by the fact that it was against Spurs?
No, not at all. What we really wanted as a football club and as a team was to win the game. Lately, we have played some really good football but we couldn’t win games. We wanted that win because that will gives us confidence, that was the most important thing for us.
What do those goals mean for Edouard mean for Crystal Palace?
For him to come on and score those two goals is really good for him. It will give him the belief and more confidence to do well for the team. I’m really happy for him because it will help the team in the future. We are a team though and again I will mention Christian because of his work ethic. When Edouard came on he had more space in the line and more time in the box and that allowed him to score those two goals. I don’t want to take away from those two chances that he took because he did really well, but I want to give Christian credit as well because of the way he worked in the first 70 minutes.
Difficult to control emotions during that?
I think we wanted to improve that side of our game, how can we compete being calm and composed? We learn a lot and there’s still more to come from this team. Today we competed well with calm and concentration on the details, winning the game. I was really pleased about the way we defended as a team. We didn’t give them a lot of space to create chances, we compete in all our duels and if you want to win games this is something that has to be consistent in your performance.
Relieved personally?
No I think it’s important for us to keep calm and keep working. We have to try to improve. The group of players we have is ready to compete in the Premier League – it’s just about being consistent in our performances. Today we played well, we scored those goals – how can we take that to our next game?
Lots of strength off the bench
Yeah, I think we had a couple of players coming back from injuries. We had a couple of players we brought in during the transfer market. As a squad that allows us to be more competitive. I’m really happy with the business we did in the transfer window but we need to keep working. Today we had a really good performance, a solid performance. but there are still details we need to improve on.
Zaha importance
He’s a really important player for us. Wilfried is a technical leader I would say in the team. When he gets the ball at his feet he is direct, he is good on the one v one. I would like him to score more goals because I think he has the quality and the talent to do it. But today it was as well bout him working out of possession. Today he made the effort to come and help Tyrick.
Keep getting him running down the wing? Not had a chance to do it much before today
This is something that we needed to improve. In the game today we were better than the last game in that way. It’s about how can we give the ball a little earlier to the front three and how they make the run. How we can give them the support they need to perform. Today was good in that, we improved that side of the game compared to the last game we played. But we need to stretch a little bit more the opposition as we had players on the wing who are really good in the one v one with a really good pace too. I was really pleased with that aspect of the game.
