10 Nov 2013 13:35:41
I heard a few things yesterday from a reliable source.

1. DM does not rate Zaha at all and is looking to offload him permanently.

2. There was huge disquiet amongst the players when the whole back room staff were replaced.

3. RVP has been less than impressed with the intensity of the training and has blamed it for his niggles.

Now these may or may not be true but the source is close to people in the club.

1.) 10 Nov 2013
Sounds ok to me. Wouldn't say i'm for offloading Zaha but he definitely isn't ready for the PL now and won't be for years, an even worse version of Nani at this point in time, brain dead in his decision making and tactical awareness.

2.) 10 Nov 2013
He's played one game for us and you class him as brain dead. Give a run of games and you'll soon change your opinion.

3.) 10 Nov 2013
Completly agree with Mad Hatter, prodigal7 you are a joke, give the lad a chance. Even in the game he played he showed more then Nani has for the last two seasons!

4.) 10 Nov 2013
Prodigal did you see how good Zaha was in pre season? The only reason he hasn't got in the team is because Valencia at the moment is heads and shoulders above him. As soon as Valencia's form dips Zaha will be given a chance, also with more cup games coming up soon Zaha is likely to play some more.

5.) 10 Nov 2013
Ozwald, do you realise how poor Pre season games are? They are money spinning exhibition matches nothing more. Mad Hatter, I've watched him for Palace last season and whenever he's played this season. He's a less skilled Nani with worse decision making. His fans would be similar to Nanis fans in that he does a step over or 2 and suddenly he's the best thing since sliced bread. Lingard and of course Januzaj should be ahead of him in the pecking order, even in the U21s he looks very immature in his play. Whether its on the left or right Januzaj is also miles ahead of him.

6.) 10 Nov 2013
He pretty much got palace promoted so yea he's useless sell him off for a couple of million before he's given a chance. makes sense alright

7.) 10 Nov 2013
Valencia head and shoulders above someone Noooooo he's absolute shocking he doesn't use his good attributes pace? No he slows play down and turns back instead of beating his man, and he really can't cross I'd rather play zaha now.

8.) 10 Nov 2013
Are you taking the mick with the van Persie bit? Lack of intensity only affecting him .? Think you've got to stop listening to paper talk and making out you've got inside info, Manchester United are a multi million professional club do you really think training would be sub standard for van Persie while Rooney is fitter than ever? Joke post

9.) 10 Nov 2013
Ryan if you play Zaha he will cost us matches. Like Nani costs us matches more often than not these days. Zaha is no where near ready. Anyone who watches him closely enough when he plays would know this, the Pl would rip him a new one.

10.) 11 Nov 2013
Prodigal, pre season matches are essential for any new signing to get to grips with a new club. For David Moyes pre season was essestial. Zaha was Palace's best player last season he's no where near as bad as you're making out to be. Fully agree that Januzaj is miles ahead of him but Adnan wasn't ready two years ago so would you have sold him? Fair enough he's younger but players develop at different rates, there is clearly potential with Zaha while he isn't ready at the moment how on earth do you think it's a good idea to buy him for £15m, don't give him anytime to devlope then sell him for considerably less?

Ryan, Valencia is head and shoulders above him. He's not a flair type of player but he gets stuck in, puts in a 100% effort and helps out defensively. He's played well this season so far, started regaining his form and played well again today against Arsenal. The truth of the matter is Valencia can attack to a lot more effect than Zaha can defend, if you are smart you'll know what I'm saying. Maybe then you'll realise why Moyes is playing him.

11.) 11 Nov 2013
If you read my original post I wasn't in favor of selling him, just tired of the usual cliche of "throw him in" and "he's not being given a chance". He's not ready, Moyes has rightly only used him in the Cap One Cup. It will be at least a season before he's ready, there's a hell of a lot he needs to work on off and on the ball. Like I said, I watched him at Palace last season. He was the fulcrum of the team, they gave him the ball at every opportunity to run with, against Championship level defenders that give him an awful lot more space than PL defenders do. Even at international youth level he makes too many bad decisions that would cost games in the PL. He won't get that here. He has a position, a responsibility that he can't seem to understand yet. Moyes is particularly keen on positional discipline. It might take a while or it might not happen which appears to be Nanis case. The issue seems to be him wanting to play regardless of whether he's ready and if he would rather move to a lower team than wait to play here, that could be where this rumor has come from and why he could leave in January.

Pre season helps them to prepare mentally to play for united but not much more. The match in Japan was the only opposition of even close enough quality to test the players properly. Also with fitness levels always so low, it really is little more than exhibition football.

12.) 11 Nov 2013
I had heard a rumor that Zaha was dating Moyes's daughter and it hasn't gone down well.

13.) 11 Nov 2013
Sorry Prodigal got you mixed up with someone else, however reading back at your post you said it'd "years" before he's ready for the PL which I think is a little OTT. I think a a loan to a decent PL team would be a good option because while he's playing for the reserves/sat on the bench he's not developing half as much as he should be.

Also what you said about pre season games, you're right that the engery levels are incredibly low at that point! Surely that's all the more reason to have pre season games? To increase the fitness levels?

14.) 11 Nov 2013
@prodigal7 Not sure what football matches you watch but rarely does a winger cost you a game.Yes they are often the reason you may not have won but cost us games?

15.) 11 Nov 2013
Ozwald, I don't disagree with Pre Season games, I just don't think you can get the measure of a player from them. Those Japanese lads were sound though, good quality there. I'd say at least a season before Zaha can appear in the Pl, a year maybe 2 in other words. A loan may be good if a PL side wil take him now that Holloway has left Palace, but then Ed said that won't happen for some reason. There's also the issue that Zaha just isn't a Moyes type of player IMO and I can see there being some truth in AJH' sources comments, perhaps a permanent move could happen, he's a SAF signing not a DM signing after all.

16.) 11 Nov 2013
IanO, Nani has cost us many games by giving the ball away, being out of position on a counter and not tracking back. It's especially important when we play 442 or a 4231 like we do now. Back in 07-09 when we played a fluid 433 it didn't matter as much because we had 3 in the middle but now its just Carrick and Cleverley/Fellaini/Jones in special cicumstances. Jones is a defensive beast but whenever Cleverley partners Carrick we're bad enough defensively without the need for wingers to not track back. Fellaini is a reversing fair ground lorry and can't cover anywhere near enough ground to make up for Carricks lack of mobility. Carrick is brilliantly defensively but his lack of mobility requires someone like Hargreaves in there or in my ideal world Pearson from the U19s very soon.

17.) 13 Nov 2013
@prodigal I agree with your points about Jones he is and will be a very strong player in midfield for us.Where I disagree is you saying wingers cost us games.We as a team have plenty of chances to rectify mistakes made by wingers (normally) .Occasionally their mistakes may be to close to our own goal for others to have been able to stop an attack.It is a similar thing to saying Rooney or RVP or Welbeck ie cost us a game.Wingers and forwards are not the reason we lose, they are the reason we don't win.Losing games is down to the back four and central midfield.

18.) 13 Nov 2013
Jones will end up a center back not a defensive midfielder.

19.) 14 Nov 2013
Look at what he's doing in the U21 match now to see why he is no where near ready. In the PL, giving the ball away like he has would cost goals. I see Jones at CB later in his career but that could be years yet.