Diver-boy Zaha [Merged threads]

[TheMajor]

seems he's at the right Club with an attitude like that - deluded or what !

Backed up by the Wurzel Gimp Holloway (whose been at the Club 2 weeks) it seems Winifred has drawn a target on his own back. Unless Palace stroll the Championship this season (like we did League One) then I guess that it won't only be us taking the p*ss at the seasons end.

 

[blue'n'white]

Zaha : "only Messi & Ronaldo are better than me"

There's some part (OK all)of me that hopes he comes up very short.
Deluded little twat
The thing that he's too stupid to realise is that by saying this every hairy arsed defender in the land is going to be "looking out" for him

 

[tinx]

I remember Leon Knight saying things like that. Look what happened to him.

 

[Simster]

He's clearly an excellent player, however last season he was nowhere near as good as Palace fans were telling us. This season, he's either got a lot more effective or has hit a longish purple patch.

The only thing we know for certain is that with statements like this, he is already a Grade A twat.

 

[TheMajor]

Now he's only "50 : 50" wanting to play for England. With comments like that he should immediately be dropped from the squad and told to Feck Off to Ivory Coast.

So looking forward to that prick prancing infront of us on 1st Dec - might even call him a rude name.

 

[Brovion]

I think that quote's been taken a little out of context. At the very worst it proves the lad's got a bit of confidence, good luck to him. I appreciate the non-England fans on here won't share my sentiments.

 

[Eksman]

What an idiot.

 

[Zebedee]

seems he's at the right Club with an attitude like that - deluded or what !

Backed up by the Wurzel Gimp Holloway (whose been at the Club 2 weeks) it seems Winifred has drawn a target on his own back. Unless Palace stroll the Championship this season (like we did League One) then I guess that it won't only be us taking the p*ss at the seasons end.

That's confidence for you. Good luck to him I say. This country badly needs some footballers who stand out from the crowd.

 

[Glenn-Murray]

Completely taken out of context, and you haven't even got the balls to provide the article so everyone can see what you've done.

Look at his Twitter feed: I know there are players out there better than me, I just say that to myself to boost my confidence when I get out on the pitch so please don't take my words the wrong way.

He's not an arrogant kid, he's a nice, grounded kid who is confident in his own - admittedly remarkable - ability.

 

[AMEXican Wave]

He did come accross as a bit of a tool in that article - particularly his dig at Gus, which was based on a total misquote anyway.

It's only a friendly, so he can still go and play for the Ivory coast anyhow, although the tosser will certainly fit in with the attitude of some recent England players.

 

[Easy 10]

"Unless I’m looking at Ronaldo or Messi, I’d never look at someone else and think he’s better than me".

Dear oh dear.

But then is it any wonder the hype has gone completely to this kids head when the Palace owners are splashing up billboard posters around town with the message "he's just too good for you".

Nothing wrong with a bit of confidence, but arrogance like this could well end up coming back to bite him.

 

[seagully]

Where is the quote taken from?

 

[Easy 10]

Wilfried Zaha: Only Ronaldo and Messi are better than me | Mail Online

 

[GreersElbow]

Completely taken out of context, and you haven't even got the balls to provide the article so everyone can see what you've done.

Look at his Twitter feed: I know there are players out there better than me, I just say that to myself to boost my confidence when I get out on the pitch so please don't take my words the wrong way.

He's not an arrogant kid, he's a nice, grounded kid who is confident in his own - admittedly remarkable - ability.

I hate to say, but I entirely agree with you.

Confidence is important in the football, you cannot tell yourself that you're not better than x, y and z. You have to believe you're better than them, that's what helps people play better.

Would rather he was committed to England though, we need players like him..

 

[¡Cereal Killer!]

Former Liverpool and Germany midfielder Dietmar Hamann on Twitter: "I don't like all the hype that's already circling round the kid Zaha. Yes he is exceptionally talented but that's all it is so far. Lessons seem not to have been learnt from Walcott a few years ago."

100% true.

 

[strings]

From what I have seen of Zaha (not a huge amount, admittedly), I don't think he is the most promising young winger in this league. I genuinely think the lad Sako from Wolves is better.

 

[Kazenga <3]

Wilfried Zaha: Only Ronaldo and Messi are better than me | Mail Online

Jesus Christ

Palace describing him as 'grounded'- head has clearly gone in this article.

Fair enough if he can back it up but if he flops he is going to look like a complete prat.

Selhurst Park’s secret is out, the finest player outside the Premier League has been promoted from the Under 21 team less than a day after his 20th birthday.
He is the best player to come out of Selhurst Park since Ian Wright, a wonderful blend of trickery, pace and outrageous skill. The Palace winger can play across all three positions up front but has been switching wings of late as Ian Holloway’s team strive to reach the Premier League.
Peterborough manager Darren Ferguson claimed he was simply ‘unplayable’ after Zaha’s performance at London Road won another three promotion points for Palace last Saturday.
There is even a billboard on London’s south circular with a giant poster exclaiming ‘He’s just too good for you’, in recognition of his remarkable progress.
‘In training the senior players will try and smash me if I try anything,’ he revealed. ‘One time against Paddy McCarthy (Palace’s central defender) I did a double touch, brought it back and tapped it past him — he just wiped me out.
‘I thought “yes, I expect that from you” and I don’t mind because defenders aren’t going to let you mug them off in front of their own team-mates, are they?’

Zaha revealed he worked it all out in the summer, using a core stability and conditioning programme and combining it with long spells refining his mesmerising skills with a tennis ball playing with friends.
His development has been breathtaking as he operates at a different level to the rest of the Championship. Nobody can get the ball off him now.
‘Last season Guly do Prado at Southampton grabbed me and said, “Respect me”. I thought, “Why should I respect you? I don’t know you”. Against Blackburn a couple of weeks ago, Colin Kazim-Richards tried to get into my head. He went through me and after that said, “You’ll have to be sharper than that, lad”. I thought, “Shut up, fool”.
‘It even happens before games now. Brighton’s manager Gus Poyet said Will Buckley is better than me, but I don’t see the point of coming out with nonsense like that. Even last season, when Ian Holloway was at Blackpool, he was saying, “What about your barnet, mate?” because I had a different hair style.
‘When I found out he was coming to Palace I thought, “Oh no”, but after I met him I realised just how good he is. Now I don’t bite, I just keep my head down and don’t care. When I’ve got the ball at my feet I do wonder what goes through a defender’s head when the Palace fans are singing, “He’s just too good for you”.’

Zaha hears that every game at Selhurst Park and even the manager sings it to him in the dressing room after Holloway was taught it by the co-chairman Stephen Browett’s son, Ben.
Zaha is handling the expectation, turning it on in front of Arsenal chief scout Steve Rowley when Palace won at Leicester last month, and earning the respect of Tottenham’s Les Ferdinand and Tim Sherwood at Peterborough last Saturday.
Stoke City and Wigan were willing to pay £3million for the Championship’s young player of the year last season and Palace turned down £6m from Reading days before August’s transfer deadline.
Everyone inside the Palace boardroom knows he is destined for the Champions League, but co-chairmen Steve Parish and Browett will resist any bids until the summer at least.
Zaha added: ‘I see people criticising, when they are thinking like, “£20m? My a**e”, but I never put a price tag on my head.
‘I remember when people were saying Palace should sell me for £1m because I wouldn’t do anything in the game — that was hard.
‘The Premier League is where I want to go but I’m not saying I want to leave Palace right now.

‘John Bostock left Palace when he was 16 and playing in the first team, but he left for the first club that came in for him — that’s kind of stupid.
‘Me, I’ve played over 100 games in the Championship. (Alex) Oxlade-Chamberlain went from League One to Arsenal and didn’t play anywhere near that.
‘I spoke with Jordan Henderson and Raheem Sterling and they both said the Premier League is the place to be. I’m not saying I’m leaving Palace but that’s where I want to play.’
Zaha is learning fast, coming to terms with the attention that comes with being marked out as the best Championship player.
On Monday Nike couriered customised boots to the team hotel with the St George’s cross stitched into the side panels as Zaha prepares for his bow as an England player. His family, including five brothers and three sisters, were booking tickets to travel to Stockholm to watch his full international debut.
At first he was fazed by the call from Hodgson on Sunday night, confused after Didier Drogba tried to convince him to play for the Ivory Coast at the Africa Cup of Nations in January.


Zaha was born in Abidjan, leaving the Ivory Coast at the age of four when his mother and father, along with his eight siblings, moved to England. He has never been back.
But the pull of playing for the Ivory Coast in tournament football early next year is serious. England’s clash against Sweden is a FIFA-recognised fixture but it is classed as ‘non-competitive’ and Zaha could still switch to the Ivory Coast even if he plays on Wednesday night.
He said: ‘Didier called me and I was shocked, to be honest. He’s a humble guy and he was just talking to me about the Ivory Coast.
‘I was born in the Ivory Coast but all I know is England. It’s 50-50 at the moment but it’s a choice I will have to make at some stage.
‘I’ve been with the Under 21s and, now that I am with England, I will have to make a decision.’
He has come a long way from the skinny south London kid who used to cry into his pillow at night when he was overlooked for the Palace youth team.

He was kept out by Nathaniel Pinney, two years older than Zaha and now at Carshalton Athletic.
Until the intervention of Palace’s highly regarded academy director, Gary Issott, he was almost released at the age of 15. ‘I couldn’t get Nathaniel Pinney out of the team and it would break my heart,’ he recalled. ‘My mum would come home and find me with my head buried in my pillow and say, “Don’t be like this, your time will come”.

‘I would invite all my family to the games, expecting to start, and then I’d be told I was close but not close enough.
‘My mum had always been good for my game. She said I was trying to play football before I could walk. I don’t know if I was born with it, if it’s natural. Maybe it’s 50-50.
‘I spent hours with a tennis ball doing tricks, little drag backs in my bedroom and watching YouTube clips of Ronaldinho and stuff.
‘I’d just try and pull it off… and then I’d do it for Palace.’
On Wednesday night, he will get the chance to do it for England.

 

[Brovion]

"Unless I’m looking at Ronaldo or Messi, I’d never look at someone else and think he’s better than me".

Dear oh dear.

But then is it any wonder the hype has gone completely to this kids head when the Palace owners are splashing up billboard posters around town with the message "he's just too good for you".

Nothing wrong with a bit of confidence, but arrogance like this could well end up coming back to bite him.

I think the nub of the debate is: it is confidence or arrogance? At least he hasn't got the attitude of: "Shit, look at all those star players, we haven't got a hope, they'll beat us because they always do". Whether he's got the talent to warrant his self-confidence is of course another matter. I really hope he has.

 

[Easy 10]

I think the hype over him has gotten completely out of control now, but then its no surprise when you read and hear the Palace fans almost fainting in rapture at his every stepover.

He looks like a very good young player with lots of potential, but he's only ever played in the second division, and already he's being touted around as the new Messi. Its utterly insane.

 

[Seasider78]

Zaha : "only Messi & Ronaldo are better than me"

He is off in January as parish will be keen to maximise the hype which will inflate his valuation

Serious question but are any palace fans concerned about this hype and situation? Money aside clearly his head is going to be severely turned and a January move could derail your season