Wilf? Defend? I wish he would!

I tell you, I am seriously worried on that score.

It's a modern game and I think he needs to realise that he cannot afford to switch off defensively the way he has been doing.

He ball-watched and lost his attacker for the first goal on Saturday and I even saw him half turn his back on the shot for Leicester's third strike.

I remember Gabbidon turning his back on a shot - it is never good.

Lackadaisical is indeed the word.

I want to see Zaha acting in a far more mature and professional way.

Stop whinging, look sharp on and off the ball and be a man.

You're not a starlet anymore.

(dons helmet).

Zaha does far more defensive work than Townsend. He's come on leaps and bounds in terms of his defensive application. I don't recall him being at fault for any of the goals on Saturday. He ducked out of blocking for the Fuchs goal against Leicester but Tomkins practically dived away from the ball which was far worse.

Wilf has matured into an excellent footballer with a little help from Super Al.
He works his socks off every time,and he really cares.
If all the players showed the same commitment we'd have no problems.
I'm astonished that some fans find time to criticise him.

On the contrary, I wish he would be relieved of defensive duties. Look at Chelsea with Hazard, he struggled for over a year until Conte had the wisdom to implement a system which has given him the defensive freedom to flourish and he has been virtually the best player in the league recently as a result. Well, we're not Chelsea and Zaha isn't Hazard but he remains our most creative outlet by a mile and I'd like to see Pardew set the team up with the intention of letting Wilf express himself without having to worry about getting back and defending.

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold...

The problem is Zaha's build. Too lanky and not enough leg strength. Antonio and Moses have a lot of of that, and a build similar to say Kenny Sansom (back in the 80's!) is ideal for a wing back. You could have had a go with Bolasie as a wing back as he has the all round body strength, but don't think he'll ever have the fitness to do constant shutlles back and forth. The same with Wilf really.

Some of these comments are just crazy.

Of course he's not going to be as defensive as Moses in that Chelsea system - he's not playing as a wing back.

Yes he had a couple of defensive lapses where he switched off for half a second, but that happens a lot and he was unfortunate that he was punished for it. There were a lot of other occasions where Palace players switched off but Liverpool didnt quite put the ball in the back of the net.

His defending and tracking back has come on leaps and bounds - he is averaging 3 successful tackles a game and more than one interception. He definitely is putting in the work.

Plus he is by far our most creative player in open play, we are very lucky to have him. Tbh I hope he keeps going under the radar as he could play at a better team than ours.

Someone also mentioned he needs to get back to his natural game and take players on - in the last 2 games he had 11 completed dribbles vs Leicester and 7 vs Liverpool - he is one of the most prolific dribblers in the league

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