Perhaps his team mates don't want Zaha calm and composed? Perhaps they see the difference it makes when the opposition get him riled and don't want to spoil it?! Personally I love it when the opposition get in his face and wake him up a bit.

Yesterday it was brilliant to see him running at defenders, powering forward when released rather than cutting back and killing the momentum of the attack. He was doing it before Tanganga body checked him so the rough treatment can't take all the credit, but he seemed to go up a gear after.

I also think it'll be especially good for him that referees are under orders to give less soft free kicks. He, like many attacking players, had become overly focused on drawing fouls and if he knows he won't get them he'll focus on beating the defender instead.

He was outstanding yesterday, Spurs new signing from Barcelona, Royal got turned inside out and must have wondered what it was all about. We all know he is a hot head, but my god how many times does he get fouled during a game.

Please may we stop saying the Wilf was "body-checked"? He was pushed over with both hands (one of which was high) at the point of leaving the opposing player in his wake. That was effectively a rugby tackle and in my view it merited a straight red.

As I said a few pages back, if it merited a yellow, the player therefore went unpunished for the fisticuffs with Wilf that ensued. Our mate A Shearer later made the same observation on MoTD.

Palace since 19 August 1972. Palace 1 (Tony Taylor) Liverpool 1 (Emlyn Hughes)

Absolutely. We might say that he struck Wilf with both hands when making his lunge and that, in itself, was red-worthy.

Edited by Glazier#1 (12 Sep 2021 7.02pm)

This use of the hands in the game is beginning to border on ridiculous . In this case it was a two handed assault to the head, both hands delivered with force to Wilfs mouth, chin, and throat area.
In rugby you can not do that in a deliberate way. It would not qualify as a tackle in the first place, and a tackle can not be delivered to the head anyway. The Spurs ,player would have gone off in Rugby,
If football was not losing its way ,he should have gone there and then. As for Wilfs reaction, on this occasion anyone of spirit would have reacted . A lot of continental pro,s would have stayed down and highlighted what had actually happened to them.

My instinct was similar initially, but then I concluded otherwise. For me, once a defender realises that he can't stop the attacker lawfully and has to take a yellow for the team, I'd far rather that he pushes the attacker over with both hands than lunges in with his feet to stop him. The former can knock a man over and wind him, but is unlikely to cause damage. The latter can break a leg, especially when the defender is facing straight on to a fast moving forward, as Tanganga was with Wilf yesterday.

Edited by TheBigToePunt (12 Sep 2021 9.26pm)