This post has been merged from a topic called 'lets plan life without zaha NOW' by bexleydave

as much as i like zaha, i cant wait to get rid of him and plan life with out him! hes our weakest link when you actually sit and think about it

why does every attack have to go through him? its all we do.... we get in front of goal on the edge of the box we get it in a good area then...... we pass wide to him every time, other teams must read us like a book. 2 assists and 3 goals in 25 games proves it

this style of play obviously doesnt work as we have scored the least goals in the entire division!!

as much as it pains me to say it the whole time we have him in the team we are not going to progress as a team and break above 10th or maybe just maybe push for europe..... other wise we would of done it by now

I agree Wilf played well yesterday, and hopefully he'll continue to do so. As to who else can do it apart from him and Andros, well let me suggest Ayew can if he's allowed to play more centrally. If we want to be more positive in our play we really need Andros on the right, Wilf on the left and Ayew supporting a CF (presumably Tosun when he's back). It means a riskier formation but at least it would be more watchable.

and whose going to create the balls they need?

I sort of agree with this but I would stick with 4-3-3 and play Ayew as the striker and put either Meyer or Riedewald in a central midfield role behind Ayew. They are the only two midfielders who can pick a pass IMO. As long as Wilf and Andros both cut inside and join the attack I think we will have some success. As others have rightly said however, we tend to play a 7-3 formation which means the midfielders get a nose bleed if they cross too far over the halfway line at present. That also needs to change.

This post has been merged from a topic called 'Rotational fouling of Zaha' by bexleydave

I was in the local Audi dealership this morning (I am lucky enough to have a nice car) and came across an article by Matthew Syed in The Times.

With an introductory reference to the game against Sheffield United, he made a strong case for Rotational Fouling to be taken more seriously than is currently the case. He pointed out that of the last 5 occasions a player was fouled 8 or more times in a single game, 3 of those were against Zaha. He suggested a lower threshold should be applied to the subsequent fouling of a player, so the perpetrator would be booked more easily if the targeted player had already been fouled several times. He also referenced Deeney's comments against Zaha.

Let's see if that starts a debate outside Palace circles. I am not holding my breath. Madley's performance on Saturday was further evidence, if more were required, of the unwillingness of refs to really protect Zaha.

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This post has been merged from a topic called 'Rotational fouling of Zaha' by bexleydave

Unfortunately we just leave it to Milivojevic hence he gets booked every week.

I would expand dealing with rotational fouling to professional fouling as well. The professional foul is becoming more and more prevalent in our beautiful game, Man City being one of the main protagonists. Watch whenever they play, if someone goes past them in a semi dangerous part of the field they will be held back, tripped or whatever to stop the play. They generally get away with the first couple too.

All fouls such as these should be instant yellows or preferably a yellow and 10 minutes in the sin bin.