Patrick Vieira has been building a new culture at Crystal Palace since he joined last summer, adding a number of young players into the fold to freshen up the ageing squad he inherited from his predecessor Roy Hodgson, and with the Eagles in with the chance to finish in the top half, the French manager’s youth revolution is clearly doing the job.
Crystal Palace have gone from a squad with an average age of 29.8 which was the oldest in the Premier League last season, to an average age of 28 in just nine months, dropping them four places behind Wolves, West Ham, Watford and Burnley, thanks to the young talent Vieira integrated into the squad this season.
The likes of Marc Guehi, Conor Gallagher and Michael Olise are having such an impact on the team this season and being key players in the system that has earned seven victories and 13 draws this season, it would seem likely to the Palace boss will want to continue to keep youth at the heart of the team moving forward.
With that in mind, the former Arsenal player turned manager must finally axe Luka Milivojevic as he clearly doesn’t fit the vision that Vieira has for the team moving forward as he is one of the older players, which reflects in the amount of game-time the midfielder has earned this season so far.
The 30-year-old who was hailed “valuable” by former manager Roy Hodgson, has only made 12 appearances in the Premier League this season, averaging 54 minutes of play per appearance so far, which speaks volumes from the manager’s perspective, with Milivojevic’s role and responsibility in the side becoming less valuable and relied on by the Frenchman.
With a summer transfer window coming up in a few months there is no doubt that Vieira will be focusing on his next moves and putting a plan in place to continue to thrive and succeed in his Palace journey.
When you consider that Milivojevic is on £80k-per-week it could be the perfect opportunity for Steve Parish to offload the midfielder to boost transfer funds and put the club in a position to offer an attractive wage package to a younger player that the club may want to sign this summer.
In other news: CPFC had a shocker on “frightening” ace who’s “a threat to any defence”
