Our Australian captain Mile Jedinak has been a hot topic of conversation amongst Palace fans this week after the club tasted successive defeats at the hands of relegation threatened West Brom and Hull City, leaving question marks about whether Jedinak is capable of filling that midfield role as we enter probably our most exciting period as a club.
Crystal Palace’s safety in the Premier League looks all but secure for another season and with the summer transfer window promising to be one of the most exciting that the club has seen, many fans have called for Jedinak to be sold on. I’m going to get my view in early, and it will be on the contrary to most of the comments I have read this week; he has to stay. Simple as that.
I guarantee you that if he does go in the summer and we replace him with someone else, further down the line, people will be saying we miss his physical presence and calming influence on the team. Admittedly, the last two games have been poor by Jedinak’s high standards but come on, the whole squad has been disappointing in both of the defeats at Selhurst Park in recent weeks.
Being at the game against Hull, I could say hands down that it wasn’t the best game from Jedinak as his passing was off and to be honest, he looked a little of the pace. Maybe that was because Hull wanted it more than us? We were sluggish and at times very predictable, but it doesn’t mean that after two poor games that Jedinak should be moved on.
Despite this I do think that Joe Ledley should get more game time and that is maybe something Alan Pardew will have to look at. He might have to get the balance right – different type of games call for different types of midfielders and when it is a tight affair, Jedinak is your man to sure up the midfield and batten down the hatches.
If we are up against a team we have a chance of causing problems and in terms of creating chances, Ledley would be your man as I feel that his passing is better than Jedinak’s.
According to WhoScored.com, Jedinak’s average rating for the season is 7.59, he has scored five goals and assisted three with a pass success ratio of 66.5%. Considering he was away at the Asia Cup in January and then suspended for that elbow against West Ham, they are pretty impressive statistics.
Looking ahead to the summer transfer window, although we have a lot of options in the midfield area, they are all of the same ilk so it might be an area that Pardew looks at changing with players coming in and out of the club. Whatever he decides this summer, letting go of Jedinak would be silly, the club could potentially enter unknown territory in the next few years and keeping someone of his quality is vital.
People will disagree and that is only natural but I would love to hear your views on an issue that has gripped Palace fans over the last few weeks – just comment below!
