Following Crystal Palace’s defeat at the hands of Arsenal, Alan Pardew was speaking to London24 and admitted that both Yannick Bolasie and Wilfried Zaha are still not match fit.
“I felt for Yala [Bolasie] a little bit because he hasn’t really done the work. I thought the sharpness of the game was a bit too early for him. My real exuberant players are just below the level, in my opinion. Wilf [Zaha] and Yala are not quite there yet physically.”
Considering that the season only started two weeks ago, you wouldn’t expect players to be struggling with fitness, seeing as they had the whole summer to prepare for the upcoming campaign, including pre-season.
Both Bolasie and Zaha started for the Eagles at Selhurst Park against Arsenal on Sunday, in a game where Pardew’s side would have felt hard done by following a red that never came for Francis Coquelin, and an undeserved own goal from Damien Delaney that gave the Gunners the victory.
Whilst on the field, both the wingers impressed for the hosts. However, neither were able to last the full 90 minutes, as Bolasie was subbed at half-time and Zaha came off midway into the second half. Despite losing, Palace’s performance was a delight to watch once they had found their feet.
