Alan Pardew has said that Palace striker Connor Wickham needs to take influence from former Chelsea and Southampton great, Peter Osgood.
Osgood, who was known as a skillful and powerful number 9 played throughout the 60s and 70s, scoring over 100 goals in less than 300 hundred appearances.
The former Newcastle boss says that the 22-year-old needs to take a few pointers from the Chelsea legend in order for him to become a better striker than he already is.
You need more technical ability, you need more speed and I can think of one or two old players who would be absolutely superb in the modern game – someone like Peter Osgood.
Wickham, who joined Palace in the summer for a reported £7 million, has had a tough start to life in South London, following spells on the sidelines with injuries. The former Sunderland man returned to the Crystal Palace line up in the 2-1 win at Anfield last weekend.
Pardew believes that Wickham has the basics already, but he needs to add to his inventory if he is to become the great player that he wants to be.
He needs to get stronger mentally, physically and have experience. When he puts those three things together with the technique he has, I think we’ll have ourselves a self-defined player.
