Crystal Palace manager Sam Allardyce has urged star man Wilfried Zaha to focus on the task at hand instead of the speculation surrounding his future.
Allardyce, as quoted by the Evening Standard, spoke to the press ahead of his side’s trip to Southampton tomorrow night and Zaha was unsurprisingly a topic of conversation.
Wilf is not listening to what is being said, good or bad, and that does not distract him from his focus on the performances he is giving at the moment.
For any player, you can get distracted by good publicity as well as bad. He has to focus on the fact he has to consistently perform to the level he is performing at.
There has been plenty of talk regarding the Ivory Coast international’s long-term future at Palace after such a good season, but Allardyce wants his winger to be fully focused on helping the team secure their Premier League safety ahead of the coming term.
That [speculation] happens all the time. If there is any real interest, that interest will be portrayed to Steve (Parish) somewhere along the line. At the moment, it is about creating speculation. Whether it is true or not, most of the time it is not.
Zaha has definitely been the Eagles’ best player this season and is in the form of his life at the moment, but he mustn’t let complacency get the better of him as Palace enter the last, crucial stage of the 2016/17 campaign.
As a manager, you do not want to take the focus away from the player, which can often happen. I have seen it with players in the past, players thinking they are going to move on and they switch off for your club.
Allardyce will hope the former England Under-21 international can be the difference in the clash against Saints.
I do not want him to get distracted from the focus of doing what he is at the moment and trying to get better in our strive to stay in the Premier League.
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