Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson believes that Premier League referees can “100 per cent” be trusted to protect Eagles star man Wilfried Zaha from rough treatment.
Zaha, Palace’s talisman, has frequently complained of being treated unfairly this season, with the player complaining that he is being targeted by other teams, which with a reputation for diving that still hands over his head, doesn’t make for a fair playing field for the Ivory Coast international.
Last month Zaha even complained that it appeared he would have to get his leg broken before anyone would be sent off for a harsh challenge on him, a comment that sparked debate.
However, Hodgson believes that Palace have now washed their hands of the complaint, and that officials can now be relied on to make the right decisions.
This comes off of the back of Watford striker Troy Deeney openly admitting that his team devised a plan to ‘kick’ Zaha in a way that would prevent any of them being sent off.
When asked whether he was concerned about the Zaha situation going forward, as quoted by Sky Sports, Hodgson said:
I think I am concerned for him but I am concerned for all players.
We, as coaches and managers, don’t want to see the best players in the league, the most exciting and entertaining, in any way kicked out of a game or intimidated.
I think I speak for the bulk of my colleagues when I say that as well.
What happened and what was said is water under the bridge – we don’t allude to it or talk about it at all.
We expect Wilf to continue to take players on, to go into situations where he risks being fouled and risks being kicked – but he is a brave guy and we trust 100 per cent in the referees to crack down on any wrong tackles, any bad fouls, any wrong behaviour.
We expect referees to do that and we trust them to do that as well, so as far I am concerned there really is nothing to add to the subject.
It caused a week of debate but it seems to me to be very much in the past now.
For the future, we just expect Wilf to carry on doing what Wilf does so well, i.e. getting into dangerous situations and tormenting opposing defences.
