It was Oliver Glasner who brought up Eberechi Eze. The question, posed during his pre-match interview with Amazon at Portman Road, had actually been unrelated to the forward, but the Crystal Palace manager clearly felt the need to explain and support his player.
“The strikers get confidence when they score,” Glasner said. “For example, Eze. He had so many chances this season (and) all of a sudden he was (over) thinking. He started to practise shooting after training, but I told him: ’99 times out of 100 you score. It’s not that you can’t do it. It’s somewhere in the mind.’”
Eze has been playing within himself. Playing like someone weighed down by pressure and expectation. That was inevitable after Michael Olise was sold to Bayern Munich in the summer and Palace opted to sign different profiles of players rather than a direct, game-changing, individual replacement. Suddenly, when it came to injecting some life into the forward line, everything was on Eze.
A hamstring injury sustained in the 2-1 Carabao Cup victory over Aston Villa in October was especially untimely, and the 26-year-old has shown previously that it takes him time to get back up to speed after returning from injury. It takes him time to be effective again. That was very evident against Newcastle on Saturday.
He was almost trying too hard; overthinking things, as Glasner put it. His pre-match words felt prophetic given it was Eze who was presented with the best first-half opportunity to put the visitors ahead against Ipswich Town on Tuesday night.
As Palace broke forward, Jean-Philippe Mateta found Eze in space. The pass was marginally behind him, but he gathered and continued forward into a one vs one with Arijanet Muric, only to see Wes Burns deflect slide in to choke the shot and the goalkeeper conjure the save. There were elements of ill luck and smart defending, but an in-form Eze would have taken the chance.
Eze is angered after missing a first-half chance (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
That extra pressure on him intensifies the focus. With games so tight Palace, unsurprisingly given Eze’s capabilities, try to involve him in play as much as possible. But too often in recent times he has had to retreat deep to pick up possession, then looked up to find himself confronted with banks of opponents, their structure set. He is best when escaping from tight situations, carrying the ball forward and finding those incisive passes in behind when the game is open.
He managed that on two occasions at Ipswich.
The first was a pass into Mateta’s feet, with the striker bamboozling Jacob Greaves and holding off two further panicked defenders before lifting the ball over Muric to score the only goal of the game.
The second was better still and far more like the Eze of old; an intelligent lofted ball played over the top put Mateta in on goal. This time the striker failed to summon a finish with the goalkeeper saving. Had Mateta scored, then no one could complain at Eze claiming two assists.
Those were flashes of his talent, but there were also frustrating moments where he slowed down the play. That also feels psychological rather than anything else. The same has been true of several games this season. Justin Devenny, the 21-year-old who has now featured in four successive games, offered more urgency in the the 1-1 draw with Newcastle on Saturday after replacing Eze after 65 minutes. He replaced him again at Ipswich.
There might be an argument that Palace are a better side without Eze at the moment, particularly if they are playing on the counter against a high back line. But it is the longer term view that is more important; Palace need him firing.
He may have just one goal and two assists from his 11 appearances to date this season, but his performances under both Roy Hodgson and Glasner last year were outstanding at times, his goal contributions and his influence on games all significant. He himself says he is best when he feels free and enjoying his football — getting back to that is the key.
He has his manager’s support. Glasner was surprised by the decision not to hand Eze another England call-up during October’s international break, even if he acknowledged the midfielder was not playing on instinct at the time. “’Just stay relaxed and work for the team — these things you are able to do and these things will come,’” Glasner said he had told him.
Palace need Eze at his best to move further away from the relegation zone and look up the table rather than over their shoulder. To achieve that, they must strengthen in January to ease the burden on him, but also find a way to get the ball to him where he can be most effective.
That may not immediately resolve his troubles in front of goal, but the hope is he can provide for Mateta in the interim while he finds his way back to the player for whom goals flowed freely last season.
Glasner has always been eager to stress the importance of confidence. He pointed to it instead of taking credit for Mateta’s resurgence last season, saying his form was borne of the striker feeling the benefit of regular minutes and that one goal would help him to find confidence — which is how it proved.
It may yet take time for Eze to find his best form, but the flashes he showed against Ipswich should provide optimism that he is edging closer towards imposing his talent on matches. It may only take one moment of fortune to reignite that spark.
(Top photo: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
