Sam Allardyce’s reign at the helm of the Selhurst Park has gone horribly wrong so far as grabbing a win for his new employers has been overdue for long. Swansea City’s unexpected win over Premier League title contenders, Liverpool, meant that the Welsh side leapfrogged the Eagles, thus pushing the latter in the danger zone. Allardyce is yet to fork out any fruitful magical spell and at the moment, there is a downward spiral which has been engulfing the London-based club.
The former England manager is under a huge burden of unbearable pressure to deliver, and he has a lot of clear loopholes in his side. However, Crystal Palace have seen their transfer window aspirations getting quashed by the failure due to one reason or the other. The lack of rigidity in the defensive zones is still one of the major drawbacks that have vehemently deterred their prospects time and again. Despite a lot of names being linked to the club, it is the recent report of Ibrahim Amadou being targeted by Allardyce that catches the eye.
The 23-year-old Lille central midfielder is arguably one of the most versatile players to have emerged from the Ligue 1 circuit. He can play right at the centre as well as a central defensive midfielder, laying his body on the line and not refraining from making sharp tackles or intercepting the ball in the final third. Conventionally, he isn’t a brand of player who loves to surge forward, rather he is someone who would prefer to sit back and provide a formidable shield to his side when the opponents launch forward.
So far this season in Ligue 1, the former Nancy player has made 19 appearances and has won 29 tackles, 30 interceptions, 36 clearances and 3 blocks along with garnering a healthy pass accuracy of 87%. Let’s not forget to mention that Amadou created 5 chances as well, which implies that putting him in the bracket of a one-dimensional footballer would not be apt.
Crystal Palace’s latest target is a bright youngster who has humungous talent in him to tighten the screws. Allardyce needs to build his team from the middle and over the years, we have seen sides, Chelsea and Leicester City being recent examples, who have relied on their defensive midfielder for injecting solidity to their side to win the league. Amadou still has a lot of brushing up to do but frankly speaking, he could cater to the short-term as well as long-term goals of this relegation-threatened side, should the deal materialise that is.
Statistics Credits: Squawka.
