Wilfried Zaha is Crystal Palace’s modern reference point. Every attacking player Palace have signed or developed since 2014 has been measured implicitly against the role Zaha defined: a left-sided creator with one-on-one threat, the ability to draw fouls, and an emotional connection to the club that translated into supporters seeing the team’s identity through him.
The Numbers
| Metric | Total at Palace |
|---|---|
| Senior appearances | 458 |
| Goals | 90 |
| Assists (Premier League era) | 65+ |
| Fouls drawn per 90 (peak years) | 3.8 |
| Successful dribbles per 90 (peak years) | 3.6 |
The fouls-drawn number is the underappreciated metric. Zaha’s ability to win free-kicks in dangerous areas effectively gave Palace an additional set-piece opportunity per match. Combined with strong dead-ball delivery from Yohan Cabaye, Luka Milivojević, and later Eberechi Eze, this generated significant secondary value beyond Zaha’s direct attacking output.
The Role Zaha Defined
Zaha’s position was unusual in the Premier League. He was nominally a left winger but operated as a roaming attacking player who would drift inside, drop deep, and even appear briefly as a false nine in matches where Palace needed to control possession. Few wingers have had the licence to be that positionally fluid, and fewer have justified it with consistent output.
The role required teammates to cover for him defensively. Patrick van Aanholt and later Tyrick Mitchell did much of that work. Without the structural support of an aggressive left-back, the role would not have functioned.
The Eze Comparison
Eberechi Eze has inherited some of the structural responsibility Zaha carried. Both operate in the left half-space, both draw fouls, both serve as the primary creative outlet. The differences: Eze plays more centrally, takes more shots, and is slightly less effective at the specific one-on-one isolation that defined Zaha’s prime years. The trade-off is that Eze’s wider range of skills fits more flexibly into Glasner’s pressing system than Zaha’s would have.
For a detailed look at how Eze’s role works in the current setup, see our analysis of his position.
Legacy Off the Pitch
Zaha publicly spoke about issues that other Premier League players had been reluctant to discuss — racism in football, the toll of online abuse, the relationship between players and clubs. His public profile gave a platform to conversations that have since become standard. The club’s modern community engagement work, including the recent Premier League initiatives on social media abuse, traces partly to his willingness to lead on these topics.
The Final Assessment
Zaha is not the player Palace are likely to fully replace. Every successor will be different, because the role was tailored to Zaha specifically. What Palace can replicate is the principle: build the team around a player who carries both creative output and emotional connection with supporters. The modern Eze-Mateta partnership is the closest current realisation of that principle.