HLTCO podcaster Dan Cook believes that Jordan Ayew could be deployed on the left for Crystal Palace after his latest World Cup outing.
Patrick Vieira and many Palace fans will have been delighted yesterday as Ayew turned out for Ghana and starred on the left wing, putting in two deadly crosses which both led to goals for the Black Stars.
The Palace boss may now believe Ayew could possibly do a job on that side at Selhurst Park, and in turn, free up Wilfried Zaha to operate through the middle as the club’s main striker – something he’s done often over the last few seasons.
Speaking on the HLTCO podcast, Cook certainly believes this could be an avenue to explore for Palace.
He said: “You look at his output for Ghana on the left-hand side and you do start to wonder – or at least I do – whether or not he might be of better use to us out there.
“And there is potential, as far as I’m concerned, for shifting Wilfried Zaha into the middle more regularly and using Jordan Ayew on the left and Michael Olise on the right.”
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TIF Thoughts on Ayew as a left winger…
Ayew has certainly proved himself to be a great servant for Palace since arriving back in 2018, having gone on to rack up 149 appearances for the Eagles while turning out in several different positions.
This season and for the majority of his time under Patrick Vieira, he’s been deployed as a right-winger, but after showing what he’s capable of doing when allowed to cut inside and use his right foot, there is certainly an argument for using him on the opposite flank in the Premier league.
Vieira will of course know best and if putting Zaha in the middle was going to cause more problems than it’s worth, Ayew will perhaps be more likely to stay out on the right, but it does at least offer the Frenchman yet another option in the final third.