Ian Wright reveals Crystal Palace boss Patrick Vieira’s reaction to Joao Felix red card for Chelsea against Fulham
Chelsea will be hosting Crystal Palace on Sunday. Both teams are struggling to win games, and a victory for either one of them could give them some respite to their fans.
And in the Wrighty’s House podcast, former Arsenal star Ian Wright revealed (via Football.London), the head coach of Crystal Palace, Patrick Vieira was relieved to see Joao Felix sent off against Fulham.
“I’ve got to tell you, last night I was watching the game with Patrick Vieira and we were waxing [lyrical], waxing over Joao Felix, saying how well he was playing in his first game.”
“When he got sent off Patrick literally got up and just went to the kitchen. Just to say ‘yes! Yes!’ He got up and looked at me, smiled at me. Went to the kitchen.”
The Portuguese’s loan signing from Atletico Madrid seemed to have paid dividends in the game against Fulham as the 23-year-old was able to exhibit his qualities which kept Chelsea on the front foot in the match.
Felix was active throughout the game, contributing to setting up and creating attacks, which might have given Palace’s manager a headache on how to stop Felix given that his team’s next game is against Chelsea.
But a red card for the Chelsea newboy has given a huge relief to the former Arsenal midfielder. He can use all the help that he can get before taking his struggling Palace side to Stamford Bridge.
Both managers are under pressure; Vieira has lost three of his last four matches since the World Cup, while Graham Potter has only won one of his last nine games. They are hoping to turn things around in this encounter.
Chelsea would hope to extend their winning streak against Palace, which has lasted in their last five head-to-head games. The Blues’ predicament has been made worse by Felix red and Denis Zakaria’s injury, but we have enough talented players to stand up and shift the tide.
We have Hakim Ziyech, Mason Mount, and even Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as the players available to place down both flanks. Raheem Sterling and Christian Pulisic’s injury issues would compound Potter’s injury troubles, while Mykhaylo Mudryk is a player who can join us, but later in the window.
More Chelsea News:
- Chelsea will make a decision on the future of David Datro Fofana in the second half of January
- Pep Guardiola urges Chelsea owner Todd Boehly to give Graham Potter time
- Chelsea target Wilfried Zaha could only leave Crystal Palace in the summer
Chelsea are superior to Palace thanks to the players’ enormous talent, at least on paper. But we cannot afford to take them lightly considering the talent that they possess, with the likes of Eberechi Eze, Wilfried Zaha, and Michael Olise capable of hurting our backline.
For the players and Potter, this will be a crucial match, and we will need fans’ support more than ever. And hopefully, we navigate this tough period without the likes of Felix and co. without any losses.