Eze: ‘Palace want to do better than last season’

Eberechi Eze says the Crystal Palace squad want to improve on last season.

The 24-year-old Greenwich-born attacker played 79 minutes in the final pre-season test for Patrick Vieira’s side – a 4-2 win against French side Montpellier – before the Premier League campaign kicks off next Friday against Arsenal.

The Eagles reached an FA Cup semi-final and finished 12th in the table under Patrick Vieira in his first season in charge at Selhurst Park.

The QPR academy graduate set up the opening goal in Saturday’s friendly victory when he delicately flicked the ball over the on-rushing Montpellier midfielder and played a driven pass into Wilfried Zaha. The Ivorian hammered a shot past Jonas Omlin to give Palace the lead.

“It was a good performance from the boys – we worked hard and showed our quality on the ball,” said Eze.

“Of course, there is still stuff to work on, but the season is coming now, so we have got to prepare for that.

“I tried my best to get on the ball as much as I could, work hard and create, which is what I want to do, really. It was a good day.”

Eze featured more towards the end of last season, starting five of the remaining six Premier League games as he returned to full fitness after suffering an Achilles injury ahead of Roy Hodgson’s penultimate game as Palace manager.

He made 19 appearances last season, recording one goal and one assist.

“It was a tough season all the way round,” said Eze of the last campaign.

“Getting minutes, in the end, was important for me, but realistically I’m ready for this season. 

“Pre-season has been good, I got loads of minutes, and I am prepared and ready.

“We want to do better than we did last season. Last season was good, but we feel as though with the players that we have got in the dressing room, we can definitely do more for sure.”

Eze was set to be included in Gareth Southgate’s provisional 33-man England squad ahead of EURO 2020 before succumbing to injury.

With the Qatar World Cup starting in November, he stands a chance of making the cut for Southgate’s squad. However, Eze insists that is not his focus at the moment.

“For me, I just want to play, enjoy my football, work hard, and I’ll see where that takes me,” he added. 

“Whatever happens, happens, really.”

PICTURE: ROB AVIS