Patrick van Aanholt has the power to frustrate for Crystal Palace, as was shown by the reaction to his performance against Leicester City earlier in the season.
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However, the fan Twitter page Back Of The Nest have shown some statistics from a Premier League article that indicate just how important he can be to the team.
This has got many Palace fans showing their support for the 29-year-old and praising the impact he has.
Interesting. Thoughts?https://t.co/AxLAwNIHdr pic.twitter.com/uK5AUZ4cDE
— Back Of The Nest 🦅 (@BackOfTheNest) February 27, 2020
There is a massive contrast between when Roy Hodgson does and doesn’t have van Aanholt at his disposal, as best shown by the fact they get 1.35 points per game without him, but just 0.86 without.
His influence was embodied by his performance against Newcastle United, as he scored a brilliant free-kick to secure the 1-0 victory, while also completing a very impressive six key passses and maintaining a pass success rate of 86%.
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Fans are clearly fond of the Dutchman, with one saying “he’s one of the best full-backs we’ve ever had”, while another added that he “brings the best out of Zaha”.
I think it just allows better ball progression. When he isn’t there, given in Roy’s system we have very little creativity from the midfield, we rely heavily on wingers and fullbacks. Jairo and Ward are not ball carriers in the same way.
— Tony Gee (@tony_gee) February 27, 2020
Simply, he’s one of the best full-backs we’ve ever had.
— Dave Hill (@Cpfc1905Dh) February 27, 2020
Brings the best out of zaha
— Push Jr. (@BludOnTheLeaves) February 27, 2020
Makes a big difference to us – his speed allows him to link with the forwards. I think hes a great player for us
— crecyp (@creasep) February 27, 2020
Wow… Can’t say I’m surprised tbh https://t.co/HiQKW3raat
— Talk Crystal Palace (@TalkCPFC) February 27, 2020
There are still questions about van Aanholt’s defensive abilities, but fans are willing to put those to the side due to how influential he can be.
The 29-year-old wins just 0.6 aerial duels per game, while he often gets caught out of position and can be guilty of failing to track back, as can be noticed when watching him play.
One fan suggested the best move could be to convert van Aanholt into a left-winger, but regardless of his occasional defensive lapses, he is a man being backed by the supporters.
Not surprising. If he could defend ‘properly’ he wouldn’t be playing for Palace. When he & Zaha link up it’s beautiful.
— Darryl (@Juppopovic) February 27, 2020
@wilfriedzaha and @pvanaanholt doing bits down the left. He’s rubbish at heading the ball but otherwise PVA is quality. Of course Roy keeps getting slated for picking him!
— CroydonLuke (@CroydonLuke) February 27, 2020
He’s a so so defender, I’ve seen worse, Kelly for instance but he’s offensively minded and isn’t that what football is about to cause problems/hurt the opposition, AGAIN get him left midfield with reidewald at left back.
— A.M 🦅 (@bellabiteme) February 27, 2020
Meanwhile, Timothy Fosu-Mensah commented on Patrick van Aanholt’s Instagram post.
