When Eagles Dare charts Crystal Palace F.C’s remarkable resurgence from financial ruin and administration in 2010, to playing in the 2013 Championship play-offs for promotion to the Premier League.

When Eagles Dare

## Cheick, Cheick, Cheick

> “I couldn’t sign anywhere other than Palace,” announced Cheick Doucouré after completing his switch from Lens to the Premier League in July 2022.

As a Mali international – the African side nicknamed ‘The Eagles’ – it was like it was meant to be. “I’m a believer,” he laughed. “It’s destiny and destiny always does nice things. I’ve been an Eagle since my childhood so this is a good thing.”

The 22-year-old midfielder arrived with a big reputation, having been a crucial part of the Lens side that finished seventh in Ligue 1 just a year after promotion from the second division.

Doucouré cut his teeth at the AS Real Bamako Academy in his native Mali. The side has produced a number of talented Malian internationals, including the likes of RB Salzburg’s Mohamed Camara and Tottenham Hotspur's Yves Bissouma.

He signed for Lens in the 2017/18 season and quickly established himself in the first-team at 18 years old. Playing in his preferred central midfield role, he helped the side reach a Ligue 2 promotion play-off final in his first full season in northern France.

The midfielder’s efforts didn’t go unnoticed as his performances earned him a callup to the Mali national team in November 2018, where he made his debut against Gabon in the 2019 African Cup of Nations qualifying.

Doucouré is looking forward to working under legendary midfielder Patrick Vieira. “What I want him to \[teach\] me is what I’m missing in my game so far,” he said. “I want him to teach me a lot of things, to reach the highest level. He’s been a really important factor in me signing for Palace.

“I know that the Palace fans \[will\] expect a lot from me. I'm going to work hard and I will make sure they’re happy to have me as a Palace player. I can't wait to start training with Palace and meet my new teammates.”

Doucoure

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Appearances

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Hit woodwork

Penalties taken

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Season

Games

## **Preview** 

The south Londoners took the lead at Anfield thanks to Wilfried Zaha’s first-half strike and then held firm against an intense home surge as Liverpool tried to push their way in front. 

After a largely encouraging performance in the second-half against Arsenal on the opening day of the season, Palace will have taken the Reds clash as another positive sign at the start of 2022/23.

On Saturday they welcome a side in a similar position: with a well-known boss in his second season of Premier League management, a squad built largely of recent signings, and expectations on their shoulders to challenge for the upper-middle ground, Villa will be keen to push up the table this weekend. 

They too lost their opening fixture, away to Bournemouth, but bounced back against Everton with a 2-1 win – Danny Ings opening the scoring, Emiliano Buendía netting in the 86th-minute and Lucas Digne turning into his own net one minute later. 

Their squad brims with recent signings like Philippe Coutinho, who signed a permanent deal in May, Diego Carlos, and Boubacar Kamara. 

Added to Leon Bailey, Calum Chambers, Ashley Young, Buendía, Ings and Digne, Villa have quite the team to push for the top 10. 

Whether the Villans can produce greater consistency will be the key test: in 21/22 they won three consecutive games before losing four on the bounce, ending that run by falling just once in the next six. 

## **Past meetings** 

Villa have had the rub of the green in this fixture lately, taking 10 points from the last five. 

That said, Palace have won three of the last four fixtures in SE25, with Tyrick Mitchell of all players grabbing the winner in a 3-2 clash last May. It is his only goal to date in club colours.

Crystal Palace 3-2 Aston Villa | Match action

## **Tactical overview**

Gerrard is a fluid manager who fields variations on 4-3-3 in most matches. Villa played a 4-1-2-1-2 against the Toffees, with Kamara shielding the back four and Coutinho propping up the attack in a midfield diamond. 

Against Bournemouth this was a more conventional 4-3-3, but in both formations the Villans played narrowly. They play without wingers, with young Jacob Ramsey capable of joining an attack – he upped his goals tally from none to six between 20/21 and 21/22. 

This could work in Palace's favour, with the likes of Wilfried Zaha, Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise able to exploit the flanks, and Odsonne Edouard and Jordan Ayew also having worked out wide lately.

## **Match details**

- Saturday, 20th August
- 15:00 BST
- Selhurst Park
- Audio commentary on Palace TV+

## **How to follow** 

**On Palace TV+**

Live audio commentary Palace v Villa will be available on Palace TV+, a subscription service that gives subscribers live access to selected Academy match broadcasts, live audio commentary of all league and cup first-team games, and much more.

[Find out more by clicking here](https://www.cpfc.co.uk/news/information/whats-on-palace-tv-next-and-how-do-i-watch/2021-08-23/).

**Social media**

You can [check out our Instagram story](https://www.instagram.com/cpfc/?hl=en) for all of the pre-match build-up and [our official Twitter page](https://twitter.com/CPFC) is bringing you up-to-the-minute match updates, eye-catching photos and more.

Our club website, [cpfc.co.uk](http://cpfc.co.uk), is the place to go for team news on the dot, an instant report and all the post-match votes.

**The official app**

The official Palace app’s match centre and live blog is the place to be for everything you need during the Villa clash. With live stats and alerts, a running match commentary feed and lineups the moment they’re released as well as post-match reaction from Palace TV+, there’s no need to leave the app to follow the Eagles’ efforts.

[Download our app for free here](https://www.cpfc.co.uk/news/news/palace-app-upgraded-download-and-use-now/2021-07-09/)!

Crystal Palace will be hoping to build on an impressive point earned against Liverpool last time out when they face Aston Villa at Selhurst this Saturday (August 20th, 15:00).

Preview: Why wings could prove crucial in well-match Villa clash

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Every member of the 15 second-year scholar graduates are finishing their Under-18 season with at least two A-level equivalent qualifications each. Of particular note are last season’s Under-18 captain, Joe Sheridan, who is completing his scholarship with four A-A\* A-level equivalents, and his former teammate Joe Ling, who secured AAAB A-level equivalents, both including A-levels in Maths and Politics.

Sheridan is moving into the Under-21 ranks at Palace while Ling has been awarded a scholarship to study and play in the United States at Missouri State University.

Wales International, Jadan Raymond, has also recently completed his A-level Graphic Design course where he achieved an A\* without dropping a mark. Jadan has also moved into the Under-21s at Palace, where he is continuing his passion for graphics and developing his own brand identity.

Another notable mention needs to go to this season’s Under-18 captain Freddie Bell. At the end of his first year as a scholar Bell has achieved a B grade for the full two-year A-level Media Studies course which he completed in one year. This is alongside studying for a further A-level at Lingfield College in Business Studies and a Level 3 Diploma in Sporting Excellence and Performance at the Academy.

All of the second-year scholars will also have completed their Level 3 Apprenticeship as a Sporting Excellence Professional.

Head of Education Rowan Griffiths said: “There is a consistent theme of higher achievement across all Premier League clubs in comparison with their peers in full time education, something the Premier League are very proud to celebrate.

“The levels of academic achievement at the Academy on their own are hugely impressive for these young students, let alone that they happen to be pretty good footballers also.”

Everyone at Crystal Palace would like to congratulate the players and teaching staff for their superb achievements this summer.

[You can find out more about how Palace players are supported here](https://www.cpfc.co.uk/news/academy/how-crystal-palace-academy-and-premier-league-clubs-support-players-and-their-education/2022-08-18/).

*Football Dreams: The Academy, a documentary about the Palace Academy, airs from 21:00 on Thursdays in the UK only.* [*Find out more here*](https://www.cpfc.co.uk/news/academy/channel-4-to-air-documentary-series-on-crystal-palace-academy-football-dreams-the-academy/2022-08-09/)*.*

As many sixth formers around the country celebrate their successes in the recently published A-level results, Crystal Palace F.C. would like to celebrate the academic achievement of its own scholars from the Academy this summer.

Palace Academy players receive first-rate grades

In doing so, it shows the care and attention of Palace coaches like Phil Hingston, Under-12s Head Coach and Foundation Phase Lead. Hingston says his approach with hopeful young players it to help them have “the time of their lives” by playing football and growing with the club. He is one of a number of staff whose primary responsibility is to support young prospects develop on and off-pitch.

All young players encounter challenges along the path to becoming a professional footballer, be it educational, physical, mental, or social. Palace have implemented a structure to ensure that all the players' needs are cared for, addressed and worked on.

“Through MDTs (multi-disciplinary meetings) we try to ensure holistic development as well as football development,” explains Hingston. “On a weekly basis, with medical staff, player care staff, sport science staff, safeguarding staff, all of the coaches and head of the games programme, we will try and focus on 12, up to 15, players across Under-9s to Under-12s.

“Each person will attend the meeting with notes on three or four players, which could be anything from scheduling, education, or an injury. For example: in the first episode, where \[Under-12 player\] Bola has been getting a lot of knee pain. We find out how we can devise a plan for each individual.

“It’s not always about issues, it’s sometimes just notifying all members of staff in all departments on how well somebody’s doing – so when that member of staff bumps into the boy around the Training Ground then they’ve got some way of connecting with them.”

The multi-disciplinary approach towards player development is a key component of ensuring the club and individual both benefit in the best way possible on and off the pitch, especially in the younger age groups. This is often achieved through Individual Development Plans (IDP).

Hingston elaborates: “We talk a lot about individual player development as coaches… and as part of that we usually break it down into four corners: technical, tactical, psychological and social.

“For example, they could be an excellent finisher, so we do more repetitive finishing. They could be somebody who needs to improve on the one on one defending, so we do drills for that.

“\[If\] we’ve just given a boy the captaincy for the night in order to get him used to his voice and get used to communicating with people, so we’ll let him lead lots of the session and it’ll be player-led.

“Sometimes it’s a psych thing. They’re my favourite \[situations\], because you really see people’s character when they’re out of their comfort zone – not just adults but children as well. One of my favourite decisions is giving bad refereeing decisions away on purpose, or bad scoreline-keeping to test resilience and see how the boys deal with it.

“The IDP session is designed to make sure that each player is exposed to an area of their development during that session and to ensure they have a lot of ways of improving each aspect.

“We have to improve their super strengths as well. If he’s good at something and that’s what’s got him in the building then we need to make sure he continues enhancing that skill.”

From a first-team point of view, a lot of the focus and action takes place on the pitch and in training sessions, however through the ranks at youth level it is almost flipped on its head, with off-pitch aspects taking priority. Hingston explains:

“A lot of the work… apart from direct coaching, is off the pitch. The kids all come in at various age groups and they’re all good footballers. Ultimately, it’s making sure the environment is right for them, both on and off the pitch – probably more so off the pitch. 

“If a kid comes in happy he’ll usually train well, so it’s about finding out how their day’s gone, what they need, have they eaten, have they travelled from far, how was school, et cetera. Sometimes you really need to have a look at the whole framework before even heading to the grass.

“It’s amazing the amount of stuff that goes on off the pitch. Last year I had a lad that got diagnosed with diabetes. We noticed that he was different, low in energy. We advised him to go to the hospital and he got diagnosed. 

“He was in hospital for about two weeks and our staff were just so great, putting a plan together, visiting him in hospital, visiting him when we got home and just reassuring him that this wasn’t going to impact him being in the system. 

“The first thing he said was: ‘I’m going to get released now,’ but that wasn’t the case. I remember going to his house and just reassuring him, seeing him, spending time with him and talking about everything that wasn’t football. That’s just one example.”

The idea of being released affects players throughout the ranks, from the Foundation Phase (Under 9s-12s) all the way through to the PDP (Professional Development Phase, Under-18s-21s) and beyond when players are full-time professionals.

Naturally it creates pressure, but the structure in place throughout the club is designed to ensure that’s managed: the developmental phase is designed to detract from the idea of being released or retained until it is absolutely necessary. 

“When it comes to pressure, I think some of the boys feel most comfortable when they’re in the training sessions with a coach. I try not to talk to the boys about decisions. I’ll never really have a conversation with any of the boys saying: ‘Oh, a decision is coming up. How do you feel?’ Unless I can plainly see that it’s bothering them.

“I think the game brings its own pressures – you’ve got to perform, you’ve got other people on your team, expectations, win or lose, the opposition. There's pressure there, then you’ve got mum or your family watching, the drive in to the game where all you’re hearing is: ‘Make sure you do this, make sure you do that.’

“If you’re playing at a high level, you’ve probably got everyone at school either wanting to be your best mate, or being jealous of you…. For us at the club, as coaches, we’ve got to make sure we create a place where they don’t have to think about the pressure.

“A lot of people say: ‘Just let the boys play.’ Well actually, when they come to us, that’s what we try to do. The only expectation we have on them is to focus on themselves. Coaches would rarely talk about retain and release until the time it comes for retain and release. That’s just one part of a season which goes on for 10 months, so the last thing the player needs to be hearing is about retain and release for 10 months straight.

“They’ve got to enjoy the journey, and we just try and make sure that when they’re on the journey they have the best time of their lives – that’s the most important thing. Yes, there's a three or four week period in the year around being retained or released, similar to exam period in school, where it will be a bit intense, but it’s up to us to make sure the rest of it is the time of their lives.”

*Football Dreams: The Academy, a documentary about the Palace Academy, airs from 21:00 on Thursdays in the UK only.* [*Find out more here*](https://www.cpfc.co.uk/news/academy/channel-4-to-air-documentary-series-on-crystal-palace-academy-football-dreams-the-academy/2022-08-09/)*.*

The dream of becoming a footballer is shared by millions in the UK and around the world, captured by Channel 4 documentary Football Dreams: The Academy, which follows groups of Crystal Palace prospects at different age groups from Under-9s all the way through to Under-18s.

Match previews

Match previews

Preview: Why wings could prove crucial in well-match Villa clash

Palace Academy players receive first-rate grades

‘The time of their lives’: How coach Phil Hingston supports Academy players

Shop online

Latest Videos

How to Pronounce the Crystal Palace Squad

ACCESS ALL OVER | Liverpool (A)

Liverpool 1-1 Crystal Palace | The Full 90 | PalaceTV+

Extended Highlights: Liverpool 1-1 Crystal Palace

Match action: Liverpool 1-1 Crystal Palace

Patrick Vieira speaks to media after Anfield point

28Cheick Oumar
Doucouré

Match previews

Match previews

Preview: Why wings could prove crucial in well-match Villa clash

Palace Academy players receive first-rate grades

‘The time of their lives’: How coach Phil Hingston supports Academy players

Shop online

Latest Videos

How to Pronounce the Crystal Palace Squad

ACCESS ALL OVER | Liverpool (A)

Liverpool 1-1 Crystal Palace | The Full 90 | PalaceTV+

Extended Highlights: Liverpool 1-1 Crystal Palace

Match action: Liverpool 1-1 Crystal Palace

Patrick Vieira speaks to media after Anfield point

28Cheick OumarDoucouré

28Cheick Oumar
Doucouré