Greatest ever player.

[Paul Salvage]

I have been thinking about who our greatest ever player was/is?
I don’t just mean who was the best player to ever play for Palace, but who was the best Palace player that went on to become world class.

I started watching Palace as a kid in the early 80s and enjoyed watching the likes of Jim Cannon and Vince Hilaire but they were far from world class. I didn’t really get to see Samson but could he be counted as world class?
Then we had the Wright, Bright and Salako era,but again great players but not top top drawer.
(Yes Wright did well at Arsenal but never done much internationally)

We had a young Ashley Cole on loan for a season, and it was very easy to see he would go on to be one of the best left backs in England and arguably Europe, but he wasn’t ours!
We had a brief period with Lombardo but was past his prime.

This then leads me to the most recent crop of talented players.
Wilf will probably go down as our best ever player, but again not world class maybe because of his attitude. I think the same can be said about Eze, and time will tell I guess.
Then you come to Marc Guehi. I think that when he signed for Palace he was clearly raw, but great potential. I believe he has grown into one of the world’s best centre backs and I expect him to win many trophies in his career.

However for me personally I think our greatest ever player is Olise. He is still very young to be given that accolade (accolade = my opinion🤣) but he is now rated as the best winger in Europe and if you take penalties out of the count he is leading in goal and assists contributions for the season across Europe. IMO if he signs for one of the big Spanish clubs he will win a ballon d’or. (Sorry Lanzo) And if France go on to win the World Cup he will play a big part in that. ( not you JP)

It is a shame that we didn’t get to see more of Olise before he moved on to bigger and better things, but I am sure glad that Palace was a part of that journey.

On reflection we have had some great players down the years, and I’m sure a few older supporters will talk about players going back to the 60s and 70s. But were they world class or just great players for Palace? It is difficult to compare eras.

So finally thank you Palace for bringing us some truly great players, it’s just a shame they don’t hang around.

 

[StandbyPalace]

I have been thinking about who our greatest ever player was/is?
I don’t just mean who was the best player to ever play for Palace, but who was the best Palace player that went on to become world class.

I started watching Palace as a kid in the early 80s and enjoyed watching the likes of Jim Cannon and Vince Hilaire but they were far from world class. I didn’t really get to see Samson but could he be counted as world class?
Then we had the Wright, Bright and Salako era,but again great players but not top top drawer.
(Yes Wright did well at Arsenal but never done much internationally)

We had a young Ashley Cole on loan for a season, and it was very easy to see he would go on to be one of the best left backs in England and arguably Europe, but he wasn’t ours!
We had a brief period with Lombardo but was past his prime.

This then leads me to the most recent crop of talented players.
Wilf will probably go down as our best ever player, but again not world class maybe because of his attitude. I think the same can be said about Eze, and time will tell I guess.
Then you come to Marc Guehi. I think that when he signed for Palace he was clearly raw, but great potential. I believe he has grown into one of the world’s best centre backs and I expect him to win many trophies in his career.

However for me personally I think our greatest ever player is Olise. He is still very young to be given that accolade (accolade = my opinion🤣) but he is now rated as the best winger in Europe and if you take penalties out of the count he is leading in goal and assists contributions for the season across Europe. IMO if he signs for one of the big Spanish clubs he will win a ballon d’or. (Sorry Lanzo) And if France go on to win the World Cup he will play a big part in that. ( not you JP)

It is a shame that we didn’t get to see more of Olise before he moved on to bigger and better things, but I am sure glad that Palace was a part of that journey.

On reflection we have had some great players down the years, and I’m sure a few older supporters will talk about players going back to the 60s and 70s. But were they world class or just great players for Palace? It is difficult to compare eras.

So finally thank you Palace for bringing us some truly great players, it’s just a shame they don’t hang around.

Michael Olise 100% and agree with your points. Weve had some very good players but Olise is the only world class player. There isnt a week go by when he isnt providing 1 or more goals and assists for Bayern. Perhaps we could get him back if we diverted the £150m loan intended for the main stand for his transfer fee and wages instead?