Crystal Palace: 'Surprising' Patrick Vieira decision over £14m star

Journalist Tom Barclay was surprised that Crystal Palace striker Odsonne Edouard was overlooked by Patrick Vieira in their FA Cup tie with Stoke on Tuesday.

The Frenchman was an unused substitute as the Eagles progressed to the last eight for the first time since 2019.

It’s been a strange season for the frontman since he made the £14m move from Celtic. Initially, he looked the part after scoring twice on his debut against Spurs before getting on the scoresheet against Arsenal the following month.

But Edouard has only found the net three times across all competitions since then and has paid the price recently having been almost completely ignored by Vieira.

He has started just once in seven matches and has played only one minute in the last four after being left on the bench against Watford, Burnley and then Stoke.

Alarmingly for the 24-year-old, Jeffrey Schlupp, Luka Milivojevic and Jairo Riedewald all came off the bench ahead of him when Palace were drawing 1-1 with the Potters in their fifth round tie.

Vieira’s decision to leave Edouard on the bench paid off when Riedewald struck a late winner, although it still begs the question as to why he was snubbed once again.

He told GIVEMESPORT: “Edouard was the one that was quite surprising. I might have to look into why he’s not getting any game time at the moment at all, particularly when you’ve got the option of five subs in that game and you’re not winning.”

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It does appear strange that Vieira is hardly playing someone that he signed himself. However, Barclay recently told GiveMeSport that the Palace manager doesn’t have confidence in any of his three strikers, which could explain Edouard’s