Note: all stats are valid as of May 9, 2022. 

In December 2021 we wrote a piece detailing Wilfried Zaha’s contribution to the overall attacking team play, showcasing his change in play style to suit the needs of his teammates. Four months later, with only three games left in the 2021-22 Premier League campaign, we wanted to see how Wilf’s season has progressed since December. 

“Look how they fouled my boy”

It has been obvious for a while now that Wilfried Zaha is the most fouled player in the Premier League. The “Hack-a-Wilf” minigame opposition defenders seem to play against him has also been a crux of Wilf’s relationship with referees, whom he has often times asked to protect him during games (*cough* John Moss *cough*). Unfortunately this doesn’t always happen, and so rotational fouling (spearheaded mostly by Man City and Chelsea and lesser teams like relegation-favorites Leeds) has become the norm when trying to deal with the danger posed by Wilf. Thus, the first question we want to answer is - how many fouls has Wilfried Zaha suffered throughout this Premier League season?

The answer can be found in the figure below - according to Whoscored, across 30 appearances (2491 minutes) Wilf is the most fouled player in the Premier League (91 fouls suffered), a staggering 3.3 fouls suffered per 90 minutes. 

By bearing the brunt of the opposition’s physicality, Wilf takes some pressure off of his attacking teammates. This allows them to express themselves in a more natural fashion (see Olise or Mateta). However, Zaha is not alone in carrying the “foul cross” throughout the game: alongside him in the Top 10 are Jordan Ayew (perhaps the most prolific foul-obtainer in the league, 3.0 fouls suffered) and Conor Gallagher (1.9 fouls suffered per 90). 

“Shut up and … dribble?”

In our December article we highlighted how Zaha has switched his style of play from “dribble and shoot” to “dribble and pass”. In addition, while wild claims had been made in the Twitter-world that Wilf had stopped dribbling, we showed that in December he was in the 90th percentile of dribbles attempted. Let’s have a look at his stats as of May 9, 2022:

Since December, his number of dribbles attempted per 90 has decreased slightly (-0.24), whereas his dribble completion has increased (+0.05), along with the number of players he has dribbled past  (+0.16). These numbers now bring Wilf in the 89th percentile or above in all these 3 categories, showcasing his “declined” dribbling abilities. (PS: according to Whoscored, Wilf has 16 more successful dribbles than Mohamed Salah, on a highly similar volume of dribbles). 

“One-trick pony-tail”

Wilfried Zaha deniers have long since claimed that Zaha’s only ability is to knock the ball past an opponent then try to draw a foul by moaning at the referee. Now, of course, if you watch Crystal Palace week-in week-out, you know that these deniers have the footballing knowledge of a caterpillar. In our December piece we showcased how essential Wilfried is to creating shot  and goal scoring chances and enabling his teammates to shine. Now, let’s have a look at the SCA and GCA stats as of May 9, 2022.

Zaha has more than doubled his SCA contributions since December, in the context of missing several games due to the Africa Cup of Nations. His 99 SCAs rank him 14th in the league, ahead of players like Mason Mount, Sadio Mane, or Phil Foden. In this interval, he has also become Palace’s top scorer with 13 goals (6th in the league, tied with Harry Kane), his highest tally to date. To understand where his SCA contributions come from, we have broken them down in the table below.

The majority of his SCA contributions are still from open-play passes (69/99, 69.7%), and is on track to become his highest in the last 5 seasons. To put this number into context, Conor Gallagher has 16 fewer total SCAs than Zaha but 37 fewer from open-play passes. Compared to December, Zaha’s dribble contribution to SCA has more than doubled, whereas his contributions from fouls have remained steady. Thus, Zaha is contributing more through his dribbles, while also keeping his number of SCAs created from open passes at a high level.

When it comes to creating goal scoring chances for his teammates, Zaha (11, 0.40 per 90) is only surpassed by Gallagher (13, 0.44 per 90). His 11 GCA for the season is enough to place him 24th in the league, ahead of players like Bruno Fernandes or Youri Tielemans.

“Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.”

Throughout this season Wilf has shown an increased sense of maturity and willingness to work for the benefit of the team, and has assumed his role as a leader both on and off the pitch. His critics have largely been silenced, and his goal scoring tally of 13 is his highest to date. The data suggests that Wilf is basically at his peak, thriving in the Patrick Vieira system and playing his best football for Palace yet. Long may that continue.