What Wilfried Zaha can bring to Charlotte FC

Sam Vanolinda

Wilfried Zaha (Photo courtesy of the Premier League)

With Wilfried Zaha reportedly on his way to the Queen City, I can't think of a player I am more qualified to analyze than the pride of South London himself.

Half of my family is from Croydon and supports Crystal Palace, so I have watched as many Palace games as possible since 2016.

This means I have watched hours and hours of Wilfried Zaha terrorizing Premier League fullbacks and scoring massive goals for the Eagles.

I even named my cat after the guy.

While his move to Galatasaray and time playing for Olympic Lyon hasn’t been ideal, I'm sure Zaha could return to his talisman ways in the right environment.

Zaha is an attacker who can completely carry a team on his back when playing with confidence. Even in the years when Crystal Palace wasn’t able to surround the Ivory Coast International with high-quality players, he still managed to keep the team in the Premier League.

Let's take a look at what he could bring to Charlotte FC:

Strengths

Between the 2016/17 and 2022/23 seasons, Zaha contributed 87 goal contributions (62g/25a) in the best league in the world. During his time with Galatasaray, he won the league with 12 goal contributions (9g/3a) in one season and even scored against Manchester United in the Champions League.

He is still only 32 years old, but he has an incredible resume of contributions against some of the best players and teams in the world.

With that said, his basic stats do not even come close to telling the entire story of this winger.

Wilfried Zaha's 2018-19 Premier League scouting report (Found on FBRef)

Let’s look at his 2018-19 season premier league scouting report. This is a season in which he completely carried his team.

98th percentile in progressive carries. Palace’s entire game plan was to get him the ball in transition, let him glide past one, two, or even three players on the wing, and create chances for Christian Benteke.

Opponents would double-team him and try to pin him down on the wing, but his dribbling ability would leave them feeling helpless. When he wasn’t creating chances, he was cutting in onto his right foot and scoring goals. 

This is the top 5-10% in most dribbling stats in a time when Eden Hazard, Mo Salah, Heung-min Son, Riyad Mahrez, and Bernardo Silva, to name a few, were his competition.

Zaha was second in the League for most dribbles, only four less than Hazard. He was going toe-to-toe with prime Hazard when it came to taking on defenders and creating opportunities. 

Here are four minutes of him destroying defenders:

When Zaha is the team's focal point, he can dominate. With Charlotte FC against MLS defenders, Zaha can go back to his domination like he did for years in the Premier League.

In Zaha’s last premier league season with Palace, he transitioned into more of a forward rather than a typical winger, with 2.52 shots per game, which was in the 84th percentile. 

Depending on the situation, I see him being used in either a creative or goalscoring role in Charlotte. Dean Smith has said they are looking for a creative player or "goal-grabber", and Zaha would fill that gap. He could also be one of the team's top scorers.

Crystal Palace put together a video of every goal he scored for the club:

As you can see, he is a player with a respectable right foot but can also switch to his left when needed. He is also a very solid penalty taker; he could easily take over that role.

Zaha also demands attention from defenses when he is on the field. In his last season at Palace, he helped Ebere Eze develop because teams still had to focus on locking down Zaha, which gave Eze space and freedom to show his natural talent.

The attention he would garner in MLS would allow other players on Charlotte FC to shine, and more space would be provided for players like Liel Abada and Patrick Agyemang.

In addition, Zaha would offer experience and knowledge to the young prospects developing on the roster.

Drawbacks

Zaha is one of the most passionate football players I have ever watched. However, as a superstar player playing under Roy Hodgson, he sometimes experienced frustrating results and moments.

The star winger is not afraid to show his emotions on the field; sometimes, those emotions affect his play. He can become frustrated if things don't go his way in a game.  

That emotion can sometimes improve his performance, but occasionally, it can get into his head and take him out of the game.

He may need to shake off some rust. His time with Olympic Lyon has not gone well, and he has only played in four matches this year.

It could take him a few games to get back into the swing of starting every week.

Summary

I have watched hundreds of Zaha games and seen a few live at Selhurst Park, and he is my favorite player for a reason. 

He was unstoppable in his prime and made an otherwise lackluster Crystal Palace team watchable.

While he may not be at that level anymore, he is only 32. He has plenty left in the tank, and I am willing to bet he would be highly successful in MLS.

Zaha would give Charlotte a true star player to rally around. Carolina fans should be excited to see a sea of Zaha kits outside Bank of America Stadium if this deal can get across the line, all indications are that it's close.