Will Hughes has suggested that Crystal Palace could potentially manage a European finish next season.
In his first season at Selhurst Park, Patrick Vieira led Palace to a 12th-place finish and 48 points – two places higher and four points more than they managed in the previous term.
The Eagles had Roy Hodgson at the helm for four years, with the Englishman making them hard to beat as they remained a solid top-flight outfit – but Vieira has brought an exciting brand of football which saw the south Londoners even take four points off eventual Premier League winners Manchester City.
After sitting out of the first 11 games, Hughes eventually earned a place in the side and made 16 Premier League appearances – and the 27-year-old has insisted that there will be more to come from the team next season.
He told London News Online: “There is much more to come from us next season. We set the bar very high this season and we’ve got to carry on next year. We all want to be ambitious.
“That’s what Patrick has taught us this season, always to look ahead of yourself. And next season definitely we have to carry on the way we have this season and fix the minor issues that we had in certain games. European football? I don’t see why not.”
Has Vieira improved Palace?
Yes
No
TIF Thoughts on Palace…
If the club are indeed to build on this season, they will have to hope they can keep their Player of the Season, Conor Gallagher.
He was superb and flourished under the tutelage of the French manager, scoring eight goals, but he is set to return to parent club Chelsea in what will be a huge loss if the Selhurst Park outfit are hoping to improve on their record Premier League finish of 10th.
Vieira has also brought out the best goalscoring season of Wilfried Zaha’s career, with the Ivory Coast international finishing with 14 Premier League goals – showing at times that he can operate through the middle to great effect.
There is definitely potential within this Palace side, but with the teams around them all likely to improve like Aston Villa – who are already bringing in players – they will need to strengthen themselves in the market and look to kick on as Hughes has suggested.