He’s becoming better and better – Roy Hodgson praises progress Edouard Odsonne
Given that Odsonne Edouard scored twice in his team’s 3-2 victory over Wolves, Roy Hodgson is optimistic that the French striker can give Crystal Palace the goal threat they need this year.
On the day of the transfer deadline, Palace only brought in goalkeeper Dean Henderson and defender Rob Holding, but Hodgson said he was satisfied with the strikers he had available after Jean-Phillipe Meteta assisted goals for Eberechi Eze and Edouard after coming off the bench.
With four goals in five league and cup games so far this season, Hodgson believes the 25-year-old is now prepared to take the next step and establish himself as a force in the Premier League. Edouard, who joined Selhurst Park for £14 million from Celtic two years ago, has had a stop-start career at Selhurst Park.
Hodgson remarked, “He was extremely good today throughout.
“He came here from Celtic where he was a great, big star and so well-liked. He scored I don’t know how many goals there.
“He had not yet established himself as much as he would have liked when we first returned to the club.
He did hold that position as a center-forward when we arrived, and he has continued to improve as a result of learning our preferred style of play.
“He hadn’t lost the skill, talent, technique, or other qualities that had made him so successful at Celtic. When I recently spoke with Brendan Rodgers, he was overflowing with appreciation for him.
Hodgson claimed the huge forward, who wanted to leave in the transfer season, is an essential member of his team after Mateta set up Edouard for his second goal with a perfect back-heeled pass.
Hodgson stated, “That is why we kept him.
“If we had a few injuries, it would be all we would have if I were to release every player who is not among the starting 11.
You do your best to take care of the players, but if the other 11 are performing well, there may not be room for them.
At Selhurst Park, all five goals were scored in the second half. Wolves tied the score on Edouard’s goal in the 56th minute when Hwang Hee-Chan deflected an excellent pass from Pedro Neto past Sam Johnstone.
After Eze and Edouard made it 3-1 for Palace, Neto also set up Matheus Cuhna for a late consolation goal. Wolves manager Gary O’Neil felt that despite his team’s lack of offensive, they deserved to win the game.
Since we had good control of the game for the majority of the time, O’Neil said, “I didn’t think we were going to lose.”
“We turned the ball over in areas we shouldn’t have, which gave them the most of their chances. They posed a threat in those circumstances, but I believed that when both teams were in good shape, we had the better appearance.
We didn’t really threaten their goal enough, despite having 60 final-third entries, which is a lot for an away game and more than Palace.
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