So…. We lost two, won one. And the back story’s getting tiring. The players are knackered. They’ve clearly given everything. Glasner’s tired of moaning. At least losing with ‘Glasnerball’ gives us shots on goal.
Losing with ‘Royball’ sometimes sent many fans to sleep. So let’s escape sad thoughts for a moment and celebrate this magnificent year – in particular, the men whose shine put a glow in every fan’s 2025.
Most fans believe this is the very best Palace team ever, even though two megastars left just as Glasner was developing what he found when he got here. Just look at Olise and Eze now! Such high class players, they walked straight into teams fighting to be Europe’s very best – and immediately improved them.
If he has the backing to flourish, Glasnerball seems certain to pull our club towards that magical “next level”. You know it’s true. We can all feel it.
But, at Palace, it’s never that simple. As the golden year of 2025 ends, clickbait insists this team’s break up is imminent. So, with the winter window just days away, now feels like a good time to celebrate 2025 and say thank you to the players in this “best Palace team ever”.
Disclaimer: Each fan has a view. To keep it neutral, I asked Pudding Pete who – like me – has been full on Palace for more than 30 years to give me his view. And, to help put these giants of today into perspective, I asked PP to give flying mentions to some of his personal favourites from Palace past. In the words of Oliver Glasner, this keeps us humble, never forgetting that what we witness today is unbelievable stratospheres away from where we’ve all been. So, let’s pop open a Stella, reflect and remember.
Dean Henderson
What a keeper! He should promote the patent protein drink (or whatever it is) that allows his arms and legs to extra-stretch at will just to stop shots, crosses, headers. When he first arrived, I wasn’t sure. But now….. I know Dean should be England’s number one. Of course, Dean’s one of 4 (should be 5) Palace players on duty for the World Cup final in July – if England get there, if Pickford loses form or fitness, and if Guehi is still counted as Palace by then.
My longtime previous favourite Palace keeper was Nigel Martyn, solid and hard-to-beat, not really replaced till the wonderful Julian Speroni. And not forgetting the crazy Kolinko, the only Palace player who ever tried to run me over. In his Jag outside the Players Entrance, after he’d arrived late.
Daniel Munoz
What will this man give just to get Palace the win? There’s no praise high enough. A real star discovered by the Doog. Hero Palace right backs? Marc Edworthy. Never the best, but notable for his unique first touch – almost always square and direct to the touch line. And Boycie. And AWB, a true academy star right from his brilliant debut.
Tyrick Mitchell
Firstly a superb tackler, but now adding more attacking runs (and lovely goals) to his game. Should be in the England team now. Left backs enjoyed for Palace include the rocket shot Dean Gordon, Ashley Cole, pure class even as a kid, and Mark Dennis, my first Palace hard man, who paved the way for Kevin Muscat, Jamie Fullarton, Dawn Sherry (you know who I mean) and, some say, Sun Jihai.
Maxence Lacroix
Palace with Hollywood looks and Lamborghini engine, successfully deleted most memory of Anderson in just a few weeks. Like so many, no praise high enough. Favourite stoppers from the past? Ninja Eric Young stands out, as he always did. Damien Delaney has to be there. Not the best at anything, but always Palace. Gutsy, mouthy, and a very sour look each time we lost. At the other end of the extremes is of course Gareth Southgate, so classy he generally played for Palace like he didn’t want to drop his handbag in the mud. For some, Gareth’s delicacy was a touch too much. Ask Roy Keane. Interesting. Man U stamp on players.
They kick fans too. Before Cantona, all night United had been rattled. And then Richard Shaw whispered in Cantona’s ear. What on earth did he say?!
Chris Richards
One of Oliver Glasner’s real star pupils. Transformed from good player to wow! Only 25, so more improvement is achievable, and I won’t bet against Palace’s own Captain America.
Marc Guehi
From the moment I watched him play for Swansea, I texted a dear friend. Palace must get this guy on loan. He was clearly ready for the Premier League. I never dreamed Chelsea would actually sell him to Palace. He’s been a dream, with courageous defending, extra-fast football brain and a terrific engine. He’s always been good enough to go very very far. No point digging out more defenders from the past, we’ve never had one like Guehi and probably never will again, except……but never say never, eh?
Adam Wharton
In midfield, Dougie Freedman blessed Palace with Adam Wharton, a player young enough, tough enough and skilled enough to be one of the best midfielders England has ever enjoyed. Sincerely no hype. Will he be better than Palace Great Attilio Lombardo? We can only dream.
Will Hughes
Other blasts from the past include the especially courageous Geoff Thomas, the man mountain Jedinak and two called Hughes. Michael, using strength and skill to master midfields and massage matches into Palace’s favour, and today’s Will (I cheated because I couldn’t leave him out). Like the incomparable Fan Zyihi (who demanded a mention for passion alone), Will Hughes bleeds red and blue, we all love him, and he might even now regret all those times he cheesed us off wearing yellow and winding Wilf up. Darren Ambrose was one of our very best.
A quick word too for the late Darren Pitcher. Pitch came as a Clown, and in our minds that only emphasised how useless he was, and then, working his socks off, Pitch turned into Palace hero. And that goal at Molyneux!
Daichi Kamada
His start for Crystal Palace was frankly toe curling, but Daichi Kamada now regularly turns in top-class Premier League performances and you can hear the Selhurst fans purr their approval every time he gets it right, especially the pass inside the full back. A favourite from history is Sasa Curcic, the Serb who added on-pitch political protests to the exquisite passing we all knew he could produce if was switched on, which sadly wasn’t always. Victor Moses was an Academy gem from his first first-team goal on a very dark night at West Brom, and it’s sad Palace were gone from his life years before he played his beautiful very best. It didn’t matter whether Alan Pardew was wearing short shorts or long trousers, you’ll never forget one fact: Alan Pardew loved Crystal Palace so much, he was happy to make a complete fool of himself in front of tens of millions.
Jefferson Lerma
Before he joined Palace, I thought Jeff Lerma was a walking yellow card and little else. Shows how wrong we can all be. He’s skilled, determined and we love his long throw. The Colombian combination with Munoz frequently produces moments to make us all smile. Loved Ben Watson when he played for Palace, and I spent time with his lovely Mum ‘n Dad one time on Bus 2 home from Norwich. Palace people.
JPM
Is this the same man who played for Roy? He can’t be! The improvement is too staggering! I think the JPM we had for the first two years was JPM’s identical twin. And, when Glasner showed up, so finally did the real JPM. It’s the only explanation I can think of. Great Palace strikers from days gone by? Well, obviously a few words are not enough to give credit to AJ, Glenn, Doogie, Mark Bright, Clinton Morrison, each one a terrific and reliable Crystal Palace goal getter. And then there was naughty Alan Lee – we were desperate and he was so much appreciated.
Yeremy Pino
What a player! Flashes of unstoppable brilliance, and we all know there’s much more to come with Glasner nurturing this talent day by day. Mavericks? Olise. Eze. Obviously.
Top, top players. And we had the privilege of watching both grow up with Crystal Palace. David Hopkin, if only for THAT goal. Thank you, Hoppo, in just one minute, you gave an entire summer a glorious glow that lingered for months.
Eddie Nketiah
A formidable substitute, but will we see his best while he’s still at Palace? He’s sharp and always eager to get a shot on target. And, lovely to see, he plays with a smile on his face.
John Salako was a Palace youth product who went all the way to the England team and always a smile-first player too, cheerful even though his career was ruined by a 2-year recovery from a bad fall after a header.
And Wilf! The one, the only. Wilf Zaha carried the Palace on his back through huge numbers of Premier League matches. Anyone who ever saw Wilf sparkle under the Selhurst lights will never forget the unique tingle Wilf gave us all as he won matches for Palace. And we knew he would!
Ismailia Sarr
Credit again to The Doog. I never understood what this boy’s got till he rocked up at Selhurst. But he’s special, lightning fast and ice cold every time he scores. Now, we may have to play 10 matches or more without him due to injury, we’ll soon discover this true value.
Jaydee Canvot
Let’s see. So far, we’ve only had brief looks, but I feel like I’m watching 2021 Marc Guehi in disguise. That would be amazing, it’s an awful lot to hope for, and this boy is only 19. But he does feel just a tad Rolls Roycey.
Walter Benitez
No relation, thank goodness. Another marvel of Dougie recruitment, looks highly capable and outstanding backup for Henderson. Best back up Palace netminders? Best looking was of course Carlo Nash, he gave the goalmouth some eye candy, and was pretty good between the sticks.
Justin Devenny
With such size, scope and skill, he has buckets of potential. His desire looks to be second to none. Guaranteed to aim to use 100 minutes of energy in however many minutes Glasner gives him.
Borna Sosa
At £3m for a skilled international footballer in his prime, too good to be true? I hope not! I want it to work because, flying down the left, he looks the real deal. But that red card didn’t reflect well on Sosa in a game already won. Fingers crossed for much, much better to come.
Romain Esse
This boy has skills to spare and really could be another Eze one day. The sixty seconds that began with Esse’s delightful Anfield shimmy making Liverpool look very briefly stupid and ended with them putting a match-saving goal in our net now feels like the moment an unhappy gulf between Esse and Glasner started to widen. But progress really can accelerate today, Romain! Don’t leave it too long, now.
Before we finish, can I just mention a couple of other favourites from days gone by? When I search my memories for Selhurst, I often see George Ndah, the red ‘n blue blur, so fast and so good whenever he took the ball with him.
One more, says PP. Last one, I promise. He’s always left out when Palace fans talk all-time greats. And I understand why. But….. Bruce Bruce Bruce Dyer. Bruce features in a fave Selhurst story……. Thanks to a blind spot created by Ron Noades, there’s just one row of the Holmesdale Upper Tier (you know who you are) where you can’t see the action briefly. Anyway, Bruce would sometimes disappear into this apparent void with the ball at his feet. We’d wait maybe a second or two and then the ball would reappear. But no Bruce. He’d lost it! Bless him. The expensive teenager who looked like he was always trying…..
Memories are often fun, and just like this moment we’re living, very very special. Thank you, Palace.
