For a player that was serving his trade in the Maltese Premier League eight years ago, Yannick Bolasie has enjoyed somewhat of a meteoric rise in the football pyramid since then.
The Lyon born winger began his footballing career at Rushden & Diamonds in their youth team where he featured in a hand full of games without actually being signed on. After a short spell at Southern Premier League side Hillingdon Borough, Bolasie decided to make a move to the relatively unknown Maltese Premier League. This decision sprouted from a contact he had in Malta who suggested that Bolasie should come across Europe for a trial at the Maltese outfit Floriana.
Following his spell in Malta, Bolasie was offered a trial at Plymouth Argyle and a two-year contract was signed. He enjoyed limited success with a loan spell back at Rushden & Diamonds but improved whilst playing on loan at Barnet. Eventually, he broke into the Plymouth Argyle first team and racked up 51 appearances, scoring eight goals. However, owing to Argyle’s financial plight, Bolasie was made available at a fraction of his true market value and was sold to Keith Millen’s Bristol City in June 2011 for an undisclosed fee, believed to be around £50,000.
After making a total of 25 appearances and helping Bristol City survive relegation to League One, Bolasie handed in a written transfer request in August 2012 because he wanted to move closer to London. Dougie Freedman then proceeded to buy the winger for an undisclosed fee and this is where Yannick Bolasie ended up at Selhurst Park.
During Palace’s promotion campaign season of 2012/13 in the Championship, Bolasie formed a formidable partnership with Wilfried Zaha. The pair frequently supplied Glenn Murray with chances, which undoubtedly helped the striker reach his remarkable goal tally of 31 goals for the season.
Bolasie experienced a slow start to his debut Premier League season, having to wait until October for his first appearance. As you can imagine, coming into Ian Holloway’s side at this point of the season with low morale and consecutive losses was never going to be easy. However, under Tony Pulis, and like the rest of the team, Bolasie vastly improved his game, and perhaps this was purely down to the large injection of self-belief that the manager provided.
A player like Bolasie needs self-belief, determination and confidence. His direct running, his flair, and his high number of dribble attempts all require these mental attributes. He is the type of winger that receives the ball and immediately wants to take the defending full-back on, that is his first instinct. Not only is he a keen dribbler, Bolasie possesses a dangerous amount of pace, and standing at 6”2 tall, he is also a very strong player who is particularly hard to tackle.
You watch when he is in possession, he will use every limb possible to protect the ball at his feet, a seemingly basic technique that he succeeds with in the Premier League. His determination to keep that ball, or retrieve it when lost bodes well too, making him an all-round hard working player. During his time playing for the Eagles in the Championship, Bolasie said that Dougie Freedman told him to ‘express himself’ on the pitch, and I believe Tony Pulis would have encouraged this too.
Pulis developed his game by not only injecting this self-belief, but also allowed Bolasie to understand the importance of the defensive role of a wide-man. You can see this in his work-rate, his tracking back and his marking, which have all improved under the Welshman. Pulis was very fond of Bolasie, claiming that him and Puncheon were the ‘catalysts to everything we do’ and were both ‘always a threat’ to the opposition. The pair both hit fine form in the second half of the season, unquestionably keeping fellow winger Tom Ince out of the starting eleven. Like he did with Zaha, Bolasie has formed a dangerous partnership with Jason Puncheon since playing in the Premier League. They can both play on either side of the pitch, allowing them to switch flanks in games, an old trick in the book, which can still cause confusion for the opposition defence. Bolasie’s competency with both feet also allows him to be equally as effective on both flanks.
This season has seen the return of club hero Wilfried Zaha on loan from Manchester United, who has started strongly in his native red & blue colours, scoring on his debut versus Newcastle United. Yet the two most recent games, two impressive wins against Everton and Leicester City have both seen Zaha starting on the bench with Warnock opting for Pulis’s favourite wing pairing of Bolasie and Puncheon. The competition for the wide positions have stepped up a level and the two wingers seemed to have recognised that in their performances, upping their games in order to cement their starting places in the team.
Bolasie tormented John Stones at Goodison Park, constantly twisting and turning round the defender, conforming to his unpredictable nature. He capped a fantastic display with his first Premier League goal, a neat finish slotted into the bottom right corner, which finished a deadly counter-attacking move. Bolasie continued his fine form onto Palace’s next game versus Leicester. This time, Ritchie De Laet was the unfortunate victim, who was even substituted during the second half in an attempt to quieten Bolasie’s threat. Neil Warnock said after the game that ‘he [Bolasie] doesn’t know what he’s going to do next so the defenders have got no chance!’
Quite an accurate description of Bolasie’s style, which was demonstrated by his remarkable, mazy run into the Leicester City box during the second half, spoilt by a perfect sliding challenge by Dean Hammond.
With his pace, strength, flair and unpredictability, Yannick Bolasie fits in perfectly into a powerful Crystal Palace side that hit some excellent form before the defeat at Hull City.
You can read previous Player Profiles here – Joel Ward – Danny Gabbidon – Jason Puncheon.
