Wilfried Zaha says Crystal Palace are going through a 'transition period'
Friday 4 November 2016 23:06, UK
Wilfried Zaha believes Crystal Palace are going through a "transition period" that has contributed to them losing three successive Premier League games.
Palace looked to be hitting form in September with victories over Middlesbrough, Stoke and Sunderland.
But, ahead of a trip to Burnley on Saturday, they have lost three in a row and slipped down into the bottom half of the table.
"We are trying to change our style of play," Zaha told Sky Sports. "We have bought players in, so we are going through a transition right now.
"Players are still trying to understand what they are supposed to do, but we will get through this rough patch eventually."
Explaining what they are trying to change style-wise, he added: "The manager wants us to change our way of playing to try and keep the ball more.
"In the Premier League you can't really just defend all the time and then counter, because eventually teams are good enough to score. We need to keep the ball, but we are still staying with that style where we break on teams because we have pace."
As Palace's form has dipped, so too has the form of their major summer signing, Christian Benteke.
The striker, who arrived for a club-record fee from Liverpool, has not scored in over a month.
But Zaha says he is enjoying playing with the Belgium international.
"Benteke is one of the best headers of the ball so I can just dink it in and I know he will get on to it most of the time," he said. "It's made my job much easier because I know if I cross it then he will head it in.
"He is an easy player to play with. He will get it, set it off and then get into the box, so I know I just have to get it out of my feet and get it in there and he will get his head on it."
Reflecting on his own development in recent years, he added: "It's not all about taking on players and dribbling, that adds up to nothing, I have tried to add that end product."
