Can Will Hughes really fix Crystal Palace’s muddled midfield?

With every week that passes, the clamour for Will Hughes to start for Crystal Palace grows stronger.

It’s no secret that Palace’s major failings lie in an imbalanced midfield that lacks bite and tenacity, and which fails to work game after game.

Patrick Vieira prefers to play Jeffrey Schlupp alongside either Cheick Doucoure in the holding role or Eberechi Eze in a more advanced position, leaving no room for any alternatives.

In the absence of superior options, with Jairo Riedewald overlooked by successive managers for multiple reasons and Luka Milivojevic also out of favour and seemingly far less able to compete effectively at this level, the only realistic change would be to put Hughes in.

It would seem likely that he will get a chance in the FA Cup against Southampton tomorrow, but why is starting Hughes such an alien concept for Vieira?

It was not always this way. Last term, he was in from the start for 13 of his 16 appearances and started nine in a row between the 3-1 home victory over Everton last December and a goalless draw with Brentford in February. He also began three of the final four matches last term.

Fast forward to 2022-23 and the picture looks very different. Hughes has not started a single game this season: not in the defeat in the Carabao Cup by Newcastle United where Vieira rotated his squad; not when the problems in the midfield continue to rear their head.

The 27-year-old was signed to be a long-term James McArthur replacement in the defensive midfield role, to replicate his endeavour and tenacity. His arrival for an initial £6million ($7.1m) from Watford was never intended to see him become a regular starter last year; besides, the midfield then was far more balanced, mainly thanks to the presence of Conor Gallagher on loan from Chelsea. The latter’s departure has left a hole that has not been filled. 

Ultimately, Hughes does not suit Vieira’s style. The Frenchman played a high pressing, intense, progressive system last year which was predicated on two attacking midfielders as No 8s, supported by a holding midfielder.

McArthur was able to operate in either of those roles, initially supporting Gallagher by playing higher up and also occasionally playing in a deeper role. His ability as a box-to-box midfielder was invaluable when fit.

Vieira has tried to replicate that with Schlupp and Eze without success. But he persists because it is clearly his preferred style and it was generally successful last season.

Hughes does not have the same ability or desire to get up and down the pitch in the same way as McArthur. They are different players, a point underlined by Smarterscout, which gives players a series of ratings from zero to 99 based on how often or effectively they perform particular actions.

This is their assessment of Hughes’ performances in 2021-22:

The data underlines what most Palace fans have seen for themselves: Hughes is adept at the defensive aspects of his midfield duties but offers little at the other end of the pitch, either in creating chances for others or taking opportunities on himself.

But that should not exclude him from being given game time. Until recently, Vieira had steadfastly refused to play two holding midfielders. His response after defeat by Everton to being asked whether he considered it without the suspended Cheick Doucoure was simply: “No.” That continued, but now Schlupp is seemingly preferred in that role with Doucoure.

The reason for that is that Schlupp, in theory at least, drives up the pitch and carries the ball well. Smarterscout rated him as 97.6 per cent similar to Gallagher based on last season.

Whether that bears out in practice is another matter. Stylistically they are similar, yes, but it would be a stretch to claim they are equal in ability. Schlupp, like Palace themselves, is inconsistent, although it is also fair to highlight how Schlupp’s role has dramatically changed since last season.

According to Smarterscout, Schlupp has deteriorated in every metric except disrupting opposition moves, link-up play and ball retention. He appears to offer little in attack, although he is slightly better at ball recoveries (intercepting passes or picking up loose balls) and carrying and dribbling.

A combination of a cup game in which Vieira is surely likely to shuffle his pack and a string of Premier League games against top-half opponents (a run which extends until the start of April) would seem to offer Hughes a chance, even if the manager’s public expressions of loyalty to Schlupp may give an indication as to where he would prefer to go with his selection.

If Hughes is handed that opportunity, however, he has to make more of it than he has previously. There have been precious few spectacular performances from Hughes since he joined and his substitute appearances this season have also been largely unremarkable.  

There was an intelligent run in the closing stages against Bournemouth where he collected the ball in midfield and drove forwards, and it was his intervention that created an attack from which Palace probably should have scored.

Often, when players are not afforded opportunities to start and things aren’t going well, their status is elevated. That may be the case here. But, all of those caveats aside, it is peculiar that Vieira continues to overlook one of his better options to make changes to his system or at least his personnel. A relatively versatile midfielder who is capable on the ball and can make challenges is one part of what Palace need.

The idea that playing Hughes is going to magically solve Palace’s problems is without foundation, but given Vieira’s problems are beginning to pile up, curing just one of them seems a luxury he can ill afford to reject. 

(Top photo: Julian Finney/Getty Images)