Vocal and not afraid to call out teammates: How Joachim Andersen became Crystal Palace’s leader

Crystal Palace boss Patrick Vieira and his back room staff want players to take more responsibilities during games as they look for their first league win of the year.

The technical team believes that the Eagles have lost around five points due to naivety, and would have been comfortably in the top half with more experience and leadership to see off games.

Wilfried Zaha is one of the most influential and vocal members of the team, but he hasn’t been consistent this season with just six goals and one assist.

Zaha scored a wonder strike against Norwich in midweek, before slipping and scuffing a penalty just moments later.

Vieira has had issues with Zaha’s defensive contributions this season, and his sending off against Tottenham didn’t go down well with his manager.

The World Cup winner wants Zaha to give more help to young left-back Tyrick Mitchell, who has been nothing short of sensational this season.

The Ivorian forward always demands more from his teammates, and is one of the first to raise his hands up when things don’t go right, and he apologised after the penalty miss against Norwich.

But Zaha is one of the few players showing leadership for the Eagles at the moment.

Club captain Luka Milivojević is another, loved and respected by his teammates, but his form has meant he’s only played 10 league games and Palace have only won twice in the league when he’s been on the pitch.

The once dependable leader is at the twilight of his Palace career, and his leadership skills have been desperately missed at key moments, with the club hoping not only to change results but also a playing style and culture.

Milivojević no longer has the legs of Conor Gallagher or the grace of Will Hughes on the ball any more.

Gallagher, Marc Guéhi, Joachim Andersen and Michael Olise all joined the club this summer, and have enjoyed various degrees of success.

Marc Guéhi in particular has been very good at keeping the line and organising the defence, but he is still a young defender who is playing his very first season at the highest level.

He makes mistakes in judgement like the one against Brighton that led to Neal Maupay sneaking an equaliser with virtually the last kick of the derby at Selhurst Park.

The club hopes he will become a natural leader, but the last few weeks have drawn attention to his central defensive partner Joachim Andersen.

The Dane is more vocal and doesn’t only speak his mind in games but also during team meetings, and is not afraid to call senior squad members out.

Andersen, who joined the club from Lyon having spent a season at Fulham on loan, has been speaking his mind to his teammates and holding the strikers accountable.

The technical team are delighted with his growing stature in the team, and he has been encouraged to continue asking questions if he feels some of his teammates can give more on the pitch.

Crystal Palace have won just five games all season, but they have drawn a whopping 11 and lost eight.

To put that in context, Aston Villa have lost 12 games, yet sit a place above Palace in the league table having played a game less.

Lapses in concentration highlighted by Norwich’s goal in the first minute of the game at Carrow Road is an achilles heel for this team.

Similarly Arsenal’s leveller in the dying moments at the Emirates, is seen as one which got away from them.

The growing message ahead of games is not to give away silly goals and perhaps that has affected the teams fluidity and passing, which seem to have gone sterile and Palace have looked rather cautious than entertaining in the last few games.

Andersen was one of the few Palace players who spoke to the press after the draw against Brentford, and highlighted the need to get back to what made their start to the season so bright.

The Danish defender said: “I’m disappointed really, to be honest.

“I thought against Norwich we should have won and today I have a little bit the same feeling.

“Again we didn’t create enough today. We should have been better in the last third of the pitch, but it was a solid performance defensively.

“We’ve been speaking about it this week - we need more runs between the lines, more movements, more bodies in the box.

“We didn’t really manage that today I think.

“Of course it’s difficult to get the whole picture of it right after the game but I don’t feel we had enough people in the box or did enough to create some chances.”

Palace have wasted little time in crying over spilt milk, and have turned their attention to the weekend’s game against Chelsea, but Andersen is giving the team a fresh twist.

The Dane comes from a wealthy family back home and has never been afraid to speak his mind.

With Vieira hoping to build a team that will be stable in mid table, and possibly push for the latter part of cup competitions, the French manager is hoping that the growing voice of Andersen will convert draws into wins sooner rather than later.