Parents beware. It is possible your children will return from school on Monday covered in cuts and bruises, their clothes torn and even with one or two bruised joints. And when you ask how on earth they got themselves in such a state, they may well reply: “By trying to do a Bolasie.”
The Cruyff turn or a rabona it may not be but the piece of skill Yannick Bolasie performed after 20 minutes of this match is one that is likely to be copied in playgrounds up and down the country. It certainly had those at White Hart Lane on Saturday cooing in admiration, not to mention Match of the Day’s pundits later that evening. The only problem is trying to explain exactly what Bolasie did.
Even after repeated viewings the trick is one that leaves you shaking your head in amazement. Christian Eriksen certainly had no idea what had just happened when Bolasie, pinned in the corner and facing away from the Tottenham goal, pirouetted past him having liftedg the ball with a pop and lift of his left boot.
Asked to label the move, the Crystal Palace winger plumped for “360 and a flick” and any youngster who tries to replicate it should be inspired by the knowledge that it was first attempted by Bolasie when he, too, was at school. “I used to do it in the playground; it is a trick from back then,” he said. “I did it a few times in the Championship but it was good to see it come off in the Premier League.
“It is good to express yourself in the Premier League. It will only get tougher as the opposition look at me and take me even more seriously. But because my confidence is high, I feel I can do anything.”
Bolasie’s display against Spurs was most definitely that of someone playing with self-assurance. The “360 and flick” aside, he was a constant menace to the home side’s back four, and the right-back Eric Dier in particular, with his fast-paced and purposeful runs. And while the 25-year-old is unlikely ever to reach the level of his hero, Ronaldinho, he has become an increasingly key figure at Palace, their go-to man, their source of wild and wonderful inspiration.
Neil Warnock, the Palace manager, is certainly appreciative of a player he unsuccessfully tried to sign when in charge at Queens Park Rangers and who, having been born in Lyon to Congolese parents, has used spells at Hillingdon Borough, Plymouth, Rushden & Diamonds, Barnet and Bristol City to make a name for himself in the Premier League, with this display following on from an excellent showing in Palace’s recent win against Liverpool.
“Yannick has improved and the only time I tell him off is when I shout at him to smile more – he can be hard on himself but when he’s smiling he plays well,” Warnock said. “He does a lot of that in training, absolutely ridiculous things. He’s got everything in his locker and he’s going to improve even more.” The Palace striker Marouane Chamakh went further by saying the winger will eventually become “one of the best players in the Premier League”.
For that to happen Bolasie, who will be missing in January when he travels to Equatorial Guinea to represent Congo in the Africa Cup of Nations, must improve his goal return. He failed to score in 30 appearances for his club last season and has only one in 15 games so far this campaign.
The player is aware he needs to do more in that regard – “I have to make sure I have an end-product” – and would, in fairness, have got on the scoresheet had Hugo Lloris not kept out an 81st-minute shot with an impressive diving stop.
The France goalkeeper was the only Spurs player who emerged with any credit. Once again Mauricio Pochettino’s team were tepid in front of their own supporters: this was the fifth time in eight Premier League games they have failed to win at White Hart Lane this season. Little wonder the bulk of the crowd reacted to the final whistle with a mixture of boos and sighs.
“I understand the fans’ frustration,” said the Spurs defender Jan Vertonghen. “They want to win and we want to win. Our home form is not good enough.”
Man of the match Yannick Bolasie (Crystal Palace)
