Crystal Palace boss Ian Holloway continued to strengthen his first-team squad earlier this week with the acquisition of Marouane Chamakh from Arsenal. The 29-year-old arrives at Selhurst Park on a one-year deal and is the third striker to be added to the Eagles’ ranks this summer, following Dwight Gayle and Kevin Phillips to the club.
Holloway was clearly thrilled to snap up the Moroccan, whose contract will be extended beyond a single season should Palace remain in the Premier League. The Eagles boss revealed he sees Chamakh as an integral member of his first XI and is looking forward to getting the player’s career back on track after a frustrating time at the Emirates:
“It’s a massive thing for me to get him in as I can now build the team around him, because he is a fantastic player who can drift and float and he’s good in the air, so I have got to build a squad around that now and hopefully I can get him going. I usually do alright with people whose career is faltering a little bit. I’ll love him up, work with him and hopefully I can get him playing the way he did when he first went to Arsenal. There was nothing wrong with him then when he scored eight in nine, but I wouldn’t fancy being Van Persie’s understudy because it couldn’t have been fun.”
The History
A product of the Bordeaux youth academy, Chamakh made his debut for the club back in the 2002/03 campaign. Over the course of eight seasons with the French outfit, he produced 56 goals and 24 assists over 230 league matches and also impressed on the European stage, with 17 goals and three assists across 49 appearances in the Champions League and UEFA Cup.
Snapped up by Arsenal for the start of the 2010/11 campaign, Chamakh failed to find his feet under Arsene Wenger – as Holloway mentioned above, a certain Dutchman prevented the new boy from establishing himself as a first-choice option for the Gunners. Nevertheless, 11 goals and five assists from 18 starts and 11 sub appearances wasn’t too poor a return in his debut Premier League season, though Chamakh drifted out of Wenger’s plans the following year; 10 of his 11 matches arrived from the bench, with just a single goal scored. A loan move to West Ham midway through 2012/13 also proved disastrous – he was fielded just three times by Sam Allardyce before returning to his parent club.
On the international stage, Chamakh has turned out for his country 35 times, producing eight goals and three assists.
The Prospects
While it’s easy to dismiss Chamakh after his miserable time at Arsenal, the statistics show he was never really given a chance to nail down a regular role by Wenger. Prior to his arrival at the Emirates, he’d notched double figures in each of his last two seasons in Ligue 1, with 10 assists also accrued across his final two years in France. Like almost any forward, confidence is key to his performances and his new manager’s show of faith already seems to have made an impact on the Moroccan:
“I’m really happy to be here, to be signing for Crystal Palace. To work with the manager, I think it will be easier. He changed my mind about this club and the project, so I am happy to work with him and to meet the other players at Crystal Palace. I hope it will be good this year. I hope I will bring my experience from the Premier League and I will do my best and talk to the players to be happy this season.”
With last season’s top scorer Glenn Murray sidelined due to a long-term knee injury, Holloway clearly needs reinforcements up front. Having mainly utilised a 4-2-3-1 formation since his arrival at Selhurst Park, the Palace boss trialled a 4-4-2 as recently as last weekend against Lazio and admitted he may roll out this system over the season ahead – potentially partnering Chamakh’s aerial ability and power with Gayle’s speed and penchant for playing on the shoulder of the last defender.
A regular role up top looks on the cards, then, and with spot-kicks possibly up for grabs in light of Murray’s absence, Chamakh’s security of starts may well appeal to those on the lookout for a cheap third striker, with the Moroccan setting you back just 5.0 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL).
With three of their first four home games seeing Sunderland, Swansea and Fulham pay visit, Holloway’s side have a decent run opening run in front of their own fans and a home/away rotation with Hull over Gameweeks 2-8 (NOR, SUN, CAR, SWA, WHM, AVL, FUL) looks a viable tactic for those eyeing up an attack-minded option amongst Steve Bruce’s charges.
