Moving Target – Connor Wickham

Following the arrival of Chelsea loanee Patrick Bamford last month, Palace further bolstered their forward line with the signing of Connor Wickham on a five-year deal. The Sunderland frontman believes the Eagles’ wealth of creative spark and talented new recruits will enable him to flourish at Selhurst Park:

“I spoke to the gaffer last week and he said all the right things about the club and I’ve got friends here who also told me some very good things. I looked at the team before I arrived here and the signings that have been brought in; and the potential to score goals and the chances that could be created was a massive influence. Hopefully I can add to that talent and make the squad stronger. I think I needed the fresh start, I had four years up north and it’s been a bit stop-start. Now I’ve come back home and I can settle down and see my family a bit more and hopefully let my football do the talking.”

The History

Born in Hereford, Wickham was assigned to the youth set-up at Reading between 2002 and 2006, before teaming up with Ipswich Town in 2006. On 11 April 2009, just 11 days after his 16^th birthday, Wickham was handed his senior debut for the Tractor Boys, becoming the club’s youngest ever player.

Wickham’s influence grew in the 2009/10 Championship campaign, with the former England U21 international bagging four goals and two assists across 26 appearances (nine starts). By the second half of the 2010/11 season, Wickham had established himself as a regular, notching nine goals and three assists in 37 outings (24 starts).

Alerted by the youngster’s commanding displays in the second tier, Sunderland shelled out £8 million for Wickham’s signature in the summer of 2011. He struggled to make an impact during his debut season at the Stadium of Light, recording just one goal in five outings in the first XI. His narrative followed a similar course during the 2012/13 season, with a one-month loan at Sheffield Wednesday providing some much-needed playing time.

After failing to secure a starting berth during the opening nine Gameweeks of the 2013/14 season, Wickham went back out on loan to Wednesday, where he would tally eight goals and four assists across 16 starts. Wickham was subsequently recalled in January and went on to card five goals in nine starts at the back-end of the season as the Wearsiders narrowly avoided relegation.

In the previous campaign, Wickham started all but seven of the Black Cats’ league ties, registering five goals and one assist along the way. His two goals in the final quarter of the season once again helped Sunderland beat the drop as they strung together a five-match unbeaten run from Gameweek 34 under new manager, Dick Advocaat.

The Prospects

Wickham was predominantly fielded on the left wing in a 4-3-3 last term, which affords Alan Pardew the flexibility to adopt that formation as an alternative to his favoured 4-2-3-1. Indeed, fellow new boy Bamford – who’s been deployed on both wings and at the number ten berth during his past two loan spells – can also fill various roles in either set-up.

That being said, it’s more likely that – given Pardew’s surfeit of wide options – Wickham is assigned a central striker berth, pushing the likes of Bournemouth target Glenn Murray and Marouane Chamakh for starts. Certainly, Wickham was deployed there in his pre-season bow against Dagenham and Redbridge earlier this week and had operated as a target man for the majority of his fledgling career.

Wickham’s underlying stats highlight a tenacity that’s suited to the role: no forward across the league executed more successful tackles (42) last term, while he ranked eighth for headers won (95). Furthermore, his success rate for aerial duels (48.2%) surpassed that of any Palace forward, with Murray (45.7%) coming closest to that figure.

Pitched at 6.0 in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game, Wickham would have to vastly improve his shooting to arrive on our radars, though. Last season he was placed ninth amongst forwards for overall attempts, with a total of 83 just three less than Saido Berahino and one more than Christian Benteke, for example. Whereas Berahino scored 13 times and Benteke netted on 14 occasions, Wickham registered just five goals – which equates to a 6% conversion rate – and managed to get only 28.9% (or 24) of his efforts on target.

In the absence of a nailed-on starter in Palace’s forward line, Fantasy managers have set their sights on the likes of Yohan Cabaye (6.5), Yannick Bolasie (6.5) and Jason Puncheon (6.0). While the recruitment of Wickham and Bamford provides more competition for the latter two, Cabaye’s security of starts and share of set-piece duty strengthens his case for inclusion.

The fact that the Eagles square up to Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Spurs within the opening six Gameweeks encourages us to observe them from afar in the early stages. Nonetheless, Palace placed sixth for goals scored (27) and third for shots inside the box (167) after Pardew’s appointment in 2014/15, so are evidently capable of delivering attacking returns should they maintain last term’s momentum.

Further Reference

Connor Wickham Wikpedia Page

Connor Wickham Transfer Markt Page

Connor Wickham YouTube Highlights