Tuesday 9 May 2017 23:48, UK
Sam Allardyce has demanded greater protection for Wilfried Zaha after accusing the Crystal Palace winger's opponents of targeting him.
The manager is concerned that the in-form Zaha is being distracted by the challenges made on him.
Allardyce says he was warned that was the case by the club's chairman Steve Parish upon his appointment to succeed Alan Pardew in December, but has only discovered the extent of it during the five months since.
"Often those fouls are ignored and they frustrate Wilfried and then he loses control sometimes, which is a part of our job to make sure he gets more determined," said Allardyce.
"One, to prove the referee wrong, and two, to weaken the opposition's defence by continuing to play as well as he's playing.
"When they're fouling him as constantly as they are it's because he's playing well. And when he plays well he attracts attention, and when he attracts that attention, even with two men marking him, they can't stop him. And the only way they can stop him is fouling him.
"I was told by the chairman it was happening before I got here and obviously you take it or leave it in terms of, 'I'll find out for myself'. But I've found it to be the same, and because he's such an outstandingly damaging player for the opposition he gets fouled more.
"He actually gets fouled more than the rest of the team put together most of the time."
Allardyce's comments echo concerns earlier in the campaign about the physicality with which Manchester United played in their attempts to contain Chelsea's Eden Hazard in March's FA Cup defeat at Stamford Bridge.
The Palace boss believes the game suffers as a spectacle when officials fail to punish persistent fouling on creative players.
Allardyce said: "We're supposed to be improving the game for our more skilful players, where we've rightly outlawed tackling from behind and so on, but persistent fouling seems to be something you can get away with.
"You can tug somebody and get booked straight away, but you persistently foul somebody and the referee continues to let that go. For me, Wilfried needs more protection, so he can show his abilities more.
"I always say to a player who gets a yellow card, 'Be careful. Be very, very careful now. You can't afford another one of those tackles or you're off'. But if that doesn't happen then the player carries on fouling our player.
"It's up to the referee to make that decision but I constantly see - and I share - Wilf's frustration. But I would like Wilf to control himself more and not lose control of his game, and keep going at them and keep trying to do the right thing."
