In a season that will be etched into the history of Crystal Palace Football Club, there will be moments to come when asked to recite the squad that took the loyal faithful to the next level.
Names will come thick and fast, no doubt with the added eulogising of each player and deservedly so. One player may not be first on the lips but fully deserves the praise levelled at his colleagues and that is Daichi Kamada.
Signed having become available on a free, a loyal former recruit of Oliver Glasner, the Palace supporters hastily turned to social media to gain an insight into what they could expect and, from the relatively short clips, the potential was clear to see but so was the expectation as Kamada’s wage packet certainly stretched the budget to levels rarely seen at Selhurst Park.
The start of the season for the team was also reflected in Kamada’s performances, struggling to establish form in his early games, his position couldn’t be determined in a team that already had creative influences from previous campaigns and Kamada soon found it difficult to win the affections of the Palace faithful.
A home game against Fulham, a team who most fans will have felt should have brought a point or three, proved to be a low point that few games would compete for as Kamada was dismissed twenty minutes before full-time having spent much of the game off the pace by misplacing simple passes, it appeared whatever the solution that was required for the team, Kamada was not the answer.
As the winter settled into the season and Palace’s early poor form began to change, the squad started to appear more balanced, more options, more depth and the shape of the starting and substitutions looked more suited to the game plan and formation. Although featuring mostly from the bench, Kamada remained a player to turn to, to replace our midfield aces and retain the form on the pitch, valued by Glasner and more importantly trusted.
With the upturn in form in the league the respective cup runs provided a positive distraction and, with Glasner proven as a successful cup coach, the hope of forays deep into the latter stages began to formulate at SE25.
The juggling of the competitions meant the rotation of players became less necessary and more prescribed and influential. Spring had almost sprung and true hope was starting to sweep across South London.
With sunlight dawning the majority of games the good time vibes were well established. Players are hitting form, set-backs of injuries and loan recalls became less relevant and the squad was now beginning to appear as real contenders for the world’s oldest club cup competition.
Craven Cottage greeted Palace for a pivotal 6th round tie. Fulham, well established in what will compete with their most successful top flight season, were favourites to proceed to the semi-final stage.
Palace swept them aside, helped mainly by the club’s star player Ebere Eze, but with a two-goal lead and the game needing to be controlled Kamada entered and began his work. Controlling the midfield in a role he inherited from Adam Wharton, Kamada showed his worth, his timing and weight of pass being played at his pace as he released Eddie Nketiah for a third to seal a comfortable victory.
With games coming thick and fast and the hopes of European football through Premier League positions or the cup soon became a realistic target.
Palace, now motoring and fully focused on the date with Wembley, were undeterred by two heavy defeats in consecutive matches, with the squad now playing regularly and the highlights of beating rivals Brighton is a gritty encounter, the noises around south London and the footballing media were getting louder. Glasner is now in charge of a form team capable of competing with the best.
For Kamada it was his time, not a time to deliver spectacular shots, long ranging passes, social media worthy content that will normally be allocated to the likes of Sarr, Eze and Mateta but to perform much like his personality, understated but effective.
In what can be considered Palace’s best performance in the football identity Glasner has implemented the semi-final against Aston Villa was an example of Kamada at his best. The link from defence to attack, the holding of possession, timing of passes, interception of key balls and most importantly the intelligence of positioning was now evident and the Palace team were benefitting. Palace rampaged to a 3-0 win and Wembley Stadium beckoned for third shot at the F.A. Cup in the club’s history.
When releasing the starting XI for the semi-final fewer fans questioned the decision to start Kamada than in games earlier in the season, that said there will still have been more who will have preferred Will Hughes at the heart of the midfield but with the final on the horizon there will have been few who will have wanted to change the team from the successful semi-final outfit.
Having lost heavily to fellow finalists Manchester City only a few weeks back and stated after the match that he will solve their formation, Oliver Glasner no doubt had full confidence in his semi-final team facing City in our most important game in recent history especially with a long trusted player at the heart of the team.
In a game that completely contrasted to our win against Aston Villa it again was the shape and formation that proved the defining factor, a game-plan so key to unlocking the City defence, an understanding that once the opportunity arose all components would need to be executed perfectly.
With just 20% possession in the opening 15 minutes and few moments of sustained touches in the City half Palace were very much up against the momentum and control of the City team. Having pursued direct play unsuccessfully it suddenly happened, coaxing City deep into our half and having played a long-pass to Mateta the first body around our target, pushing now from deep to support the French forward, is Kamada and despite being off-balance he executes a release of another key threat in Munoz and what followed created ecstasy as Eze finishes the gamedeciding move.
Now ahead the objective to maintain the lead and potentially increase was on. Keeping City goalless was predicted to be an unrealistic target but the Palace unit worked tirelessly to keep their attacks at bay. Quickly regaining his position so that City remained in front of our back four and midfield two was a key factor in Kamada’s play, limiting options, toe-end tackles and interceptions, 15 yard passes, and the odd brave and timely block ensured the lead remained in tact and the much yearned for silverware made it’s way to SE25 for the first time in the club’s history.
The big personalities will grab the limelight and social media coverage, with our algorithms firmly established on the Go-pro footage from the players post-match these fully centred on all platforms and you’ll be hard pressed to see Kamada feature. You will see however is a collective picture taken from the changing rooms at England’s national stadium, players wearing red and blue, maybe a Columbian flag here or there, many scarves and hats, a few bare chests but to one side you’ll see a fully suited Daichi Kamada, fresh from 100 minutes that has defined his season, written him into Crystal Palace folklore and provided a firm foundation for growth as his team take on another top-flight season but this time with European exploits in the mix.
Whatever our opinions of Daichi Kamada before Christmas few can argue that he now stands firmly amongst our squad as an important, influential player and essential to the club’s growth, his experience at the top level and in Europe can help guide our young and inexperienced squad members.
The player we saw in the highlights reel is there, maybe in a different form but if we trust Glasner then we trust Kamada and can only commend him on his desire to settle and overcome the challenges from early season matches and influence the club in it’s biggest moment in history.