David Ozoh and Matheus Franca are beginning to win trust at Crystal Palace

As Roy Hodgson prepared to introduce David Ozoh after 34 minutes of Crystal Palace’s trip to Manchester City, there were echoes of another youngster’s first introduction to senior football.

By full-time, those parallels were even stronger. In 2018, Aaron Wan-Bissaka had been plunged into senior football with a debut against Tottenham Hotspur, before games against Manchester United and Chelsea. Wan-Bissaka, aged 20, didn’t just cope with that pressure; he thrived, eventually making the right-back position his own and earning a £45million transfer to United in June 2019. 

It is far too early to suggest Ozoh, 18, might have a similar career trajectory based on one appearance, but he coped admirably in trying circumstances against last season’s treble winners. Handed his opportunity as a result of injuries and illness, he was tenacious, determined and aggressive, delivering the kind of performance that suggests he is ready for further involvement.

The Premier League is unforgiving and young players often only get a chance through injuries. That is more pronounced with Hodgson, who sets up his teams to minimise risk, meaning experience is usually prioritised. Players have to earn his trust and, on this performance, Ozoh will have gone a long way to doing that.

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He has been given few first-team opportunities since he became the club’s youngest Premier League player in January but training full-time with the squad over the past two seasons has given him more time to adapt and develop.

Ozoh’s physical attributes are hard to ignore and help him cope at the higher level, particularly when confronted by a player of Rodri’s size and ability, for example, but there is more to his game than raw physique.

His defensive diligence was impressive against City: he intercepted passes, closed the space and made some crucial tackles. One, on Phil Foden, began the move for the penalty that led to Palace’s late equaliser, and he was also determined in his drive into the area that created the space for Jean-Philippe Mateta to coax the foul from Foden.

There is work to be done on the technical side of his game, but Ozoh also showed impressive composure on multiple occasions to retain possession. He completed 91 per cent of his passes (10 of 11) and while most were simple, short and sideways or backwards, that was his remit in a defensive midfield role. 

“Excellent” was Hodgson’s appraisal of Ozoh’s performance. He may stand a chance of earning a full debut against arch-rivals Brighton on Thursday, although Will Hughes and Jefferson Lerma could both be available again, which would almost certainly deny him that opportunity.

Hodgson’s preference for experience, particularly in midfield, is understandable. He needs to trust that his players can work as a unit and frequently references the requirement to do defensive work when discussing attacking players.

One mistake could undermine the entire team’s work and that is a heavy burden to carry for a young player who has limited minutes at senior level. That can be applied to Ozoh but also to Matheus Franca, Naouirou Ahamada and Jesurun Rak-Sakyi — currently absent with a hamstring injury, although he has a season of football at Charlton Athletic in League One to call upon.

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Comments from Hodgson questioning his young players after defeats by Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur were clumsy, but he was far more positive about their contribution in Manchester on Saturday.

Franca’s involvement was far more noticeable than it had been in his previous appearances. He linked well with Rak-Sakyi in the second half at Newcastle but was yet to demonstrate anything meaningful. Against City, that changed: the 19-year-old beat Kyle Walker for pace and looked to expose the space behind the defence with speed that has not yet been seen.

“He had a very good cameo,” Hodgson said. “I’ve been expecting that. I’ve said to him on many occasions, ‘When you get your chance, I’m sure you’ll be OK’. It was a good moment for him to come on. I don’t know if it would have been as easy for him if he’d had that job from the start.”

There is a dilemma, though. Hodgson’s clear preference would be to introduce his young players gradually, as replacements for his first-choice XI when they are tiring or something different is required at the end of games. But when he has a full complement of players, opportunities will be more limited.

He has said that Franca has been ready to feature more regularly for a while, having previously cautioned that he needed time to adapt and that people had expected too much too soon from an inexperienced teenager new to the country.

Like Ozoh, Ahamada has had longer to acclimatise to the Premier League. The 21-year-old has shown fleeting glimpses of ability but has yet to make a significant impact or suggest he might break into the team with more involvement.

Other managers might be more prepared to take more risks, but blooding youngsters when there is so much at stake in the Premier League is difficult, especially when results are poor — as they have been for Palace since the November international break.

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Whoever ultimately replaces Hodgson as manager will need to present a vision that makes the most of the academy and ties in with the recruitment strategy that focuses on developing younger talent. But everything will always come back to the priority of avoiding relegation.

For now, though, there should be more confidence that the young players on the fringes of this Palace squad can be relied upon when needed.

(Top photo: Michael Regan/Getty Images)

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