'Electric' Wilfried Zaha made my Premier League dream come true, says Jonny Williams
Former Crystal Palace midfielder Jonny Williams has hailed Wilfried Zaha as he marks 10 years since his Eagles debut.
Zaha was introduced off the bench in place of Stern John for his debut a decade ago yesterday.
Williams rose through the ranks with the Palace talisman and - despite not being a feature of the first team in south London for some time before leaving permanently last year - has remained close to Zaha.
The midfielder, now at Charlton, says "It’s a credit to talk about Wilf", and that he made the job of those around him easy - even crediting the 27-year-old with making Williams's dream of playing in the Premier League come true.
“He had the most naturally gifted ability with the ball I’ve ever come across,” Williams told the club website. “It was a joy to play with because it made my job easy - I just had to pass him the ball.
“He’s got that raw ability where you give him the ball and nine times out of 10, he’s going past the defender. As a player, when you know you’ve got someone in your team like that, you’ve got to get him on the ball as much as possible.
“The second half of that season [12/13], he was electric. He was just running riot - carnage. He was scoring goals, winning penalties, assisting and he then took that into the play-offs. It was amazing to be a part of.
“He’s one player I can’t speak highly enough of. I’ve known him most of my life and he’s helped me in my career. If there’s one player I’d like to talk about, it would be Wilf. If you’d said anyone else, it might have been a bit more of a struggle. It’s a credit to talk about Wilf.
“He pretty much got us promoted himself. [The Brighton v Palace Championship play-off semi-final second leg] was an amazing night, won by a player that teams can only dream of having. And, luckily enough, we had that player on our team that night. He was the difference.
“Those moments, they give me goosebumps because they’re life-changing, not only for him but for us as players. Playing in the Premier League is something I never thought I’d dream of, and that was down to Wilf at the end of the day.”
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