Patrick Vieira has warned Crystal Palace they need to start winning games once again if they want to avoid being dragged into the scrap for Premier League survival.
The Eagles head for relegation-threatened Watford on Wednesday evening without a victory in their last six league games, a run which, coupled with Newcastle’s resurgence in particular, has seen the chasing pack close the gap to extend the field for what at one point looked like a four-horse race.
With 19th-placed Burnley due at Selhurst Park on Saturday, Vieira’s men have an opportunity to address that situation, although the Frenchman is aware of the cost of failing to do so.
He said: “I look at the table and I know where we are. I don’t try to hide the situation of the league table. We need to win football matches.
“We’re still, compared to some other teams, in a good place, but we know how important it is to win and when you’re looking at when was the last time we won a football match, we need to bounce back as soon as possible.
“We want to go back to winning games because it’s important to get that momentum back and that confidence back.”
Palace last won in the league on December 28, when they beat bottom-of-the-table Norwich 3-0, and fixtures since have yielded three draws and three defeats, but only one of them – the 3-1 home loss to Liverpool on January 23 – by more than a single-goal margin.
Vieira admits fine details are costing his team – they finally succumbed to club world champions Chelsea on Saturday in the 89th minute – but is refusing to consider “what ifs”.
He said: “It’s just about being realistic, and being realistic is the position where we are. It’s about us playing good football, yes, but at the end, we don’t win football matches and we need to turn those good performances into a win.
“That’s what is important…to really understand where we are and what we need to do to win football matches.”
Wednesday night’s fixture will see the former Arsenal and France midfielder go head-to-head with his immediate predecessor at Palace, Roy Hodgson, with the former England boss having taken on the task of trying to keep the Hornets in the top flight having left behind firm foundations.
Vieira said: “Nobody will take away what Roy did at this football club. He spent four-five years here and he did a fantastic job.
“The foundations of this football club are really solid and Roy was one of the people who put those foundations in place to allow the next manager to come and work.”
