Crystal Palace defender Patrick Van Aanholt has revealed why his former manager, Sam Allardyce, asked him to “take it easy” in his last game for Sunderland before moving to south London.
The Dutchman is having a successful season with the Eagles despite the club being just four points off the relegation zone.
PVA & Big Sam: Five things you need to know…
- The two men worked together at Sunderland before Allardyce left the club to manage England in 2016.
- Following his Three Lions exit, Allardyce took over from Alan Pardew at Crystal Palace at the end of the same year.
- With Palace in a relegation battle, Big Sam reunited with PVA after Palace signed the left-back for £14 million.
- Since then, PVA has made 70 appearances for the Eagles, scoring nine goals.
- Allardyce left Crystal Palace at the end of the 16/17 season.
Speaking in an open discussion about his life in football, Van Aanholt spoke about how his move to Crystal Palace came about, revealing how Allardyce asked him to “take it easy” in his last Sunderland match against West Bromwich Albion, before moving to Selhurst Park.
He said: “In January my old coach called me, Allardyce. He was about to sign (become manager) at Palace. He called me and said ‘I’m gonna sign at Palace, you need to come with me’.
“I said I would come, I don’t like it here at Sunderland anyway. So I went to Moyes and said I want to leave. He said ‘no, you’re not leaving!’ So we argued, we had a really big argument.
“I didn’t want to train anymore, I said my family had already left.
“So, I called my agent and he said this is how you should approach him: you should respond to his feelings and say you don’t like it here anymore.
“I barged in the door, I didn’t even knock. I said ‘let me go right now! I don’t want to train with you anymore I don’t want to play for you anymore’. He said ‘you’re not leaving, you’re way too important’.
“Eventually, we had an away game against West Brom, so we took a flight. My agent called me and said they’ve accepted an offer they couldn’t refuse. But I still had a game to play, so I called Allardyce and he said ‘do whatever you need to do tomorrow but don’t get injured…they already accepted the offer so you’re already mine’.
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“I’ve never experienced someone like that”
Speaking with refreshing honesty, Van Aaholt described his relationship with former Sunderland boss David Moyes, leaving little doubt over how strenuous their working relationship was.
The defender continued: “What kind of coach is that? I’ve never experienced someone like that.
“I’ve had two coaches I couldn’t get along with, he is definitely one of them.
“The first day he came, the day before a match we did corners and free-kicks.
“Every detail. Toes need to point down, arms three metres apart, give signals. All that stuff. I thought to myself, is this guy serious?
“But for a hour long. After a while the boys started to get cold. Then the guys started to get annoyed with him, with all his rules.
“He put me on the bench against West Brom, then I came in and scored, I lost my mind. After that he never benched me again.”
The post Van Aanholt: Why ex-Palace boss Allardyce told me to “take in easy” in my final Sunderland game appeared first on Squawka News.
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