Jordan Ayew says his first goal of the season against Southampton was a reward for continued effort and hard work under Patrick Vieira at Crystal Palace, as he looked ahead to the clash with Norwich City.
“I knew that it would come at some point,” he explained. “I just needed to keep doing what I was doing. The manager was encouraging me to keep doing what I was doing.
“I knew it would come sooner rather than later. It came, but it’s just one goal. I know I need to be more efficient, I need to be ruthless in the last 30 metres. There’s a lot of things that I can be more ruthless at.
“I’m working on it, and hopefully this will give me a lot more confidence in the future.”
Despite a goal eluding him, Ayew’s work rate never dropped at training or on the weekend, a principle he holds as high as any other.
“I’ve been in the game for quite a long time now,” he said. “There are some periods in your life where things don’t go your way, and some periods where they go your way. I’ve had that period for a couple of months.
“But you keep working hard. I wake up every morning proud of what I’ve achieved in football. I wake up every morning knowing that when I come to train, I will give 100%, and when I play for Crystal Palace I will give 100%.
“When I go home I will have no regrets because I know I have given 100%. That is what is important for me.”
This is a culture encouraged by Vieira and his coaching staff, under whom Ayew says the players are thoroughly enjoying working.
“It’s positive, very positive,” he said. “At the start of the season people found out about the new manager coming in and what it was going to be like. We adapted well to the new manager and the manager adapted himself to us as well.
“It’s been a great start and everything is going well. It’s a positive thing for me, especially as someone who watched [Vieira] growing up. Today being my manager, I never expected it. He’s a winner and we’re all happy because we want to learn from him.
“We believe in his style of play. It’s attractive football and for every player, you want to play this type of football.
“He demands a lot from me to work hard for the team, and of course to score. The most important thing for him is for me to work hard for the team and to be energetic on the pitch.
“He has changed a lot, not only for me but the whole club. That philosophy, the different mindset. Everyone in the club is happy to have him and everyone is pleased to be working under him.”
