Patrick Vieira will be demanding his players ‘raise the bar’ next season at Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira insists he will be demanding more from his players, his staff, and himself when the 2022-23 Premier League season gets underway.

After a hugely successful debut season in charge of a Premier League club, the former Arsenal legend believes everyone must ‘raise the bar’ if Palace are to build on a season that saw them notch 48 league points and take on Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.

Vieira was viewed by many as a risky choice given his mediocre managerial CV that saw him manage New York City FC and Ligue 1 side Nice. 

Patrick Vieira enjoyed a brilliant first year in charge of Crystal Palace last season

The manager (left) oversaw the club’s biggest squad overhaul of the current era last season

However the 48-year-old showed critics he was more than worthy of the job with his nomination for Premier League Manager of the Season summarising just how good his first year in the Palace dugout had been.

Vieira not only gave the club fans a new style of exciting football, he also gave them the belief that they could be more than a club fighting to stave off relegation, eventually finishing 13 points above the drop zone.

He kickstarted the biggest squad overhaul in the club’s current era by overseeing seven departures within his first 60 days in the role and by the end of the season had awarded debuts to nine players.

He guided Palace to Premier League safety and took them to an FA Cup semi-final

Speaking to the club’s official website, Vieira praised the efforts of everyone last season but made a bold call for Palace to take their game to the next level. 

‘Of course I’m really pleased with the progress we had from the Chelsea to the United game,’ he said.

‘We want more, and as staff we have to take our game to a different level. 

‘I expect them to come with different ideas to share and put on the table because we need to be more demanding of the players. 

The Palace boss insisted he will be demanding more from his players and staff next season

‘I will be more demanding of my staff and I will be more demanding of myself. We all have to raise the bar,’ he added.

‘In possession we can improve: the number of goals we score, playing forward a bit quicker, finding better positions to create chances and score goals, finding and making better decisions between the lines and across the pitch. 

‘We can still improve in possession.

‘We can also improve our defensive organisation,’ said Vieira.