Vinny Perth defends Wilfried Zahibo following sustained criticism from Dundalk fans during Euro draw

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Dundalk coach Vinny Perth has defended midfielder Wilfried Zahibo after he was heavily criticized by supporters in last night’s Europa League draw with Levadia Tallinn.

he trip to Tallaght saw Dundalk play in front of a large home crowd for the first time this season, and Zahibo was grieved from the stands from the opening minutes after struggling to make an impact.

He arrived in Ireland earlier this year with a great reputation, with a stint in La Liga with Valencia on his CV and a considerable record in MLS where he received an All-Star for his performances in 2018.

However, the CAR international has struggled to make an impact despite being the club’s highest-paid player.

Perth later backed the player, saying a positive Covid-19 diagnosis earlier this year had an impact on the 27-year-old Frenchman. He added that stays in quarantine after his return from international service had affected him – the time he ran out with more to come in the fall placed further scrutiny on the logic of his arrival.

“I think it’s too easy to criticize people,” said Perth, who believes the social media comments about Zahibo made it worse for him.

“He had a hard time at this club for a lot of reasons related to Covid, internationals, etc. The only thing since 2012, we’ve always supported our players. He’s a very popular guy, he’s a person great in the locker room. Sometimes he could have done more, but at other times he showed the quality he has. It will come from him, that’s what it is, the fans have a right to criticize folks, I accept it. But once it’s not personal. I think some critics have crossed the line with Wilfried in particular.

We have seen Covid affect some of our other players, ”Perth continued. “I didn’t have Pat Hoban back on our bench. (The attacker was affected by the disease)

“He (Zahibo) went on an international mission that he had to continue – we had no choice. And he came back and had two quarantines in the hotel. Sure enough, he is leaving, has to play a international and has to sit in a hotel room for almost two weeks, being able to do very little.

“He had Covid himself, so he struggled. But we saw him start to find some form on the training ground and that’s why he came in. I felt that tonight was prepared for him. It didn’t work out sometimes but he’s very popular in our dressing room. He will thrive as long as he’s at this club. I have a lot of time for him as a person. “

It is understood that Zahibo was one of the players nominated for a summer departure if a club showed up to take him off the payroll, but that scenario did not materialize and the decision to allow club legend Chris Shields on leaving placed Zahibo more under examination. who occupies the same position.

Dundalk signed three full internationals at the start of the season, but appears to have been caught off guard by league rules which state that matches can only be postponed if up to two players are called up by Ireland or the North Ireland ; he left them short at key intervals and will hurt them again.

Zahibo stepped aside last night as part of a reshuffle resulting from the unavailability of Michael Duffy who is also expected to miss the second leg due to Covid-related issues.

It toughened things up against Dundalk who couldn’t convert the second-half pressure to goals in a 2-2 draw. There are 300,000 at stake in next week’s second leg in Estonia, with the winners set to face Dutch team Vitesse Arnhem.

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