Jean-Philippe Mateta: My Game in My Words

Jean-Philippe Mateta sits back, relaxed, in the same seat where a year ago he said he could be “one of the best goalscorers in the Premier League”.

“I said this?” he asks, pointing at himself. He did, and it has proven prophetic.

After 16 goals in his first 93 appearances for Crystal Palace in all competitions, he has scored 27 league goals since Oliver Glasner’s appointment as manager last February — only Mohamed Salah (30), Erling Haaland (30) and Alexander Isak (28) have more in that same period. Yet Mateta is not obsessive about his numbers.

“I feel happy because I was still working and I feel like, even though my work paid off, it’s not finished,” he says.

The 27-year-old’s performances have improved significantly over the past 18 months, fuelling his self-confidence and the faith his team-mates and manager place in him. That, he says, has been the major shift from when he was struggling to impact games, battling it out with Odsonne Edouard for a starting spot in the Palace team.

“Everyone knows I can score at any moment,” he says. “They try to find me more often.”

Over the course of an hour and a half, Mateta sits with The Athletic and discusses the specifics of being a Premier League striker, last year being his best-ever scoring season, playing for France at a home Olympics last summer, the head injury which required 25 stitches to his ear, and his feelings ahead of the FA Cup final against Manchester City.

This is Jean-Philippe Mateta’s game, in his own words.

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Mateta does not need to be prompted. “This is my best goal at Palace,” he says of a last-minute winner over Leicester City in April 2023.

Jordan Ayew carried the ball into the centre of the pitch, spotted Mateta making a run and played a reverse pass into his team-mate’s feet. The striker controlled the ball and took it away from the defender in one swift move, before slotting a left-footed shot beyond goalkeeper Daniel Iversen to secure a 2-1 win in Roy Hodgson’s first game back as manager.

“I didn’t play a lot and we were struggling that season,” Mateta says. “It felt like a must-win game and I liked the first touch. I didn’t even watch the goalkeeper.

“I like to be technical. Sometimes, people think I’m not technical enough to do this, and when I do it’s great.

“I try to be comfortable to score in every way. I don’t just want to be, ‘JP scores like this, when he makes the run in behind’. I want to control the ball, I can dribble, I can shoot first touch, I can score with my left or right, and hopefully better and more with my head.

“It’s the first time (the supporters) say ‘boom’ and it was very loud.”

It remains his favourite goal because it was “the last minute, the (quality of) the first touch”.

90+4. #CPFC | #CRYLEI pic.twitter.com/KfgSA5hiv3

— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) April 1, 2023

Mateta had asked the supporters to shout “boom” as he kicks the corner flag in celebration. That goal lifted a nervous Selhurst Park and the supporters launched into a rendition of his song —“Mateta’s in the room” — an adaption of the Vengaboys’ 1998 hit ‘Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!!’

“Everybody likes to be loved,” he says. “I like to speak with the fans and dance on the pitch because they pay for the ticket and want to see the players. I want to give them something back.

“Some fathers bring their kids, the kids want to be footballers. If they can have a little bit of a smile from me, a ‘boom’, kick the corner flag… you just ask them to be louder. If I can do this, I will give 100 per cent every day.”

A backheeled finish away at your fiercest rivals is a good way to score a first Premier League goal. In only his third Palace appearance, a behind-closed-doors victory over Brighton & Hove Albion at the Amex during Project Restart, he flicked in Ayew’s near-post low cross — one of only two touches the visitors enjoyed in the Brighton penalty area all night — to open the scoring in a smash-and-grab 2-1 win.

“I see (Cheikhou) Kouyate wants to pass to Jordan, then I said, ‘OK, I’ll stay between the defenders and just wait for him to score’,” Mateta says, watching it back. “I was in the middle of the pitch, waiting for him (Ayew) to cross.”

He says he’s “obsessed with scoring goals” and that he makes a run “every time” before a pass finds him. “I always hope for the next run.”

It is a goal which showcases his intuition. “I was with the defender (Ben White) on my left shoulder and the ball came a little bit in the back behind me.”

With two recovering defenders close to Ayew, he knew only a low cross to the near post was possible.

“The ball came too quickly and I adjusted my body,” he explains. “I knew I had to do this, I have this instinct, because I used to do it before. And it was a double nutmeg. I just try (the backheel) because you never know.

“I want to score with the left, the right, every part of the body and my head. As a striker, you need to score from everywhere.”

He laughs as he points out he scores more backheels than headers, with his last headed goal back in February 2024 away at Brighton. Part of that is systematic, of course, with wing-backs Tyrick Mitchell and Daniel Munoz particularly good at providing low crosses. “They put a lot of intensity, and I go straight to the box,” he says.

Mateta describes Mitchell’s assist for him at home against Aston Villa in 2022-23 as “beautiful”.

“I was looking for T (Mitchell), just in case he can pass to me, that’s why my body was facing him.” Mitchell, having received Eberechi Eze’s forward pass, combines with Wilfried Zaha to find his way in behind Villa right-back Matty Cash. Mateta holds his position close to the box, one-v-one against Tyrone Mings.

“When I saw T was playing a one-two with Wilf, I was rushing to my position, because he’s the type of guy who can cross around.”

He meets the early, dipping cross for a one-touch finish beyond Emiliano Martinez.

There was a very different first-time finish in Palace’s 4-0 FA Cup quarter-final win over Everton that season. If the Villa goal was about his speed — “I work a lot on my explosivity,” he says — and a right-footed finish, this showed the quality of his left foot and awareness of when to stand still.

“I knew Ebs was going to pass like this,” he says of the diagonal pass for Zaha’s straight run in behind Ben Godfrey.

“I saw both defenders were running to the position (box). I was holding because the No 6 was a little bit far.”

With Zaha almost on the byline, he stays deeper and attacks the cutback late, instead of running across Mason Holgate.

“When I saw the ball come quickly, I knew I had to finish one-touch. I feel better on my left foot sometimes. I’m comfortable with both.”

Last season, 12 of Mateta’s 16 league goals were right-footed and three were scored with his left (together with that headed consolation at Brighton). He has doubled his left-footed tally this time around (six), with eight right-footed goals in 2024-25 bringing his total up to 14.

“I’m working on both (feet), it’s paid off,” he says. “It’s hard for the defender to know which foot I want. If they know I just shoot with the right, it’s easier to stop me.

“In the Premier League you have to shoot quickly because the defender just comes quickly.”

He focuses on keeping shots low to maximise his chances of scoring — this season, only 13 per cent of his shots on target have been in the top half of the goal.

Since Glasner’s arrival, Tottenham Hotspur’s Brennan Johnson is the only Premier League forward (minimum 30+ shots taken) to have a higher proportion of ‘clear’ shots, which are chances without defenders in close proximity.

His conversion rate (28.7 per cent) is double the average of Premier League forwards and he records more one-touch shots than most strikers.

Yet, even if his finishing is instinctive, there is planning behind Mateta’s approach. He benefits from a close relationship with Palace goalkeeper coach Dean Kiely. “I always talk to him before the game and he gives me advice,” he says. “I’m talking and laughing with him at the training ground. I naturally want to ask him questions about goalkeepers.”

Scoring and kicking the corner flag with his shirt tucked in is now a regular occurrence. He credits the fashion choice to his former team-mate, Ayew, who told Mateta he used to watch him play with his shirt tucked in back in France.

“For me, this is funny to tuck a shirt, because you look like a player back in the day,” he says. “I like to be funny. For me, why are others that serious? I cut my hair, now I do the moustache… I’m a guy who doesn’t really take anything seriously.”

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Running in-behind is a trademark. He ranks third for shots (14) and joint top for goals (five) from through balls in the Premier League since Glasner’s first Palace game in February last year.

A prime example is his opener in a 4-2 home defeat by Manchester City during the run-in to the 2023-24 campaign. He scored 14 times in the final 16 matches that year, a prolific run that helped propel Palace — a team who had been struggling on Glasner’s appointment — to a top-half finish.

Here, he is the most advanced of any Palace player as they defend in a low block. John Stones overhits a pass through midfield and it runs through to Joel Ward.

“Glasner said to us if we win the ball there (our own half), we can score like this — that’s exactly what happened.”

Mateta has started running before Ward passes forwards.

“I don’t really think ‘I will pick this guy or this (other) guy to run against’ because I’m really confident in my pace,” he says, explaining his runs. “I’m not the quickest but, with passes like this, I can reach the ball first.”

Palace work a quick up-back-through move. Ward and Ayew connect to find Adam Wharton who passes blind, knowing Mateta will be running, and he charges between Stones and Josko Gvardiol.

A deliberately heavy first touch takes him to the box.

“I was thinking, ‘Go in front of the ‘keeper as quickly as possible’ because the defender comes quickly, and the ‘keeper came out.”

A softer touch with the outside of the boot set himself away from the recovering Ruben Dias.

Mateta fires in off the inside of the left post.

“I don’t really try to shoot hard, but hard enough to go in the corner,” he says of his finishes in general. He has scored similar angled shots — at home against Manchester United last season and Brighton this term — running in-behind into the left half-space.

A hat-trick against Plymouth Argyle in the second round of last season’s Carabao Cup — his first of two trebles for Palace — is instantly recognisable.

“I watch a lot,” he says. “I can watch a full game or clips. It depends. When you have a good game, it’s easy, when you have a s*** game, it’s hard to watch again.”

He watches back his second goal from that night. “Jeff (Schlupp) loves to run with the ball into space,” he says. “That’s why I was telling him ‘I’m free’.”

After some midfield pinball, Mateta runs in behind as Schlupp carries the ball upfield.

This opens the angle for Schlupp to slide Mateta between the Plymouth centre-backs.

“The defender was close, that’s why I controlled and shot straight away,” he says.

Glasner’s 3-4-2-1 system especially suits him, with its intense out-of-possession approach and an attacking focus on vertical play. “I understand his ideas because we both came from the Bundesliga — it’s very direct,” says the former Mainz striker.

The difference with the Premier League, he says, is that “the defenders are physically stronger and the referee lets play go more”.

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Mateta has a particular appreciation for the individual differences of Palace’s No 10s. “I know Ebs loves one-v-one; when he has the ball you just have to move, this guy is super technical and can find you in any position,” he says.

Eze has created 21 chances for Mateta and assisted him eight times in all competitions under Glasner, with five open-play assists this season. Only Newcastle’s Jacob Murphy has set up a player (Alexander Isak) more often, with seven.

Mateta cites his goal away to Nottingham Forest last season as evidence of their understanding. “I know the defender will follow me. Ebs was very smart; when I come to feet, he goes (in behind).”

JP 😤 pic.twitter.com/gMAab3b8Yd

— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) March 31, 2024

Michael Olise, another star of last season’s run in, and Ismaila Sarr offer very different qualities. “Michael is more of a guy who can take the game on; he wants and keeps the ball. Ismaila is more forward, he can make the run — his profile is closer to mine.”

Mateta believes “adapting how I play” to his No 10s is integral, before he jokingly points out that Sarr missed headed chances from his crosses in last month’s 3-0 FA Cup semi-final win over Aston Villa and a 2-0 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford in February. “Yeah, Ismaila, he kills me huh? He’s a very nice guy.”

Mateta and Sarr did still combine at Wembley. Five minutes after missing a penalty for the first time in 12 attempts, Mateta collected from Wharton after the midfielder won back possession, with the striker laying off a pass to Sarr to score the second goal.

“I was like, ‘It’s happening, it is football’,” he says of the missed penalty. “I will focus on the next (action). Just after, Ismaila scored. I was very happy — you see how I celebrated. I was telling him: ‘Thank you, thank you’.”

💪 The interception from Wharton
👏 The layoff from Mateta
🔥 The finish from Sarr

🤩 Crystal Palace’s second against Aston Villa wasn’t half bad pic.twitter.com/TJaj2RFORa

— ITV Football (@itvfootball) April 27, 2025

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Mateta’s form has dropped off slightly since he sustained a serious injury in Palace’s 3-1 win over local rivals Millwall in March’s FA Cup fourth round tie at Selhurst Park. Millwall goalkeeper Liam Roberts raced out and attempted to clear with his foot at head height — only at the last moment did Mateta turn to avoid an even more catastrophic injury.

As it was, he received 25 stitches to his left ear.

It took him time to re-establish the levels demanded by Glasner’s system after missing three weeks of training, and he returned wearing protective headgear. But, even if he has scored only twice in the period since, one of those goals was a stunning, audacious lob as a substitute in Palace’s 2-2 draw with Arsenal last month.

“When I came on the pitch, I knew (goalkeeper David Raya) would be high, and if the ball came, I will try to do it straight away,” he says. “We were talking about it on the bench. When you’re on the bench you watch the (opponents’) weaknesses. You watch the game, but you’re also like, ‘Raya is up, you can chip him’.

“I chipped it because you never know. I didn’t look at the goal; I knew straight away what to do. That’s why I didn’t shoot (laces). I had just to watch (Raya) and I will do it because, in my head, I knew straight away what to do. That’s why I chipped. You can see that I don’t look. I was scared because I was thinking it might hit the crossbar.”

He appears comfortable discussing the incident against Millwall and its impact, although the psychological effect is apparent. Wearing a cap over a black hoodie, he pulls the hood to the side to show the damage.

“I don’t even think about it, I don’t watch those clips, but when I see it in the mirror, it reminds me. It’s something that can happen in football. When I made the run, I pushed the defender. When I turned, I saw the ‘keeper and I moved.

“I can push the defender, but it’s not something I really think about. I don’t really see my body. Some people say, ‘Oh, you’re very big’, but sometimes I’m like, ‘I don’t know, am I that big?’ You see my body, I don’t see it!

“I didn’t know (how serious it was). I was on the floor and the doc came to me. I always laugh with the doc because I wanted to play. I took time on the floor because I knew the ‘keeper would get the red card.

“It wasn’t really painful because of the adrenaline, but when the doc saw my head, he said: ‘Trust me, don’t move’. I was like, ‘No, no. I want to play’. I was feeling good. I wanted to beat Millwall to go to the next round. Even (the captain) Marc Guehi came to me and said, ‘Just go off, man’.

“But I try to look forward, I don’t really stay in the past. When I had the stitches, I was like, ‘What’s next?’”

The sense is that his game must be affected by the incident. He says he tries not to focus on it — “otherwise I will never go to the duels” — and it can be easier to overthink in training.

Although he says he “can’t wait to play without (the protective headgear)” he has worn since, that is more about comfort than any impact on performance. “It’s weird, it is different. No one wears anything (on their head), so when you wear something, you feel it. Sometimes it moves, so you have to put it in place again, sometimes it’s too tight. When I forget to put it on, the doc is just like, ‘Just keep it on’, and I’m like, ‘Oh my god’.

“It falls off by itself sometimes. But it protects me, protects my ear. I listen to the doc — he is the boss. Now it’s hot, when I take it off and there is a lot of water, all my sweat — I give it to the doc, ‘Take my sweat, take everything’. If I can not play with this today, I will be so happy.”

He will have to endure the discomfort until the end of the season, he says, but hopes to be all-clear by the start of pre-season.

By then, he will have enjoyed a break in Brazil to rest and recover in Rio de Janeiro, where he spent last summer before the Olympics. He represented his country at Paris 2024, winning a silver medal as he scored five times as an over-age player, including in the 5-3 defeat by Spain in the final. The French team was coached by Thierry Henry, a man Mateta describes as “a legend” having grown up watching Arsenal because of their French contingent under the management of Arsene Wenger.

“Everyone wants to go to the senior team. I wanted to play in the Euros (the 2024 European Championship), but Thierry Henry called me and it was very good,” he says. “I was talking to a friend and I saw Thierry was calling. I said to my friend, ‘I’ll call you later!’

“In my head I was like, ‘I’ll be with Thierry Henry, I have to take something from him’. We were talking a lot.

“When I was with him at the Olympics, I’d talk to him and say, ‘I want to do a meeting with you, like a video, watch some goals’, and it’s what we did. I was the journalist, too. I said, ‘What do you think about this or that?’ and he answered the questions!

“It’s been a long time since I played in France. It was a very good experience. When you’re at home, in a lot of other sports at the Olympics the French were winning medals and you are like: ‘Oh my god, I have to bring a medal too.’ We all wanted the gold but we had the silver.

“I like pressure. I like when people count on me.”

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Mateta hopes to go one better with Palace and lift the FA Cup when his side face City on Saturday, with the club searching for its first major trophy. When asked, he says he is “always nervous”, but “you just keep fighting against yourself to be comfortable. You have to handle it, play with it”.

“It would mean a lot to win,” he says. “The manager doesn’t talk about it (in team meetings), but I know he’s a competitor and wants to win as much, or maybe more than us. We will try everything to make him happy.

“The fans will push us; I know they will do the job and it’s up to us to make them proud on the pitch.”

Mateta has two years remaining on his contract at Palace, with negotiations over a new deal having stalled last summer. He is sure to attract interest at the end of a season in which he hopes to have caught the attention of France manager Didier Deschamps. He says a senior call-up is “why I work very hard too, it’s something I really wish for. I know my time will come”.

For now, though, Mateta’s focus is on Palace and the FA Cup final. Whatever happens, he has enjoyed an outstanding 18 months.

“We will see what the future will give us. I’m just looking forward to Wembley, trying to win the final and to bring the first trophy for us.”

(Illustration: Eamonn Dalton / The Athletic; HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP,  Molly Darlington/Getty Images).