11th Nov 2023 • Written by Henry Swain

Zach Marsh: Crystal Palace's 1%

The transition from academy to first-team football is one that sees many once-exciting prospects fail to live up to fans' expectations, and the truth is, the percentage of academy players who 'make it' as professionals is extremely low. Former Palace boss Tony Pulis has spent his retirement from professional management researching the academy system, where he found that 97% of former elite academy players aged 21-26 failed to make a Premier League appearance. Even then, just 1% go on to have a prolonged career at the highest level.

Zach Marsh has been on fire this season for Rob Quinn’s U18 side, scoring 14 goals as well as notching 4 assists. As each game passes, the excitement surrounding his potential only grows larger.

So the question lies, could he be one of the 1% that make it to the first team at Palace? We’ll look to compare him to the likes of David Omilabu and Rob Street as well as an in-depth analysis of his performance as we attempt to answer that question.

Marsh's career so far

Signing from Watford in February 2022, Marsh earned a scholarship as a result of his performances for the U16s side over the remainder of his first season. Stepping up to the U18s, he began the 2022/23 term on good form, with 3 assists and a goal in his first 5 games, playing off the left wing. This was enough to see him earn his first professional contract in October of that season. 

What followed was a success of a first season at U18 level. Marsh finished the season with 12 goals and 12 assists, picking up the Player of the Season award for his side, and was rewarded with his first call-up to the England U18 side. He carried his club form into his debut on international duty, where he scored a brace in a 3-2 victory over Australia. 

It is also important to note that Marsh has already featured for the first team, getting a handful of minutes under his belt in the 4-0 pre-season win away at Crawley prior to this season.

The story of this season

It is no secret that Marsh has been one of the standout performances in the Crystal Palace academy this season. He opened his account with a three-goal deposit in the first game of the season as the young Eagles swept aside Southampton in a 5-0 win, before assisting twice as his side beat Reading by two goals to one. His second hat-trick came as he led Quinn’s side to a 6-1 demolition of Liverpool in the U18 Premier League Cup.  

Even when Palace have found themselves on the wrong end of a result, Marsh has still put his stamp on games. He claimed his third match ball of the season as Fulham ran out 4-3 winners, and picked up an assist for Jesse Derry in a 3-3 tie at home to Brighton. 

2 goals in a 3-3 draw with Arsenal as well as an incredible fourth hat-trick of the season as Palace beat Spurs 5-2 away from home have seen Marsh bettering his goal tally from last season in just 9 games this term.

Analysing Marsh’s performances

Marsh’s ability to score goals is quite simply excellent. He does well to create shooting angles and needs little time to get the ball out of his feet and into the back of the net. He also appears to have the natural ability to be in the right place at the right time, with some of his strikes coming from extremely close range, anticipating the bounce of the ball and often finding himself first to react.

He has a very clear style when it comes to the way he takes his chances, 70% of his goals this season have found either the bottom left or right corner. In fact, Marsh hasn’t scored a goal in either top corner all season, demonstrating his ability to keep his shots low, powerful and accurate. 

This season, Marsh has been the definition of a fox in the box. 11 of his 12 goals, not including two from the penalty spot, have been scored from inside the 18-yard box. He thrives with his back to goal and makes use of his low centre of gravity to spin defenders and create angles for a shot.

This was put into practice perfectly in his side's 4-3 defeat away to Fulham. His first and second goals were almost carbon copies of one another, the striker finding himself inside the box but not in a favourable position. The first strike came after he received the ball on the byline and held off his defender before dropping his shoulder and turning inside onto his right foot to bury his chance into the bottom right-hand corner. His second saw him show off his strength with his back to goal as once again he spun his marker to open the space to shoot and finish. 

The ability that Marsh has to score goals on both feet has caused issues for the majority of defences he has faced this season. Whilst he is predominantly right-footed, he has tallied 4 goals on his weaker left side. This means he is able to take on more chances as he doesn’t have to work a shot onto one side. The argument that Marsh is simply the finisher in a squad of talented players has been suggested, but his overall play and ability to create chances for himself out of nothing would suggest there is more to his game than that.

His pace is electric and his ability to drive with the ball, beating 2 or 3 men, has seen him create chances for others too. Against Southampton on the opening day of the season, he made an excellent driving run down the left wing, passing 3 defenders before drilling a perfectly weighted low ball across the box for Jesse Derry to tap home. His overall link-up play is very good and when he drops deep there is a Harry Kane-esque style to his play. He collects the ball, and looks to play in a teammate before charging towards the box to provide an option.

Of course, as with any young player, there are aspects of his performance that will need improvement if he is to make it as a pro at the top level. At times he finds himself in good positions but rushes his shot, a trait that should disappear from his game as he gains more experience. There are also times when he squanders big chances, but that is natural for a player in his position. One thing that should be remembered, however, is that Marsh is just 18 years old, and still has another 3 years of academy football before the ‘judgement day’ of his 21st birthday comes around.

Comparing Marsh to his predecessors

When comparing Marsh to prior successful strikers at this level, two notable names appear in the form of David Omilabu and Rob Street. Omilabu saw his best season at the Palace Academy return 21 goals in 18 games in the U18 Premier League. Marsh is just 7 goals off that tally after only 10 games. If he was to continue at the current rate he would reach 28 goals after 18 games. This could help put into perspective where he sits in comparison to a player in Omilabu who was highly rated by fans and coaches alike before he suffered an injury that derailed his Palace career. This is important to note as injuries can play a huge role in the development of young players. Rob Street’s best return came in the Premier League 2 at U21 level but only saw a return of 6 goals in 14 games. 

If Marsh is able to carry his form across the rest of the season and into the U21s next year, Palace could have a star on their hands. It will all come down to how he develops and adapts his game as the other players around him improve. We have seen players struggle to transition through the age groups successfully. Victor Akinwale, who now plays in the U21s saw a significant drop-off in his goal output as he stepped up to PL2. In 25 games at under-18 level, he scored 24 goals but saw this return fall to just 6 goals in 25 PL2 games the following season. 

This will be the deciding factor in Marsh’s career at Palace, but if he is able to carry his form with him there is no doubt he could be on to a successful career either at Selhurst or elsewhere.

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