Monday 14 August 2017

1 down, 37 still to go



While losing 3-0 at home to a newly promoted team on the opening day was a fairly awful way to kick start a new era at Selhurst Park, there needs to be some patience as the teams style and philosophy changes




They say history is written by the winners, and while the praise being heaped on Huddersfield is of course justified in many ways, if you’d actually watched the full 90 minutes at Selhurst Park on Saturday, for all that the Terriers were impressive, it was actually the home team that created more chances. Huddersfield were clinical; four clear chances - three goals. Palace were profligate, six or seven clear chances – nothing. Wilfried Zaha alone could have, and perhaps should have, had a hattrick, and for all the defensive ineptitude, uncertainty over playing style and formation, it doesn’t seem too much of a stretch to say that from where I was sitting that 3-3 would’ve been a perfectly reasonable score line. However, that’s not the way football is played – how many shots you have, how much possession you maintain and any other stats don’t equal a result, and if Palace had got anything out of this weekend’s game it would’ve been because of an individual moment of skill rather than collective cohesion. On the day, it was the better team that won.

A lot has been said about Frank De Boer’s desire to change the style of the team, put a greater emphasis on possession, switch to a 3-4-3, but if these are his ultimate end goals – and sometimes you do wonder if it’s just lazy stereotyping to say that a Dutchman that used to play for and manage Ajax, as well as play for Barcelona, will want to implement ‘total football’ – then he will need some time and some patience to do so. Unfortunately time and patience are two words that don’t exist in the 21st Century football dictionary.

Saturday was not good, I don’t think anyone can deny that, yet it is important to try and get some sense of perspective given that this was one game. If you listened to the reactions to the first weekend of results in the Premier League, then you might as well hand over the trophy to Manchester United already. While hugely impressive in their first game, it is worth repeating that there are 37 more to go. Knee jerkism and jumping to conclusions are all the rage these days, and while no one enjoys losing, certainly not at home, certainly not three nil and certainly not to a newly promoted team, already predicting doom and gloom and questioning what the new man at the helm is trying to do isn’t helpful.

This is not to say that anyone should be immune to criticism or that fans shouldn’t be able to voice their frustrations. Against Huddersfield a number of things didn’t work well, and if they are still not working well after a few more games then that’s when to take stock and look at the bigger picture. Of course the transfer window, and it closing in two weeks adds a sense of urgency, and if there was a conclusion to be leapt at from the weekend it’s that the squad is not currently strong enough. But recruitment can’t be dictated by panic; if De Boer has a tactical approach he wants to implement then he needs the right players to do it.

No-one wants to be cut adrift, and Palace fans more than anyone over the past year and a half understand that once a team gets stuck on a downward spiral then it’s hard to pull out of the nosedive. For many fans there is a genuine fear and anxiety over the move to a new style and way of playing.

Its human nature to be wary and distrustful of change and some still feel scarred about what they saw as Alan Pardew dragging the team away from a template that had been successful. In fact any deviation from the style that was responsible for the team getting promoted in 2013: solid defensive base, two deep lying protectors in midfield, speedy, tricky wide men able to spring into attack at pace and a clear single focal point up front, has met with decidedly mixed results and reversion to the mean. Holloway tried and failed, Pardew, after initial success, tried and failed; the two managers coming in to save the team Pulis and Allardyce? Locked the door at the back and hit teams on the break. Most games that the team has won during the past four years has been by looking to cede the ball to the opposition and hit teams hard through counter attacks and set pieces. De Boer will have to win hearts and minds as well as football matches.

Against Huddersfield I thought the team actually started OK. There were some nice interchanging of passing and people were looking to play it short and keep the ball rather than trying to get the ball forward at the earliest opportunity. But it was also clear that there was uncertainty and a lack of clarity, an issue exacerbated by the collective high press and high energy of the visitors. Wayne Hennessey in goal looked decidedly uncomfortable – always looking to play short, even at times when the manager on the side line was encouraging him to go long. But regardless of whether he was being asked to play long or short, it was the familiar failings of being indecisive with balls coming into his box where he was more pressingly at fault.

Elsewhere on the pitch, there were a number of other disappointing performances, with it to be debated whether this was caused by structural or individual failings. Joel Ward looked uncomfortable as a right wing back, highlighted by the failure to stop the cross coming into the box that resulted in Huddersfield’s second goal. On the other side Patrick Van Aanholt showed promise in an attacking sense but looked confused at what his defensive responsibilities should be. In the back three it was also a far from impressive debut from  Jaïro Riedewald who looked shaken at the speed and intensity of the Premier League tempo. As the game went on the young Dutchman started to show some poise and passing ability, but he will need to become sharper to be able to grow into the good addition that I’m confident he will become long term.

Of the other new boys Timothy Fosu-Mensah, on loan from Old Trafford showed promise and his pace in being able to produce an impressive goal saving tackle, while fellow loanee Ruben Loftus-Cheek was the best Palace performer on the day, particularly in the second half when switched to his favoured central midfield role. His struggle to get into the game on the right side of a front three in the first half illustrating clearly both the strangeness of the decision to omit Andros Townsend from the starting line-up and the lack of depth and alternative options in the forward line.

Two of the most impressive performers in the second half of the season, Jason Puncheon and Luka Milivojević failed to gel in central midfield, and to me there has always been question marks about Puncheon being able to operate as part of a two in the middle of the park, his best form coming when he was able to operate as part of a triumvirate alongside Milivojević and the man still coming back to first team fitness Yohan Cabaye.

Up front Christian Benteke showed some nice touches in his build up play, but outside of one excellent chance from a corner where his header was impressively saved by the Huddersfield keeper, he was largely kept quiet from making a decisive attacking impact. As already highlighted, and as ever, Zaha was the teams most prominent attacking threat, and through some more composed finishing could have helped himself to a couple of goals. Recognising the danger he poses, he was on the wrong end of some heavy Huddersfield tackling early on, and the blow the club will hope is not significant was the picture of his leg in a brace the next day. It shows the reliance the team has on him for attacking inspiration.
As you’ll see it was hard to find any significant positives to cling onto after Saturday’s curtain raiser, but I do think it’s important to not go full on 6-0-6 and try and give the new style and new system some time to settle in and breathe. As some have pointed out, it’s challenging when you already feel you’ve lost ground on a team that may be ‘in and around you’ as the season progresses, but the club need to hold their nerve and believe in their own decision to appoint a manager with a new philosophy that he wants to bring to the club. But in backing their own choices, the Board also need to back that up with an investment into players that can complement and carry out what the new manager wants to do. And as it may pain the sentimental side of me to say, move on those players that may no longer fit.

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