Our latest article is courtesy of our friends in Australia, Licence To Roam. From the homeland of Mile Jedinak, our obvious connection, the guys focus on a number of leagues around the world on their site. This week they shared their views on the opening game of the season for Palace.
Check out their website at www.licencetoroam.net and contact them on Twitter @licencetoroam.
The long awaited return of Crystal Palace to the Premiership had finally arrived after eight years of grinding away in the Championship. To kick off their campaign they welcomed fifth placed finishers from last season, Tottenham Hotspur.
Palace manager Ian Holloway lined up in the Christmas tree 4-3-2-1 formation, with inspirational captain Jedinak joined by Garvan and Dikgacoi in the midfield three.
Tottenham lined up in their usual 4-2-3-1, handing debuts to the new signings of Paulinho, Chadli and Soldado. Tottenham were always expected to dominate and have the lion’s share of possession, and they did, but I’m sure they weren’t expecting such a tough opener against the EPL newcomers.
Palace Formation
It was intriguing to watch Crystal Palace set up in their unique 4-3-2-1 formation. The back four consisted of Moxey, Delaney, Gabiddon and Ward, exactly the same cohesive unit that played in the Championship playoff against Watford back in May. As mentioned earlier, the midfield 3 consisted of Jedinak, Dikgacoi and the more creative Garvan, who all put in tireless shifts as they had plenty of defending to undertake. Dobbie and Gayle then formed an attacking two, with Wilbraham playing upfront.
Palace Marking
The Palace marking was particularly interesting, with Dobbie and Gayle marking Tottenham’s two holding midfielders, Dembélé and Paulinho. This made it difficult at times for Tottenham to play out from defence, causing them to launch some long diagonal balls cross field. Dikgacoi and Garvan were marking the Tottenham flankers of Chadli and Lennon when they came inside to collect the ball, with Jedinak defending more centrally, keeping a close eye on Sigurdsson. With Tottenham’s wingers often coming inside, especially Chadli, to leave space for the fullbacks to overlap, this left fullback v fullback battles to occur regularly.
Tottenham Dominance
The Spurs dominated possession as expected, but they had to be patient in their build up play, with Palace defending extremely well as a team. They were content to pass around the backline, whilst waiting for an opening. Tottenham favoured the right hand side when attacking, with Lennon and Walker combining well to break down the defence on multiple occasions. Despite having most of the play, they often lacked the penetration required to score and they were finding clear cut chances hard to come by.
Mile Jedinak
The tough, aggressive and hard tackling Australian was ever present throughout the fixture. His determination and will to win the ball back for Palace was inspirational to watch. He was putting excellent pressure on the Tottenham players all day, having a total of 4 tackles, 3 interceptions and 1 blocked shot. Jedinak was certainly throwing himself about and setting a great example for his teammates, in what was a man of the match performance.
Second Half Beginning
The second half began perfectly for Spurs, winning a penalty on 49 minutes courtesy of a handball. This came on the back of Lennon’s dangerous run and attempted cross, which unluckily hit Moxey on the hand as he tried to stop it. This was unfortunate for Moxey, who had been manful all match in defending Walker and Lennon. Up stepped Soldado, who beautifully slotted his penalty home, sending Speroni the wrong way.
Game Stretched
After the goal, Palace were forced to attack with much greater vigour. This meant they were pushing more numbers forward and defending higher up the pitch. This, in turn, opened up the game, meaning whenever Palace lost the ball, Tottenham had a great opportunity to spread and break. Palace did begin to look a lot more dangerous, but were finding it hard to create some genuine goal scoring chances. Gayle had one of Palace’s best opportunities, firing over from range, while for Tottenham, Sigurdsson missed a glorious chance to kill the game after a terrific ball from Soldado.
Substitutions
Tottenham were first to make a change with the introduction of Capoue, who was making his debut after signing from Toulouse. Capoue looked comfortable, doing his job very effectively, whilst making some vital interceptions.
Then Palace made an eye-opening triple change, introducing Williams, Phillips and Chamakh. This was an unbelievably attacking move by Holloway, who was desperately trying to gain a result for Palace. The moves instantly made Palace a real threat, with Williams displaying his nifty footwork and linking up nicely during their surging attacks.
Chamakh was looking a new man at Palace after a horror spell at Arsenal. He provided a great deal of creativity for Palace, playing through balls and looking dangerous on the dribble. Alongside Phillips and Gayle, the Palace frontline now had a lethal vibe about it.
Defoe also made a late appearance and provided a real spark on the counter, with his quality runs and evident pace proving a headache. Unfortunately his finishing lacked the usual polish. If he stays at Spurs, he will surely be a weapon off the bench.
Defences Hold Firm Under Pressure
Despite Palace’s late push, this meant they were exposed on the counter and were lucky not to concede late. Tottenham’s Chadli and the aforementioned Defoe spurned some solid chances late, but credit must be given to Palace’s defence for standing firm through these moments, and throughout the match on the whole. Delaney and Gabbidon both had excellent matches; they won the majority of their aerial duels, and their dominance in this regard was a real feature of Palace’s play. Praise must also go to Tottenham’s defence, who stood tall, looking assured for the majority of the match. They made it very hard for Palace to put any sustained pressure on keeper Lloris, although he was called into action late and duly delivered, making a super save to keep out Dikgacoi’s fierce volley.
Finish
Crystal Palace can be very proud of their first up effort, with plenty of positives to be taken out of the performance. Captain Jedinak was immense and will surely rally the troops for the upcoming trip to Stoke. Meanwhile, Spurs will be delighted to have picked up a tough early win against a physical Palace side, and also to have given their new signings an EPL debut.
