Since the last edition of the Progress Report, Crystal Palace has welcomed both Newcastle United and Liverpool to Selhurst Park.
We gained a point from one and in the other we crashed out of the FA Cup, which personally was disappointing, but more on that later.
Alan Pardew welcomed his previous employers Newcastle last Wednesday evening, and although we came away with a point it was an all too familiar story. We could not break down a stubborn side. It has happened too often at Selhurst.
Newcastle United
After our smash and grab at Leicester City in the previous game we followed it up with a modest point. Ultimately it is one more point nearer our target, which is of course survival in the Premier League.
It was obvious what Newcastle were going to do, sit deep, not allowing any room behind their defenders and frankly they executed their plan well. However, I just feel we have to be clever in the final third.
I mentioned in my last article that long balls work with the correct personnel but for the first half at the King Power it did not. Why? Because Dwight Gayle is not that type of striker. Yaya Sanogo is.
The problem against Newcastle was that when Sanogo went off injured we persisted in playing those long balls. The guilty offender was Damien Delaney.
I am going to rattle off a few names now – Jordan Mutch, Jason Puncheon, Yannick Bolasie, Wilfried Zaha, and Adlene Guedioura. I hope you get the common theme. They are creative players. Individuals that can make things happen. Against the Geordies we were again too reliant on the long ball.
I know this is not necessarily connected to the Newcastle game but I want to talk about one player which can offer us something.
So I pose a question – can Guedioura make an impact on this current team?
My answer, yes. TEB would like to hear your answers, so please do not hesitate to comment below or through Twitter.
Back on subject, Guedioura came on in Pardew’s first home game against Tottenham Hotspur and did things which were encouraging. He also came on against Brendan Rodger’s Liverpool but because of our lack of possession he could not influence the game.
Pardew has said it himself, he wants someone with that ‘maverick behaviour’, that ability to produce the unpredictable. We have a few of those, and the Algerian schemer is someone I would put in that bracket.
I hope he gets a chance to show what he can do because there no doubting he has something. Whether that is impacting games at the highest level, time will tell.
Liverpool
It was simply death by possession. Liverpool banished their 18 year hoodoo at Selhurst Park by producing a dominant second half display.
I was sat in block Z, row 17 of the Arthur Wait Stand. Watching Liverpool monopolise possession was infuriating to say the least. Pardew alluded to it and I will echo it again, that was certainly our worst performance with the ball. We just could not keep the damn thing.
If Gayle tucked away that chance before halftime I think I would be sitting here writing about a Palace victory. That was the pivotal moment, it came and went and we are now counting the cost, or to some there was not much cost attached to it but I feel there was.
We had a genuine opportunity to roll back the years and embark on a cup run that would bring back memories of 1990. Tales that fans could sing about, a chance for one of our current crop to make themselves a hero, but Liverpool stuck to their guns and carried on their improved form with a much deserved victory.
League safety is paramount, I get that and with this new television deal Palace have a chance to further progress as a club. With the teams that were left in the competition, beating Liverpool could have potentially opened the doors to another Wembley appearance.
As I have said, one of our downfalls was our inability to keep the ball efficiently, another was defending too deep.
Particularly in the second half, if we had engaged Liverpool higher up the field we might have had more joy. Mario Balotelli came on and coupled with Adam Lallana and Philippe Coutinho the only real risk of getting hurt in behind was the threat of Daniel Sturridge. I do not think we took enough risks and a FA Cup tie is ultimately about taking risks.
We now face another huge game with Arsenal the visitors. We have to show more than we did against Liverpool particularly with the ball. If we take a few risks we could more than spring a surprise on Mr Wenger’s men.
