Crystal Palace could not be the party poopers on this occasion as a penalty from Eden Hazard handed Chelsea the title at Stamford Bridge.
From a Palace perspective the performance at the Bridge was remarkably better than those against West Brom and Hull City.
Our display had the hallmark of a side fighting to stay in the league. I like it when Palace are like that, we are miles better playing with a sense of urgency. The last two games were too laid back and probably in all honesty, we expected to pick up the all six points.
For me the only disappointment was the penalty that was awarded against us. It was a dive by Hazard. After a season that the young Belgium attacking player has had, and he goes and does something like that. Poor.
Wingers Could Cost Us
Gary Neville made a comment suggesting that the unpredictability of Wilfried Zaha and Yannick Bolasie could cost us
We all the know capabilities of both our wide men, we all know how dangerous they can be when in full swing but hearing the former United defender commentate on our players throws out an interesting proposition.
Do Bolasie and Zaha sometimes put unnecessary pressure on our defensive set-up? This was basically the crux of Neville’s point. The extravagance of the pair are evident to see. They are the type of players that are willing to take a risk, sometimes it will pay off, other times it will not. We have witnessed both first hand on occasions this season.
Do they really put unwanted pressure on our backline? I must admit the pair are susceptible of losing the ball in dangerous areas of the pitch, they did it on Sunday and Chelsea nearly punished us.
I do not completely agree with Neville’s statement though. That is what forward play is essentially. Taking risks, making defenders commit. That is the way to engineer dangerous situations that could lead to goals. On countless occasions this season Zaha and Bolasie have done just that.
I agree in part in that they have to learn when to turn it on. In some situations it is just not on to try a skill or flick and it does cause unnecessary strain on our more defensive minded players. Then again, one of the first things Alan Pardew said when he walked into Palace was that he wanted to see that ‘maverick’ behaviour and with players like Bolasie and Zaha in your team, that is exactly what you are going to get.
Neville is a respected pundit on Sky Sports and I like to listen to him, but I do not think our enigmatic wide players should change their approach to protect our defensive players. Our great form earlier in the campaign was down to free flowing, exciting attacking football and Bolasie and Zaha were a large part of that.
Yaya Sanogo
The young Frenchman came on for Jordan Mutch who put in a decent shift. With his loan imminently expiring and a return to Arsenal for next season, it is hard to see if he will figure in Arsene Wenger’s plans.
Arsenal are on the verge of finishing second behind Champions Chelsea and with a second consecutive FA Cup Final in May to look forward to, a big summer is on the cards in North London. Some big names could be heading for the Emirates and it is unlikely Sanogo would get a look in.
Another loan somewhere else could be the next step for his development, but I would be interested to know if the fans would welcome Sanogo as a permanent signing at SE25.
Has he done enough to convince us that he could prove to be useful asset in the long run?
The only criticism I would level at Sanogo is the lack of goals during his loan spell. Then again, he has not been first choice due to injury and resurgence of Glenn Murray.
Maybe a prolonged run in the side he might start producing goals that his position merits. It will be interesting to see what happens in the summer because I just cannot see him going back to the Emirates and getting a lot of game time.
United Up Next
Another big name team travels to Selhurst and with our latest home performances being below par, the fans will be expecting a better display from the team.
Louis Van Gaal’s side have lost three on the bounce in the Premier League having last weekend losing to West Bromwich Albion courtesy of a goal from defender Jonas Olsson which gave Tony Pulis’s side all three points at Old Trafford.
Champions League football is not entirely ensured for next season so United will coming to South London looking to collect points and move further away from fifth placed Liverpool.
I am looking forward to the game. The season is nearly over but we still have some big games to play and finishing the season strongly would send out a message for next year.
With transfer rumours starting to grow, naturally the excitement amongst the fans will start to build as we look forward to a summer with belief that we can attract some more top talent to the club.
Pushing forward and making history in the years to come is the aim. Let us see if the impossible can become possible.
