Luck was against us last weekend as Manchester United came to SE25 and pulled off a victory that would ensure they will have Champions League football next year at Old Trafford.
Louis Van Gaal’s men dominated the first half but we rallied in the second and if it was not for David De Gea’s superb save we might have been talking about another victory over a Manchester club. It just was not to be.
We have had a tough run of fixtures the last couple of weeks but the performances have been remarkably better than those against Hull City and West Bromwich Albion.
It is rapidly approaching the holiday season and with Palace secure from the threat of relegation I feel some of the players have taken their eye off the ball a little. I guess I can excuse them for that after the shift they have put in this season.
Breaking that points tally
With two games of the season left against Liverpool and Swansea City, breaking the points tally of 45 set last season looks to be out of reach.
I feel it will be difficult to go to Anfield and get a result considering there will be a huge clamour for Liverpool to do well seeing as it is Steven Gerrard’s final game for Liverpool at Anfield.
The best we can do is equal it and a win against Swansea at Selhurst Park should give the lads some extra incentive.
Some people may find the points tally aspect rather trivial but in the wider context I think it shows a real sign of progression. The two years in the Premier League have been far from easy and in some respects we do not help ourselves.
To at least equal that tally would be quite something, the journey we have been on the past two years has been nothing short of sensational and to show the rest of the league that a little club from SE25 is scaling new heights would be fantastic.
We are a club on the up and we must not forget that and finishing mid-table and attaining 45 points is just the start, I I truly believe that.
Jury still out on Souare
I just want to have a little word on Pape Souare. He has been given more game time of late which I am pleased about but he looks like he still needs to get adjusted to the physical style of the Premier League.
Personally, I am still undecided on the Senegalese international. He is very comfortable attacking down the wing which is good. To potentially have two attack minded full backs appeal to me but it is the defensive side of his game that concerns me.
I think with time his defensive awareness of the Premier League will improve but it is how he looks in possession. He looks a bit uneasy in pressure situations on the ball. He will either give it away cheaply or do something daft with it, like he did against Arsenal.
I am all for giving a new import time and with a solid pre-season under his belt will help immensely. Getting used to this league is no easy task, but next season I expect to see a more composed Souare ready to nail down that left back position.
Gerrard send off
I do not think I can write this edition of the Progress Report without looking ahead to this weekend’s game against Liverpool.
Many of you will know, the build up to the game has been rife with the news that Gerrard will be playing his last game in front of the Kop. It will be rather weird next year seeing Liverpool without their talisman skipper in the team, let alone the squad.
Gerrard has been a titan of English football over the seventeen years he has played for Liverpool and seeing him leave the top flight to ply his trade in America is a shame.
He was the catalyst in the craziest game of football I have experienced. The Liverpool comeback in Istanbul against AC Milan was one of the most dramatic. At least it was until that night at Selhurst last season!
The former England midfielder even had an FA Cup Final named after him when he had no right to score that third goal from where he did. It was a truly wonderful hit.
To me he is up there with the greatest English midfielders and at a time he was one of the best in the world. For some to say that he underachieved is harsh.
If he went to Chelsea, Real Madrid or Inter Milan we would be sitting here talking about one of the most decorated players in football. It did not turn out like that, but we must not forget that he has won some of the most sought after trophies in world football.
The pressure is now off and the Palace lads who can enjoy the last two games of the season safe in the knowledge that another season in the top flight beckons.
