The result last Saturday was a culmination of hard graft and a sign that Palace are on the way up in ways that some of our fans could probably never have imagined.
I kept an eye on proceedings at Stamford Bridge from afar while enjoying a relaxing break on the Isle of Wight as the team produced a performance on par with the Manchester City win last season.
Beating the reigning champions in their own back yard is no mean feat. We are susceptible to causing the odd shock, and last Saturday was certainly one. Hopefully a bit of a wake-up call to the rest of the league.
One thing I would reiterate is that although it was a surprise, we should expect those kinds of performances from the team. As Alan Pardew said in his press conference, we have the making of a great side. We could be on the cusp of putting together one of the greatest ever Palace sides.
I am not normally one for throwing in a lot of statistics but this week I feel it is very necessary.
- Pardew is the first manager to beat Jose Mourinho on three separate occasions.
- It was only the second defeat for Mourinho in his 100th home league game in charge of Chelsea.
- Heading into the game, Palace were looking for only their second league victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
- The away record for Palace is one of the strongest in 2015 having lost only two of nine games while winning the rest.
Right, I will get into the crux of my piece now as there is plenty I want to discuss, I only hope I can fit it all in.
Much has been made of the Chelsea result and rightly so in my opinion but I believe it is the start of many more to come against the top teams in the Premier League. Last year we had that famous victory over Manchester City under the lights of Selhurst, and the 3-2 victory away at Anfield in Steven Gerrard’s last home game for Liverpool. We tend to raise our game for the big boys.
Pardew has praised the spirit of the group, but you can have as much spirit as you like, if you do not have the quality to match, going away to places like Stamford Bridge will always be tricky. Now we have coupled quality with spirit, I certainly do not see the Chelsea result as a one off. After the international break, high-flying Manchester City come to Selhurst. If we can defend well and have that same threat as we did at Chelsea I could see another potential upset on the cards in the top of the table clash.
We now have players in all areas of the pitch that can hurt the opposition, and with the greater depth from the bench we have a variety of options that will prove handy against the ‘big guns’ of our league. What I will say Palace fans, is not to think that these results will be one off results. I truly believe we can go to the Etihad, the Emirates, and Anfield and produce a result like we did against Chelsea.
I recently penned a piece for a new sports site Stalksport in which I discussed our vice captain Damien Delaney and whether it was time to look for a younger, fresher centre back. Yet again, he has made me eat my words.
First of all, his battle with Diego Costa was memorising at times, but secondly and more importantly he won that battle rather convincingly. The Chelsea striker certainly has not hit the ground running like he did last season, and Delaney restricted him to very few chances.
When Palace arrived in the Premier League with Ian Holloway at the helm, our centre back pairing was Danny Gabbidon and Delaney, and being honest with you it frightened me. The thought of Championship level players coming up against some of the best strikers in the world was something I just was not willing to put up with on a weekly basis. Fast forward two years and Delaney has evolved in a centre back that now looks comfortable with what the Premier League can throw at him.
One of my longstanding gripes with Delaney is that I always feels he goes long too often. On Saturday he and team looked as composed as I have ever seen a Palace side. Just look at the build up to the Yohan Cabaye chance in the first-half.
Yet again the Irishman has proved me wrong and certainly for the foreseeable future, why go and spend £5-£10 million on a replacement when our vice captain is stepping up and leading from the front. He is well and truly a legend in my eyes and I feel a ‘bromance’ blossoming.
The international break is upon us now and being honest with you, I am disappointed not see any Palace players in the squad. However, I am certain that if Scott Dann, Jason Puncheon, and Joel Ward continue to perform like they have been a call up will not be very far away.
