Today, Crystal Palace stand on the brink of a landmark season – ten consecutive years in the Premier League. We’ve come a long, long way since a tired Watford defender (bless him!) chopped down Wilfried Zaha in the box at Wembley to give Palace a 12-yard shot to win promotion.
We fans are now experiencing the week that, every year, floods our minds with limitless optimism and unbridled anticipation, yet (as always) we all have questions.
Where Will Palace Finish This Season?
This time last year, bookies and pundits were in agreement – Palace would struggle, and might even be relegated.
However, Patrick Vieira’s wind of change was powerful – and swift in its impact. As early as October last season, just 11 games in, this column declared (and proved) that Palace were already safe from relegation. We argued that fans should be looking up the table for the next 27 matches instead of adopting the previously perennial, “over the shoulder” pose.
For the coming season, we’ve studied predictions this summer from The Guardian, Daily Mail, BBC, FourFourTwo, Oddschecker and the Supercomputers operated by Five Thirty Eight and TalkSPORT. Accumulating all of their brains, knowledge and effort, here’s the average of the outcome they see next May:
1. Manchester City
2. Liverpool
3. Tottenham
4. Chelsea
5. Arsenal
6. Manchester United
7. Newcastle United
8. West Ham United
9. Leicester City
10. Aston Villa
11. Brighton
12. Crystal Palace
13. Wolves
14. Everton
15. Brentford
16. Southampton
17. Leeds United
18. Nottingham Forest
19. Fulham
20. Bournemouth
The pundits, computers and bookies have all pigeon-holed the Eagles into a definite mid-table slot. They all have us anywhere from 10th to 13th in the Premier League. They may be right. But that won’t satisfy Patrick Vieira at all.
Top Six?
We know that Steve Parrish dreams of “doing a Leicester” – and there’s no law that says the so-called Big Six should automatically be the Top Six. Can Palace really challenge the giants over the marathon of a Premier League season that uniquely includes a World Cup Finals sandwich?
Well, last season we did achieve our best ever results against the Big Six. And, with these clubs providing the opposition in 5 of our first 9 matches, we will quickly see how Palace measure up this time around.
Top Half?
Beneath the Big Six in the table, things very quickly become less predictable, more fluid and very open.
Newcastle are using their not-so-funny money to strengthen their squad with clever acquisitions; they’re far removed from the shambles they were a year ago and so must be expected to move up the league. Aston Villa have real potential if it turns out their manager has used their transfer budget well.
Leicester and Wolves have both disappointed their fans with their recruitment so far this summer, and West Ham fans I know are still waiting with miserable faces for more new players to beef up their squad.
So, any or all of those might be vulnerable when the season gets under way. Brighton have lost one, maybe two, of their best players. While the same may yet happen to Palace, we know that losing key men can quickly undermine ambitions to climb the table.
Look Out Below!
Clubs like Brentford, Southampton, Leeds and Everton must all be expected to play with real concern that the relegation trapdoor might open beneath their feet at any time. Which leaves us with the newly promoted teams – and we all know the risks they face. Even if one or two of them manage to dodge the relegation bullet, it’s already apparent before a ball is kicked that 17th is their first and maybe only objective.
Building On Foundations Of Pre-Season
Patrick Vieira spoke for us all when he said Palace’s pre-season wasn’t
“ideal” – splitting management and players across continents. So how did it all work out?
Decent Results
Positive scorelines always help. Playing teams from 5 different leagues, Palace picked up 5 wins and 2 draws from 9 games, scoring 22 and conceding 17. The two defeats came from playing much-weakened teams against Big Six opponents who were more advanced in their pre-season preparations.
At Least 4 Injury Issues
Olise’s foot injury from last season hasn’t yet cleared up enough for him to play, and it could be another month before he’s back. Johnstone has a troubling thigh issue that will sideline him for another week or two.
McArthur was injured, recovered quickly, played again and now has a pelvic issue that will stop him coming back for another few weeks. And Butland has a wrist or hand injury that means he’s unlikely to leave this transfer window – an expensive setback for the club, as it looked like he would be moving on with the arrival of Johnstone.
Obviously, there could be other issues that the club are keeping under wraps for now, but we might find the Palace line up against Arsenal at least 4 men short (including 2 of our 3 first-team goalkeepers).
51 Players – All Trying to Catch Patrick’s Eye!
It’s a remarkable feature of this unique pre-season that Palace used as many as 51 players ranging from established senior men to promising kids eager to prove themselves at the highest levels. So who did what in the build-up to 2022/23? And where do they stand now?
First Team Squad Players
Eze 427 minutes, 6 games, 2 goals, 2 assists
*Mitchell 413 minutes, 6 games
*Guaita 405 minutes, 5 games
Schlupp 384 minutes, 6 games
Zaha 380 minutes, 5 games, 5 goals, 4 assists – an amazing one goal involvement every 42 minutes
*Clyne 365 minutes, 6 games
*Mateta 361 minutes, 6 games, 2 goals
*Andersen 356 minutes, 5 games
*Ayew 350 minutes, 5 games, 1 goal, 1 assist
*Ward 338 minutes, 5 games, 1 goal, 1 assist
Guehi 314 minutes, 5 games, 1 goal, 1 assist
Benteke 305 minutes, 6 games, 3 goals, 5 assists – an astonishing one goal involvement every 38 minutes
*Edouard 304 minutes, 5 games, 2 goals, 1 assist
*Milivojevic 298 minutes, 5 games, 2 assists
Doucoure 258 minutes, 4 games
Hughes 251 minutes, 6 games
Riedewald 181 minutes, 4 games
*Matthews 121 minutes, 2 games – now loaned to St Johnstone
McArthur 116 minutes, 3 games – now injured
Ferguson 115 minutes, 4 games
Tomkins 90 minutes, 2 games
*Butland 14 minutes, 1 game – now injured
Richards 12 minutes, 1 game
Future Stars?
21-year-olds
D Boateng 231 minutes, 4 games
*O’Brien 82 minutes, 3 games, 1 goal – maybe to be loaned to a League One
club?
20-year-olds
*Phillips 198 minutes, 5 games
*Street 67 minutes, 3 games
*M Boateng 42 minutes, 3 games
*Banks 29 minutes, 2 games – maybe to be loaned to a League Two club?
19-year-olds
*Rak-Sakyi 302 minutes, 5 games, 1 goal – maybe to be loaned to a League One club?
Plange 280 minutes, 6 games, 3 goals – maybe to be loaned to Luton?
Watson 171 minutes, 4 games
*Quick 71 minutes, 2 games
Gordon 50 minutes, 2 games
*Siddik 29 minutes, 2 games
18-year-olds
*Ebiowei 183 minutes, 5 games
Whitworth 135 minutes, 2 games
Goodman 135 minutes, 2 games
Sheridan 135 minutes, 2 games
*Ozoh 106 minutes, 3 games – maybe to be loaned to Charlton?
*Adaramola 84 minutes, 4 games – now loaned to Coventry City
*Raymond 55 minutes, 3 games
Wells-Morrison 46 minutes, 2 games
Bartley 46 minutes, 2 games
Addae 39 minutes, 2 games
Cadogan 29 minutes, 2 games
*Ola-Adebomi 25 minutes, 1 game
Mooney 13 minutes, 2 games
Vigor 2 minutes, 1 game
17-year-olds
*Rodney 44 minutes, 2 games
*Akinwale 13 minutes, 1 game
*Participated in tour to Singapore and Australia for games against
Liverpool, Manchester United and Leeds United.
Quick Conclusions
51 played, 2 sat out the pre-season – that’s probably unprecedented depth for this club of 53 players pressing to play for Crystal Palace in the days, months and years ahead, not counting new players signed or youngsters yet to emerge through the youth system!
Based on selection, minutes and performances, 2 first-team squad
players look to have been only peripherally involved so far – Tomkins and Ferguson
Based on selection, minutes and performances, plainly pressing for
places in the first-team squad are Plange, Rak-Sakyi, Phillips, Ebiowei, D Boateng, Watson and Ozoh.
