I blame myself. Although it is tempting to keep quiet about it, back in July I was serenely confident about our transfer window.
At that point we had made a couple of useful signings for the future with the prospect of more to come. I had great faith that we would do enough to give Patrick Vieira the ability to improve on his encouraging maiden season as Palace manager. Now that we are past the ten match mark I fear that the current placing of thirteenth in the table (after 11 matches) is about the right place for us. And I say that hoping we can avoid any relegation worries!
After that promising early start to the transfer window we managed to get our main target, Chieck Doucoure, over the line as well as Chris Richards, Sam Johnstone and Malcom Ebiowei. All excellent relatively young signings with either clear pedigree now (Doucoure) or potential for the future. Like most Palace supporters I felt we needed more in the midfield having lost Gallagher and Kouyate and in attack having lost Benteke. I was hopeful that another year’s experience under Vieira and the quality of the signings we made would make up for the lack of quantity, but there was a nagging doubt that our recruitment overall had left us weaker than last season.
At the eleven match mark I fear that those doubts are looking fairly reasonable. The Everton away match was a clear demonstration of everything that could go wrong, and although I am really hoping those performances do not become a regular occurrence, I would not be surprised if we see the odd repeat of something like it.
At the risk of going over what has been said by numerous Palace supporters the loss of Doucoure due to suspension highlighted both how important he is to our midfield but also that Patrick Vieira is not immune from making mistakes. That is not a criticism since every manager in the Premier League (and below) makes mistakes but I am hopeful some lessons have been learned.
Although I am definitely not in the anti-Luka brigade, it was not realistic to expect him to replicate the outstanding performances we have seen from Doucoure every week as a defensive midfielder. The same can be said of Jairo and Hughes so a tactical/formation rethink will be needed next time Doucoure is unavailable. Any criticism of the initial formation and choice of personnel do have to be tempered by a recognition of the resources available to Vieira. At this point we simply do not have the personnel available to enable us to play his preferred style in the absence of Doucoure. Of course it will be Vieira’s job find a solution should Doucoure become unavailable for an extended period of time (heaven forbid!), but if we were to improve on last season we definitely needed greater depth in one of the key positions for us.
Similarly in attack our summer transfer dealings have left us a little light on depth and substitutes who can come on and turn a match around. Having gone behind at Goodison Park, Vieira substituted Luka and Olise and brought on Schlupp and Mateta. Sadly that had the effect of further weakening whatever midfield solidity we had (not much to be honest) with result of two further goals conceded and a deterioration in our attacking threat. Once again whilst it is easy with hindsight to say that Vieira made the wrong choices, the reality he had nothing else on the bench that was likely to turn the match in our favour.
Based on last season I have faith that Vieira will learn from the mistakes of the Everton match and we have played well enough in patches this season that I am hopeful that the season will end with no worse than a lower mid table finish. Unfortunately what I cannot see, without using January to address these gaps in our squad, is anything higher than twelfth or thirteenth in the table by the end of the season. Although by no means a disaster, after all it is exactly the area we have been for most of our time in the Premier League, we have had the carrot of dynamic, exciting and successful football dangled in front of us last season and to see that carrot wither a bit due to a lack of the right recruitment would be a shame.
A final concern is more long term (I hope) and that is Patrick Vieira’s ambitions. Patrick has really seemed to have bought into Crystal Palace as a club, community and a “project”. He understands and identifies with the spirit of Palace being an underdog club which makes up for a lack of money with a combination of determination and togetherness. Patrick Vieira, however, has also had tremendous success as a footballer and whilst that is not something that he brings up as a manager I have no doubt he wants to be seen as a successful manager who is taking his club in a positive and upward direction.
Unlike Roy Hodgson, Vieira is still in the early stages of his career and he will feel he has lots to prove to the football world. Roy had seen and done it all so I am sure he did not feel that same pressure. If Vieira eventually feels that a lack of sensible recruitment is holding back his managerial career he be tempted to look elsewhere. I do not see this as a worry for now but much will depend on the next 2-3 transfer windows.
