Eagles End Year With Home Defeat To Spurs

The year ends in disappointment as the Eagles could have played all night and would not have found the back of the net in a frustrating defeat to a Spurs side that the hosts should really have taken something out of.

MATCH INFORMATION

PLAYER RATINGS

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES – 23 Jaydee CANVOT, 24 Borna SOSA, 42 Kaden RODNEY, 44 Walter BENITEZ, 72 Dean BENEMAR, 86 Joel DRAKES-THOMAS

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES – 11 Mathys TEL, 25 Kota TAKAI, 31 Antonin KINSKI, 33 Ben DAVIES, 44 Dane SCARLETT

POST GAME QUOTES

OLIVER GLASNER

“Very disappointing result. It’s a little bit like many games this year, if you don’t score you can’t win. It’s not that we don’t create chances, we just miss them right now, and then we get punished with a set play. It’s a little bit the story that happens more or less every game.

I can’t remember that we’ve dominated Tottenham like we did today – pushing them into their half, creating chances, chances, chances but at the end losing the game. The players gave all of their effort, it looked like everything works but the most important thing, getting the ball into the goal, did not work. That is the most important part in football.

We need the support. We know we are missing a few players who are always involved in our goals – Daniel Munoz, Ismaila Sarr, Daichi Kamada. I see the effort but to be honest the finishing quality was not there.”

MATCH STATISTICS

BOB’S POINT OF VIEW

Bob White was a coach at Palace under the tenure of Steve Coppell and Alan Smith and will be sharing his point of view each week in our review article.

“Probably one of the poorest games I’ve witnessed at Selhurst in the past couple of seasons. A disappointing outcome was settled by a scrappy first half goal which accurately reflected the lack of quality on display during the whole game. Ultimately, Spurs were no better than us.

In summary, in spells we looked tidy in possession until we reached the final third where a misplaced final pass or cross created little threat to a defence which didn’t have to work too hard to keep a clean sheet. A combination of a lack of guile and poor finishing when half chances occurred meant that we could still be playing to midnight without scoring.

Although it’s clear that we are missing key players from a squad which lacks depth, I’m surprised that Glasner is selecting some players in positions where they look like square pegs in round holes within the current system. It reflects an inflexible approach by the manager which we often saw under Roy Hodgson.

Maybe with the current lack of options it’s time to consider some subtle changes in tactics until reinforcements hopefully arrive in January.

There are no simple solutions within the current squad yet something needs to change in approach to prevent a further slide down the table over the next few weeks. This is where a manager and the coaching staff really earn their salaries, so over to you Mr Glasner!

Let’s also see whether our owners fully back a proactive move in the January transfer market to bring some alternative quality starting XI options. Otherwise ,we have seemingly come to a grinding halt in both performances and results following three consecutive league defeats.

Essentially, no individual standout performances during the game. In reality, we win together functioning well as a team and conversely lose collectively too in an under par performance. Sadly, this was the latter.”

TEB VERDICT

Another game of missed chances and more importantly, a game that shone a light on the players missing from the side through injury.

That should not have been an excuse as the visitors were awful but they did find the net, which is something that the Eagles failed to do, which is starting to sound like a stuck record.

After a week of speculation over the manager, it ends in frustration as the game got away from Palace thanks to a lack of being clinical in front of goal.

That is three league defeats in a row for Palace which will leave Oliver Glasner scratching his head, the first time since October 2024. It is the first time Palace have lost three successive league matches at Selhurst Park since December 2023.

Here is hoping that those in charge at the club look to encourage the Austrian to stay in South London by backing him in the January transfer window, as it was clear to see from watching this latest home defeat.

There certainly was not a lack of effort, but that alone will not always get you perhaps what you deserve. It was not a lack of chances either, but you do wonder with Mateta miss-firing currently, where the next Palace goal will come from without Daniel Munoz and Daichi Kamada missing for the foreseeable.

LEAGUE POSITION

UPCOMING FIXTURES