The Premier League returned at a sun-basked Selhurst Park on Friday evening but it was a disappointing start for Palace, who were on the wrong side of a 2-0 defeat against a resurgent Arsenal.
Here are five things we learned from the game:
1. We’re back. And how do we know that we’re back? Because Twitter is already awash with hot takes about what many believe to be a disastrous Palace performance in their 2-0 defeat to Arsenal. But please don’t panic.
This effectively felt like one team who had enjoyed a positive pre-season triumphing over another whose preparation for the new campaign has been very disjointed. Half of Palace’s squad has been in Australia while the other half remained in Beckenham, so it was hardly surprising that the visitors looked sharper and better organised than the South Londoners in the opening exchanges. But once the hosts found their feet they dominated the ball for large periods and made Arsenal work for their win, with Aaron Ramsdale making two big saves at 1-0 when he perhaps shouldn’t have been given the opportunity to do so.
So Palace weren’t brilliant but they were hardly bad either. And they won’t be playing what looks to be an improving Arsenal every week.
2. What Friday night did highlight is that Palace still need additions in midfield. Cheick Doucoure will bring calm in the middle of the pitch and looked as though he’d be capable of moving the ball on first time even if it were fired at him out of a cannon. He grew into the game as it progressed and showed signs in the second half that he has the ability to start attacks as well as stop them. But he will need help.
The Arsenal game was our first chance to see Eberechi Eze in the role vacated by Conor Gallagher and what it highlighted is that they are two very different players. Eze’s energy is wasted leading the press and would be better spent when we’re actually in possession. He was dispossessed a little too easily on a few occasions which may have been down to the fact that he was tiring from the work that was being demanded of him without the ball.
With Cheikhou Kouyate departing and James McArthur at the twilight of his career, Palace need at least one more midfield reinforcement – and preferably one that will bring a little more urgency to their play.
3. When the Palace players made their way towards the changing room 15 minutes before kick-off two substitutes ran in the opposite direction towards the touchline on halfway. They were being orchestrated by Joachim Andersen, his luscious blonde locks pushed back by a hairband, who proceeded to fire diagonal passes in their direction for a couple of minutes before following his teammates inside.
About half an hour later the Dane was playing those same balls towards Tyrick Mitchell and Wilfried Zaha. And then he did it again. And again. And again. Ben White and Arsenal knew it was coming but the passes were too accurate for them to do anything about it.
It might sound strange to say after a defeat but that was one of the best performances I’ve seen from a Palace centre back. The man is a rolls royce and is pivotal to the way we want to play.
4. For all the talk of Arsenal’s dominance Palace did restrict their visitors to few clear-cut chances, but let themselves down in a familiar area.
Arsenal’s opener almost happened in slow motion, with Oleksandr Zinchenko running round the box unchallenged to meet Bukayo Saka’s looping corner, before an equally free Gabriel Martinelli nodded the ball past Vicente Guaita.
Set pieces have been an issue throughout Patrick Vieira’s tenure and the way Palace defended the first opposition corner of the season did little to inspire confidence. The departures of Kouyate and Christian Benteke (more on him in a moment) also mean Palace have lost some height, so expect teams to continue to target us at set pieces until the problem is resolved.
5. Palace had two massive chances on Friday night, the first of which was spurned by Odsonne Edouard before Eze placed his shot too close to Ramsdale when through on goal in the second half. Like last season, Palace were tidy in possession but struggled to make the most of that dominance in the final third. When those chances came they failed to take them.
Watching all this unfold it was hard not to wonder whether Palace have a replacement lined up for Benteke, whose departure was announced just before kick-off. The Belgian was far from prolific after his first season at the club but always offered something different going forward. There were even signs in the first half of last campaign that he was returning to something close to his best before he fell out of favour as time wore on.
Odsonne Edouard still hasn’t convinced that he is capable of leading the line on his own and JP Mateta is the only other option Palace have as a centre forward. With the loss of Benteke, the Eagles suddenly look a little light up front.
