Palace’s most widely anticipated signing of the summer so far made his debut against Arsenal on Friday night.
While the result was disappointing, the performance of Cheick Doucoure and that of the team reflects a continuation of Patrick Viera’s football which will hopefully allow the Eagles to break in to the top ten this season while fostering the continual development of players like the Mali internation, along with Eberechi Eze, Marc Guehi, Michael Olise plus the rest of a very youthful contingent.
It also offers a stark contrast to last year’s opener against Chelsea where we looked like we were in a sort of limbo between turgid but effective ‘Royball’ and the future, which meant our campaign began with a faltering start.
The midfield may have been a weakness on Friday night, but I do not necessarily think this should be an indictment on Doucoure who himself showed signs of promise. He looked very confident on the ball especially as the game went on and showed touches of class in his passing as he consistently picked out options and made 94% of his passes. The comparisons between Doucoure and Conor Gallagher are inevitable which is a shame due to the fact that it occupies a very different role to the Chelsea man’s box to box position.
Doucoure is more of a holding player who should will protect the defence and offer a conduit for attacking moves. While he performed this role relatively well with some crunching tackles and some nice turnovers, his reading of the game and reaction seemed a second too slow on the defensive end. This was amplified by the fact we were used to seeing Gallagher excel in this area of the game.
This will improve in time however, as he learns the difference between the Premier league and what he was used to in France and builds confidence under Viera’s tutelage. But it did mean on Friday night it was all too easy for Arsenal to have their own way with the midfield seemingly outgunned.
The game raises an ulterior question about the composition of our midfield, especially against the better equipped sides as something seemed a little unbalanced.
Part of me feels Viera put slightly too much emphasis on Jeffrey Schlupp as I am not sure his skill set is one that could replace Gallagher. Doucoure and Eze are the basis for a great midfield but one ingredient feels like it is missing and only time will tell if Viera will stick with the resources at hand or search elsewhere for another potential addition.
