Crystal Palace vs Leeds match thread

Only 8 games to go in the league this season, and looking at the opposition I can't see us picking up many more points given the way we played today. One of these games is Wet Spam at home. Other than this, there's Larnaca next Thursday. All in all it's been a damp squib of a season where initial promise has been frittered away by poor decision making in the transfer market and questionable professionalism from the manager. In hindsight it is not so difficult to see where it went wrong. The question is what has been learnt? Next season will be a struggle I think.
For me the biggest reason for such a crap season simply lies at the managers door. We all know the issues with the summer transfers and should have done better, but we didn’t so you have to work with what you have got.
OG simply has not utilised the players he has had by insisting on playing the same formation and tactics the entire season, no matter whom we have played, no matter what injuries we have had, and no matter what the circumstances have been during any given game. His inability to adapt is the biggest reason we have had such a dismal season.
My concern is similar to yours regarding next season and again we may be praying for 3 worse teams than us rather than us controlling our own destiny.
 
I too feel similar... But at the same time I feel the league in general is very banal at the moment. Arsenal are boring their way to the title and the only other bit of 'excitement' in the league is watching 'Big Club' Spurs mess things up.

This weekend the whole round of fixtures were extremely dull.

Hopefully we can get through on Thursday and then we've got a month off to recharge...I mean us fans as much as the players need a break!
I agree. Looking at the league table, it seems as though very few teams have been able to build up a head of steam, especially in midtable hence why it's so tight so late into the season. No doubt if I went onto the Everton, Sunderland, Newcastle, Brighton etc forums I'd find equally jaded supporters.

Is it a case of statistically driven management teams, afraid to lose and cancelling each other out, all looking mediocre in the process?
 
I agree. Looking at the league table, it seems as though very few teams have been able to build up a head of steam, especially in midtable hence why it's so tight so late into the season. No doubt if I went onto the Everton, Sunderland, Newcastle, Brighton etc forums I'd find equally jaded supporters.

Is it a case of statistically driven management teams, afraid to lose and cancelling each other out, all looking mediocre?

Yes it's very mediocre. Had we not thrown away a 2 goal lead to Burnley, and been able to score just one goal against the 10 men of Forest and Leeds we'd actually find ourselves in 7th place. Considering how poor we've been for a relatively long time, that's a pretty damning reflection of the actual quality of the league. It's obviously where the money is but not necessarily the talent. This week's European fixtures have proven that.
 
Apropos Leeds, in my judgement their best player as Joe Rodon, whom they signed from Tottenham for £10 Mill.
On the bench was goalkeeper Lucas Perri who was briefly with us on Loan from Sao Paulo but never made an appearance.At that time he was competing against Guaita, Hennessey and Speroni.
 
Having read a selection of comments on this thread it appears I made the right choice not to subject myself to a 7 hour round trip and instead take my wife and eldest son out for a Mothers Day lunch which included a 1st half Stevie Wonder tribute act followed by a 2nd half in which he covered a number of Motown classics - very enjoyable (unlike the football it seems)
 
Having read a selection of comments on this thread it appears I made the right choice not to subject myself to a 7 hour round trip and instead take my wife and eldest son out for a Mothers Day lunch which included a 1st half Stevie Wonder tribute act followed by a 2nd half in which he covered a number of Motown classics - very enjoyable (unlike the football it seems)
Definitely a wise decision. Stevie Wonder would have had more chance of scoring than our forwards today.
 
Having read a selection of comments on this thread it appears I made the right choice not to subject myself to a 7 hour round trip and instead take my wife and eldest son out for a Mothers Day lunch which included a 1st half Stevie Wonder tribute act followed by a 2nd half in which he covered a number of Motown classics - very enjoyable (unlike the football it seems)
Stevie Wonder would have seen more excitement today than I did.😎
 
So much of football is nothing more than formations and supposedly clever tactics that it's boring to watch - you nullify us and we'll nullify you. A player like Eze was special because he would do the unexpected.
If we as fans get frustrated it must be worse for the players who seem afraid to show off the skill they undoubtedly have.
 
Our play over the last 2 games has been very ponderous. Canvot had so much time on the ball in the second half but he just passed it forward. This left our 3 centre backs marking DCL so there were no options for the midfielders to pass the ball on to as although we had an extra player Leeds still had an extra player defending as our centre backs were not committing anyone in the build up. Glasner tried to change this by moving Lerma to the back instead of Canvot but he did no better. It just looked liked we did not want to lose as opposed to busting a gut to get the 3 points.
Canvot won't win any fans within the game with his sending off celebration - great if was because he was celebrating a goal but at the expense of a fellow professional who was the victim of a poor decision from the referee is very disrespectful in my eyes. Football at various levels is a small community and he could end up playing with opposition players in the future.
 
Another game where the formation wasn't changed despite things not working.

Another game where the early sub was JP for JSL, as though that was going to be the difference maker.

Another game where despite not having an attack of any note in the 2nd half, and having all of the ball we played 90+ min with 3 CBs.

Now the only team on record not to have produced a shot on target in the 2nd half vs a team reduced to 10 men in the first half.

Utd game aside, we've had the rub of the green. Soft sending off, penalty misses/saves.
 
My only groan is I would have liked to see Mateta and Strand Larsen play upfront together .
I am certainly not expecting to witness them playing together.
Quite why Mateta has replaced JSL in recent matches is beyond my comprehension.
JSL has netted for us recently, Mateta has only scored 1 goal from 'Open Play' in his last 19 PL games and his overall contribution has been a disappointment.
 

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