How good are Crystal Palace?

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MarkA333

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England
We won the FA cup, the Community Shield and the UEFA Conference league in one year.
Our players are valued at the same numbers as the top squads. We have 12 players in the World Cup, only Man Utd have more players appearing and I wouldn’t take any of theirs even their horrible captain. Isn’t it time we actually realised that we have a potentially great team. Let’s keep it going. One more good year, then another good year.
 
measuring it by 'number of players in the WC' is a dodgy methodology. You could have that amazing Georgian from PSG and maybe sometimes the Small country doesnt get into the WC.

Then we got Tyrick Mitchell....my favourite Eagle...not at the WC at all.

Then you get clown countries into the WC cos its easy to qualify where they come from. Samoa.... not really a very pacey squad of marathon runners ? More like a bunch of Sumo wrestlers.

Then you get the Fergie effect, great players are not really encouraged to do much International Duty.

Scotland & Ireland sometimes qualify for the WC even if half their squad play in League One, or worse, the SPL.

but i agree with the OP, for the last 18 months we have been on fire.
 
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MarkA333 said:
We won the FA cup, the Community Shield and the UEFA Conference league in one year.
Our players are valued at the same numbers as the top squads. We have 12 players in the World Cup, only Man Utd have more players appearing and I wouldn’t take any of theirs even their horrible captain. Isn’t it time we actually realised that we have a potentially great team. Let’s keep it going. One more good year, then another good year.
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We have had in the recent past (so at the start of the previous 12 months to now) a very talented and unpredictable starting XI. That's hot off the heels of having Olise and Zaha.

It was this starting XI which, when hot, was superb: hence the FA Cup run, the barnstorming finishes to recent seasons before this one, and the 17 or so unbeaten run this season including the Community Shield. But let's not forget when cold it was moribund (Larnaka in the Conference league stage; Macclesfield).

During the last 12 months we sold two of the better players and most of the incoming players have not shone yet. Even so this was enough to win the third rung European Cup when you look at the teams we had to beat. Not knocking it at all, just putting it in context compared to who Aston Villa and Arsenal had to face to win/get to the final.

So how good are we? Our starting XI is still very good. There are players joining and likely to leave which may affect that judgement. We have been and still are inconsistent. We were excellently organized and coached with a winning mindset. But we seem to be tactically inflexible and reliant/over reliant on a small number of players: when Munoz, Sarr or Lacroix has a bad game we generally struggle. When Wharton has a bad game we generally create little.

The future is unclear (cf West Ham) but with one or two astute transfer windows and a good coach we could very much consolidate.
 
I had the fortune to be able to chat to John Salako about this after the Shakhtar game at Selhurst Park…he said we need to sustain our intensity for longer and more consistently.we are two great signings away from a great squad. And not for a billion like Chelsea. I it is Sage, he is no muppet, to run PSG a close second is nothing to be sneezed at.
 
MarkA333 said:
We won the FA cup, the Community Shield and the UEFA Conference league in one year.
Our players are valued at the same numbers as the top squads. We have 12 players in the World Cup....
Click to expand...

Not sure what you mean by this? We have had, and continue to have, a small number of players who have a high transfer market value, but the value of our squad overall is nowhere near that of the big clubs.
 
We have pound for pound a first eleven that can win against any team in in the Premier League. Not against Bayern or PSG though.
 
Agreed and since the turn of the century we have won the 6th highest amount of trophies, only the Manchester clubs, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool have won more.
 
Some strange answers…our players don’t play for remote no hoper countries. And we don’t have a small number of great players, we have 11 or 12 great players. More than most clubs.
 
MarkA333 said:
We won the FA cup, the Community Shield and the UEFA Conference league in one year.
Our players are valued at the same numbers as the top squads. We have 12 players in the World Cup, only Man Utd have more players appearing and I wouldn’t take any of theirs even their horrible captain. Isn’t it time we actually realised that we have a potentially great team. Let’s keep it going. One more good year, then another good year.
Click to expand...
According to Google Man City have 19 & Arsenal 16 as do PSG with Bayern have 18 players in 2nd place on the list.
 
Jimenez said:
According to Google Man City have 19 & Arsenal 16 as do PSG with Bayern have 18 players in 2nd place on the list.
Click to expand...

The same stats on the BBC - we're fourth most represented in the premier league

Which is pretty amazing - especially as two others have recently left Palace and most would have Wharton over Henderson and or Mainoo

www.bbc.co.uk

World Cup 2026: Who has the oldest players? Which leagues are most represented? Squads in numbers

BBC Sport look at all of the World Cup 2026 squads and answer some of the key questions.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk
 
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