Crystal Palace vs. Stockport match thread

[silvertop]

I think a lot of folks seem to have forgotten we won without playing several of our top players. Which means they are fresh for Weds. I like more exciting football as much as the next man. SP stayed deep, 5 at the back I think? We got to give several players a full match, that, let’s be honest, they would not get otherwise!

As did other EPL teams but still won at a canter (save Brentford).

I think the between the lines concern is we take out a few key players and we are mediocre. It doesn't say much for squad depth.

 

[NEILLO]

I thought that performance was as predictable as...the actual performance.

Just looking at the teamsheet was enough. Neither of our ball passing midfield players available. Richards continues to look rusty. Riad coming back from a lengthy injury. And the usual struggles with Kamada and Nketiah.

If I look at the positives, Ezes goal, Turners save and through to the next round. And I suppose that Riad is at least back in contention.

 

[MrRobbo]

We are going to have to find a way to get results without Wharton because I don’t imagine will be seeing him again this season. Certainly not at full match sharpness. Losing him, Olise and Anderson has meant our three best passers of the ball are gone. Watching Olise playing for Bayern on Saturday so much of what they created came through him.

OG has responded by trying to to essentially make us a very solid team who nicks some goals on the break. That looks like how we will play and have to play for the remainder of the season given the squad. It won’t be overly pretty but can be effective.

Think this is a fair assessment.

From the moment he signed I've been the biggest fan of Wharton and what he brings.

As well as the losses you mentioned above, OG is also having to deal with the complete loss of Eze's form. He should have been able to dance round them yesterday, but was pretty anonymous from about 10 mins in. Hopefully with the goals, he's building his way into some form.

 

[Painter]

Delighted we have progressed to the next round but the fact that we could not build on our goal lead in under 5 mins against a Division One team is cause for disappointment.

On a day when Ipswich and Southampton secured 3-0 victories against teams from the lower divisions, and Leicester thumped QPR 6-2, we narrowly defeated a team 2 Divisions below us after taking an early lead.
I was informed that concern was etched across my face.

Through your concern, did you spot an old favourite Clint Hill?

 

[silvertop]

Think this is a fair assessment.

From the moment he signed I've been the biggest fan of Wharton and what he brings.

As well as the losses you mentioned above, OG is also having to deal with the complete loss of Eze's form. He should have been able to dance round them yesterday, but was pretty anonymous from about 10 mins in. Hopefully with the goals, he's building his way into some form.

The Stockport manager admitted in post match interview that Eze is a "special" player that his team targeted to neutralize.

They are a good 3rd tier team, possibly better than the team that knocked out Brentford. So you would expect them to do that job quite well. Thus, Eze's modest contribution does not surprise me.

The trouble is, the other players this ought to have freed-up to play to their potential... did not.

 

[taylors lovechild]

As did other EPL teams but still won at a canter (save Brentford).

I think the between the lines concern is we take out a few key players and we are mediocre. It doesn't say much for squad depth.

Spuds had to go to extra time to beat non-league Tamworth, Newcastle had to come from behind to beat Bromley and Wolves only won by the odd goal against Bristol City. How much you win by or how you win doesn't really matter anyway. I do also think it's relevant that Riad, Richards, Kamada, Clyne and Nketiah have not played a lot of football this season. They are not going to be 100% match sharp, which even against a smaller team is an issue. Our next opponents did thrash QPR but they also put out their strongest first XI. We may see as many as five or six changes on Wednesday if everyone is over the sniffles.

 

[Willo]

Through your concern, did you spot an old favourite Clint Hill?

Clint Hill was no stranger to a Red Card !

I readily admit that I did not pay much attention to the Away dugout area, concentrating my efforts on having a gripe about what I was witnessing on the field of play. I was in 'Gargantuan moaner' mode !

 

[silvertop]

I thought that performance was as predictable as...the actual performance.

Just looking at the teamsheet was enough. Neither of our ball passing midfield players available. Richards continues to look rusty. Riad coming back from a lengthy injury. And the usual struggles with Kamada and Nketiah.

If I look at the positives, Ezes goal, Turners save and through to the next round. And I suppose that Riad is at least back in contention.

And the draw for round 4.

 

[silvertop]

Clint Hill was no stranger to a Red Card !

We've had worse.

 

[silvertop]

Spuds had to go to extra time to beat non-league Tamworth, Newcastle had to come from behind to beat Bromley and Wolves only won by the odd goal against Bristol City. How much you win by or how you win doesn't really matter anyway. I do also think it's relevant that Riad, Richards, Kamada, Clyne and Nketiah have not played a lot of football this season. They are not going to be 100% match sharp, which even against a smaller team is an issue. Our next opponents did thrash QPR but they also put out their strongest first XI. We may see as many as five or six changes on Wednesday if everyone is over the sniffles.

You don't think Nketiah banging in a hat trick would have filled a player - being publicly vilified as flop of the season - with the confidence to turn his game around? It worked with Mateta.

The proof will be in the game v Leicester. I won't post on the prediction thread but will do it here. Our player changes, the (still) absence of decent midfield passing, the raising of Leicester's confidence and the hope our players held back yesterday points to yet another valuable hard fought point (with Leicester scoring first).

 

[stayloa]

Kamada won't POTM... that's a joke right?

 

[taylors lovechild]

A hat-trick against a League One team might have boosted his confidence, but he would still be back on the bench when JP is fit. There is a lot more pressure on Leicester to win on Wednesday so it'll be interesting to see how it pans out. If we win we go 10 points clear of them.

 

[Phil’s Barber]

Yesterday, after taking the lead so early, it was as if we were worried about the scoreline being an embarrassment for the opposition and we totally took our foot off the gas. Very slow and laboured play out from the back and with Sarr barely touching the ball, Eze overplaying it as usual and Nketiah still struggling up front, it was a very lack lustre performance.

Kamada looked better but did make mistakes in the second half and it’s still way too early to work out whether Chadi Riad is going to be any good or not. Job done though and it was important that we were able to rest at least 6 players who will feature on Wednesday.

 

[MrRobbo]

The Stockport manager admitted in post match interview that Eze is a "special" player that his team targeted to neutralize.

They are a good 3rd tier team, possibly better than the team that knocked out Brentford. So you would expect them to do that job quite well. Thus, Eze's modest contribution does not surprise me.

The trouble is, the other players this ought to have freed-up to play to their potential... did not.

And I get that will be the case most if not all games. But ultimately he's still got to find ways to influence the game.

 

[JHB]

I’m not that surprised that yesterday was an insipid performance. We made lots of changes which was the right thing to do given where we are in the league. That was always going to lead to a lack of joined up play. OG is all about the system and continuity of selection is important to make the system work well as we have seen. I wish he would be more flexible for games like this but he isn’t going to be.

What was a bit disappointing is that none of the squad players put their hand up and made a case for being in the starting eleven. Kamada and Nketiah were pretty anonymous. Riad and Richards got minutes but didn’t exactly run the game.

Eze put in a very typical performance. Looked quiet but also scored and created at least two good chances. I think we forget that creating chances and scoring is worth a lot even if we want to see more from him. Quiet one for Sarr but no great surprise. His attributes are running in behind rather than playing in front of a defensive team.

Most important thing was no new injuries to key players and a win

 

[Eaglecoops]

We are going to have to find a way to get results without Wharton because I don’t imagine will be seeing him again this season. Certainly not at full match sharpness. Losing him, Olise and Anderson has meant our three best passers of the ball are gone. Watching Olise playing for Bayern on Saturday so much of what they created came through him.

OG has responded by trying to to essentially make us a very solid team who nicks some goals on the break. That looks like how we will play and have to play for the remainder of the season given the squad. It won’t be overly pretty but can be effective.

I would love to know how it goes from a straightforward operation and he’ll be playing again in a few weeks, to we won’t see him again this season. That seems quite a leap to me.

Did they massively underestimate the injury involved? We do like a crocked player at Palace.

 

[Phil’s Barber]

I would love to know how it goes from a straightforward operation and he’ll be playing again in a few weeks, to we won’t see him again this season. That seems quite a leap to me.

Did they massively underestimate the injury involved? We do like a crocked player at Palace.

The latest update from Glasner (allegedly being reported from yesterday) is that Wharton is unlikely to feature for us ‘until the Spring at the earliest’.

The news about his return just keeps getting worse and worse and if that is accurate then we may well not see him starting for the first team again this season. I would love to know what has happened exactly. I feel sorry for the lad as this must be SO frustrating for him.

 

[MrRobbo]

I would love to know how it goes from a straightforward operation and he’ll be playing again in a few weeks, to we won’t see him again this season. That seems quite a leap to me.

Did they massively underestimate the injury involved? We do like a crocked player at Palace.

I suspect its more of a case that he's reacting worse than expected to a step up in intensity

 

[park the bus]

I’m not that surprised that yesterday was an insipid performance. We made lots of changes which was the right thing to do given where we are in the league. That was always going to lead to a lack of joined up play. OG is all about the system and continuity of selection is important to make the system work well as we have seen. I wish he would be more flexible for games like this but he isn’t going to be.

What was a bit disappointing is that none of the squad players put their hand up and made a case for being in the starting eleven. Kamada and Nketiah were pretty anonymous. Riad and Richards got minutes but didn’t exactly run the game.

Eze put in a very typical performance. Looked quiet but also scored and created at least two good chances. I think we forget that creating chances and scoring is worth a lot even if we want to see more from him. Quiet one for Sarr but no great surprise. His attributes are running in behind rather than playing in front of a defensive team.

Most important thing was no new injuries to key players and a win

I've been watching replays of the goal, both were involved. Ntekiah receives the ball out wide, knocks it inside to Kamada who does a driving run into the Stockport box, in which time Nketiah has darted off ahead in a supporting run, probably expecting a return pass, notwithstanding which, Kamada flicks a loose ball inside which the defender fails to deal with, leaving Eze to steal the ball, turn, and slot home nicely.
What am I trying to say? I'm not sure if the players involved are starting to gel and this was a practiced training ground move, or just a piece of good fortune on the day. I don't think Nketiah and Kamada will start together that often.

 

[Phil’s Barber]

I suspect its more of a case that he's reacting worse than expected to a step up in intensity

That was certainly the reason given a few weeks ago when he returned to proper training. It was stated he needed more time following an adverse reaction to two days of ‘intensive’ training.