mileend
Member
- Location
- East London
- Country
England
I'm just wondering how all the other bullets missed?
Sage in or out
- Topic starter DANGERCLOSE
- Start date
Sansomite
Member
- Location
- Portsmouth
- Country
-
England
I'm trying to be cheerful but even 'er indoors' calls me Victor, A big defeat tomorrow & i'll probably give myself the bullet....and no, thats not a euphanism!
mileend
Member
- Location
- East London
- Country
-
England
Seriously why is Sage still here? He is well and truly cooked.
It would be a big surprise at this point if we looked like a competent football team tomorrow against Liverpool. If we won it would be the biggest miracle since the parting of the Red Sea.
It is almost certain we will be in the relegation zone at the end of the weekend. What is worrying is we are getting worse and worse as other teams start to figure it out.
The games against Coventry and Hull already look season defining. We simply cannot go into them with Sage in charge. We are at the stage where we would be more effective if we got Chat GPT to generate our tactics
It would be a big surprise at this point if we looked like a competent football team tomorrow against Liverpool. If we won it would be the biggest miracle since the parting of the Red Sea.
It is almost certain we will be in the relegation zone at the end of the weekend. What is worrying is we are getting worse and worse as other teams start to figure it out.
The games against Coventry and Hull already look season defining. We simply cannot go into them with Sage in charge. We are at the stage where we would be more effective if we got Chat GPT to generate our tactics
radicalsteve
Member
- Location
- ottawa
- Country
Canada
here you go 🤣
To face Liverpool at Selhurst Park, Crystal Palace (managed by Pierre Sage) needs a pragmatic, low-block defensive setup mixed with quick transitions, given their current struggles, low goal output, and key attacking absences.
Context & Current Situation
- Crystal Palace: Sitting in the relegation zone (18th with 7 points), struggling with a leaky defense (21 goals conceded), and missing key personnel like Mateta (suspended) alongside other attacking constraints.
- Liverpool: Managed by Andoni Iraola, sitting 5th with 15 points, though coming off back-to-back defeats (against Arsenal and a 3-2 loss to Fenerbahçe) and looking to bounce back.
Recommended Tactical Setup for Crystal Palace
1. Formation: Compact 5-4-1 or 3-4-2-1
- Why: Palace cannot afford to press Liverpool high up the pitch or leave open spaces for Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak, and Cody Gakpo. Dropping into a disciplined, compact low-to-mid block denies Liverpool the central pockets where Wirtz operates.
- Predicted / Recommended Lineup Structure:Goalkeeper: HendersonCentre-Backs: Canvot, Disasi, Richards (a rigid back three/five to deal with Isak's movement and trailing runners)Wing-Backs: Khalaili (right) and Mitchell (left) — they must tuck in tightly to form a back five when Liverpool overload the flanks, rather than getting isolated one-on-one with wingers like Barcola or Gakpo.Central Midfield: Adam Wharton and Daichi Kamada (or a double pivot with disciplined cover) to screen the backline and track Alexis Mac Allister.Attacking/Wide Support: Yeremy Pino and Jean-Philippe Guessand (or similar options) to carry the ball on the counter.Striker: Nketiah isolated up front, tasked with holding the ball up and winning fouls/set pieces.
2. Out-of-Possession Strategy (Defending the Block)
- Close the half-spaces: Liverpool likes to thread passes through Wirtz in the number 10 role and run off Isak's shoulder. Palace's central midfielders (Wharton and partner) must stay narrow, forcing Liverpool wide into low-percentage crosses rather than central combinations.
- ** target set-pieces:** Palace averages low possession (around 41.3%) and will be starved of the ball against Liverpool's high-volume passing game. Hunting for corners, free-kicks, and second balls is one of their most viable paths to a goal.
3. In-Possession & Transition Strategy
- Direct, vertical counters: With Mateta out and Nketiah leading the line, Palace cannot play slow build-up from the back into Liverpool's press. Quick, early vertical balls into Nketiah or darting runs from Pinoneed to exploit any defensive transitions left by Liverpool's full-backs.
- Limit turnovers in dangerous areas: Liverpool punishes sloppy midfield giveaways. Wharton must look for simple, progressive early passes rather than holding onto the ball too long under pressure from Mac Allister or Szoboszlai.
Jean-Philippe Guessand is one of my favourite players.
To win against Liverpool would be the greatest comeback since Lazarus over 2000 years ago.
Not going to happen.Even a draw would be something of a miracle.
More chance of Sunderland beating Chelsea and leave us propping up the bottom of the table.
Time to act SP,before it is too late.
Not going to happen.Even a draw would be something of a miracle.
More chance of Sunderland beating Chelsea and leave us propping up the bottom of the table.
Time to act SP,before it is too late.
park the bus
Member
- Country
-
England
johnny the eagle
Member
- Location
- wivenhoe
- Country
-
England
I think we might have more chance of seeing Lord Lucan turn up on Shergar at Selhurst.
Racecourse 11/5/77
Member
- Location
- Gosport
- Country
-
England
Mark Lazarus! What a great winger from an East End boxing family. He took a lot of stick from full backs but the full back usually ended up in a crumpled heap with no-one knowing what had happened. Oh the good old days before TV cameras and VAR
They are going to skydive into the ground from Amelia Earhart’s plane
Racecourse 11/5/77
Member
- Location
- Gosport
- Country
-
England
Think Sage is out of his depth. If he selected Disasi to play v Hoffenheim he should have played him to maintain team structure and found a different sanction for lateness. Was probably our worst performance, maybe because of the late change. Smacks of a weak manager desperately trying to prove himself but getting it all wrong
kevlee
Member
- Country
-
England
He was always a Rangers man, one of the best best they had. I agree about how he handed himself - I always thought he was related to Joe Bugner !!
Still a Palace hero somewhat in short supply today with the Club's recent sale of our crown jewels and attempt to replace with Hobbs type of signings,which is not working for all to see as we experience a complete fall from grace to the bottom of the League.
We should employ you
I am sympathetic to Sage as most of the blame should be apportioned to Parish and Hobbs for both appointing him and failing him in the summer, but something has to change fast or we will be in a relegation scrap as much as Wolves were last year . i.e not much of one. He is the only change that can be made short-term and does not have a happy camp, enough quality players and is wedded to a system and tactics that are not working
We have the fewest points in calendar 2026 of any club playing both seasons and only one point more than West Ham in spite of playing 10 games extra! Thankfully, Coventry and Hull both lost but they did put up pretty impressive performances. If Sunderland and Ipswich do better than us tomorrow you would think it would be curtains
We have the fewest points in calendar 2026 of any club playing both seasons and only one point more than West Ham in spite of playing 10 games extra! Thankfully, Coventry and Hull both lost but they did put up pretty impressive performances. If Sunderland and Ipswich do better than us tomorrow you would think it would be curtains
Glasner’s 343 system was essentially designed around Munoz from an attacking perspective. He was the key player in driving forward down the right and leading us in transition phases.
Opposing teams were frequently caught out , even the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool.
Of course latter day Munoz had injury problems and some teams got wise to our tactic and defended deeper against Munoz to minimise the threat, but when the 343 system was at it’s most effective Munoz was the key component.
Defensively the key players in the 343 system were Guehi and Lacroix with both having the recovery pace as well as the ability to defend 1 on 1 against opposing forwards running at them.
They also understood defensive positioning and were rarely caught out in this regard.
We have persisted with the system even though we have sold the players who made it work.
I would also contend that Sarr and Mateta were important players in making the system work.
Both had good goal scoring records and were very dangerous in the final third.
Mateta had the presence to play the lone front man well and Sarr developed an excellent understanding with Munoz leaving space on the right for Munoz to conduct his raids.
We have largely been without these two players this season as well.
My contention is the we have persisted with a system without the 5 players who made it successful.
None of the replacements who have come in look anywhere as near as adept or comfortable in the system.
It doesn’t suit the majority of our players.
It may be that when the club took the decision to replace Glasner with Sage they looked for a coach who played a similar system reasoning that the squad were used to playing the system and it had brought some success.
However, as I’ve sought to illustrate above the plan hasn’t worked without the 5 key players who made it work and the replacements are nowhere near the quality or experience of the players replaced.
Is this bad luck, bad planning or a combination of both?
Perhaps that’s for another day; at the moment it’s necessary to institute a change to get the season back on track.
Opposing teams were frequently caught out , even the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool.
Of course latter day Munoz had injury problems and some teams got wise to our tactic and defended deeper against Munoz to minimise the threat, but when the 343 system was at it’s most effective Munoz was the key component.
Defensively the key players in the 343 system were Guehi and Lacroix with both having the recovery pace as well as the ability to defend 1 on 1 against opposing forwards running at them.
They also understood defensive positioning and were rarely caught out in this regard.
We have persisted with the system even though we have sold the players who made it work.
I would also contend that Sarr and Mateta were important players in making the system work.
Both had good goal scoring records and were very dangerous in the final third.
Mateta had the presence to play the lone front man well and Sarr developed an excellent understanding with Munoz leaving space on the right for Munoz to conduct his raids.
We have largely been without these two players this season as well.
My contention is the we have persisted with a system without the 5 players who made it successful.
None of the replacements who have come in look anywhere as near as adept or comfortable in the system.
It doesn’t suit the majority of our players.
It may be that when the club took the decision to replace Glasner with Sage they looked for a coach who played a similar system reasoning that the squad were used to playing the system and it had brought some success.
However, as I’ve sought to illustrate above the plan hasn’t worked without the 5 key players who made it work and the replacements are nowhere near the quality or experience of the players replaced.
Is this bad luck, bad planning or a combination of both?
Perhaps that’s for another day; at the moment it’s necessary to institute a change to get the season back on track.
thai-eagle
Member
- Location
- chiang mai
- Country
Thailand
If Sage sends out the same defence and same game plan like before, may as well hand him a return ticket to France now. I have watched the other games (Thai TV shows all PL games live) and EVERY other club has a game plan, settled defence and players knowing their role. Even Hull gave Arsenalbig worries not to mention Forest vs the once mighty Man Shitty....
park the bus
Member
- Country
-
England
Your theory holds up until one realises that for the majority of last season, playing the same system with the players you mention, we were utter dross. We scraped through in Europe against teams unfamiliar with us, but here in the Premiership it had been utterly rumbled.
It's a poor system, its faults exacerbated this season by a clueless manager and players of lesser ability.