Crystal Palace (H) 11/5: Build-Up & Match Thread

They are in good form and did look excellent last night though that has to be tempered with it being against United, they'd make Burton or Walsall look like a rampaging Netherlands 1988 style attacking force with their no tactics and no midfield.

Mateta has somehow turned into a goal machine after years of being an average 6 a season plodder, the quality of Eze and Olise is obvious and Wharton has made a very strong early impression, just looks like a Carrick-style midfielder who does all the simple things well without a fuss.

I'm not having the Lage comparisons as a whole because that was the dénouement of a shite manager who pretty much never had us playing well, even when we were getting results with the exception of the very isolated game here and there. There's clear mitigation in how we've tailed off but the home form has been very poor in 2024 and it'd be more than welcome to see out the campaign with a win.

Gaz did his usual "yeah, he's available" and then he's nowhere to be seen with Neto against City, it normally follows that the game after whoever he does that with appears in the squad. As per last week, he does need some minutes otherwise I'm not sure Portugal will risk taking him to the Euros. Thin options as ever, I might be tempted to give Mario a break, we've completely run the poor fella into the ground.

Don't ever play RAN at RWB again please, that was a disaster. Santi has gradually dipped in form ever since the Cov game and there are longer term questions about him as it stands, but he has to play here and hopefully get some form/confidence back.

-------------------------------------Sa---------------------------

-----------------Kilman--------S Bueno-------Toti---------------

Semedo------J Gomes-----Doyle-----Traoré--------Ait-Nouri

------------------------Cunha-------Hwang----------------------

2023/24: L 2-3 (A)
2022/23: W 2-0 (H), L 1-2 (A)
2021/22: L 0-2 (H), L 0-2 (A)
2020/21: W 2-0 (H), L 0-1 (A), W 1-0 (H, FAC)
2019/20: W 2-0 (H), D 1-1 (A)
2018/19: L 0-2 (H), W 1-0 (A)
2012/13: L 1-2 (H), L 1-3 (A)
2009/10: D 2-2 (H, FAC), L 1-3 (A, FAC)
2008/09: W 2-1 (H), W 1-0 (A)
2007/08: L 0-3 (H), W 2-0 (A)
2006/07: D 1-1 (H), D 2-2 (A)
2005/06: W 2-1 (H), D 1-1 (A)
2002/03: W 4-0 (H), L 2-4 (A)
2001/02: L 0-1 (H), W 2-0 (A)
2000/01: L 1-3 (H), W 2-0 (A)
1999/00: W 2-1 (H), D 1-1 (A)
1998/99: D 0-0 (H), L 2-3 (A)
1996/97: L 0-3 (H), W 3-2 (A), L 1-3 (A, P/O), W 2-1 (H, P/O)
1995/96: L 0-2 (H), L 2-3 (A)
1994/95: D 1-1 (A, FAC), L 1-4 (H, FAC)
1993/94: W 2-0 (H), D 0-0 (A), W 1-0 (H, FAC)

If we had decent CBs and we able to play 2 at the back that could be a really good team if you were able to get Sarabia in too. But we don't so the teams picks itself.

Doc will play though obvs.

I'd bring Sarabia back in. He looked absolutely shatted but he's had a mini break and Palace should leave the kinds of spaces he thrives in.

" Shatted"

...............................Sa
Semedo.....Santi...Kilman....Toti.....RAN
................ Gomes........Traore
.....Chirewa/Neto....Hwang....Cunha

Glasner showing how a 3-4-3 should work, in the same way Alonso has.

Granted we miss a big lump up front like Mateta but all the other parts we have and their back 3 is pretty bang average.

This is a decent test for GoN.

Johnny75 said:

Glasner showing how a 3-4-3 should work, in the same way Alonso has.

Granted we miss a big lump up front like Mateta but all the other parts we have and their back 3 is pretty bang average.

This is a decent test for GoN.

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Guehi is likely to play. He and Andersen are head and shoulders better than anyone we have.

Tony Towner said:

Guehi is likely to play. He and Andersen are head and shoulders better than anyone we have.

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That's fair, when they're fit of course. A back 3 of Clyne - Andersen - Richards isn't much better than ours.

They're just better coached.

Not disputing the general theme.

But Palace have only conceded 3 fewer goals than we have.

Johnny75 said:

Glasner showing how a 3-4-3 should work, in the same way Alonso has.

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He's got Eze and Olise almost playing as two #10s, we did this once under Nuno I think with Neto and Adama, second half at Southampton when we were 2-0 down and won 3-2, then never did it again!

Deutsch Wolf said:

He's got Eze and Olise almost playing as two #10s, we did this once under Nuno I think with Neto and Adama, second half at Southampton when we were 2-0 down and won 3-2, then never did it again!

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Didn't MGW and Vitinha do it, late Nuno, maybe Brighton?

Tony Towner said:

Didn't MGW and Vitinha do it, late Nuno, maybe Brighton?

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Rings a bell now you mention it though we were against 10 men for most of the second half of that one

Elephant Pyjamas said:

Not disputing the general theme.

But Palace have only conceded 3 fewer goals than we have.

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Glasner's Palace have conceded 13 and scored 21 in 11 games

Played 4 out of the top 6 in that too.

By comparison we have conceded 20 and scored 9 in 11.

Deutsch Wolf said:

He's got Eze and Olise almost playing as two #10s, we did this once under Nuno I think with Neto and Adama, second half at Southampton when we were 2-0 down and won 3-2, then never did it again!

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That was more of a 352 with Neto as a ten, Adama alongside Raul playing a lot higher than usual. Worked a fucking treat too.

We did at against Saints in that FA Cup game with Vitinha and MGW which we basically threw.

Got flashbacks to this one against Palace now:



"At least we can't play long ball with that XI", we thought in the pub pre-match. We thought wrong.

Standard Lage stuff of the three forwards permanently being 40 yards away from each other too, then the fucking wanker claimed we had "6 clear chances" in the second half. No we didn't, I was there and I'm not sure we had one. Oh and he threw Hoever under the bus too. I'd have sacked him right there and then.

Deutsch Wolf said:

He's got Eze and Olise almost playing as two #10s, we did this once under Nuno I think with Neto and Adama, second half at Southampton when we were 2-0 down and won 3-2, then never did it again!

Click to expand...

Alonso does the same with Wirtz, Hlozeck, Hofman and Tella.

Atalanta do the same.

I think we could do it with an actual centre forward rather than a poacher.

Deutsch Wolf said:

Got flashbacks to this one against Palace now:

View attachment 10331

"At least we can't play long ball with that XI", we thought in the pub pre-match. We thought wrong.

Standard Lage stuff of the three forwards permanently being 40 yards away from each other too, then the fucking wanker claimed we had "6 clear chances" in the second half. No we didn't, I was there and I'm not sure we had one. Oh and he threw Hoever under the bus too. I'd have sacked him right there and then.

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This idea of players vacating the middle to isolate players is for the birds. It's literally never worked with any team yet managers still try it.

People think Liverpool do it and it couldn't be further from the truth. Lage was completely shit at it too.

Thankfully GoN doesn't do it and likes to get players forward and around his attackers, he just needs help defending.

Johnny75 said:

This idea of players vacating the middle to isolate players is for the birds. It's literally never worked with any team yet managers still try it.

People think Liverpool do it and it couldn't be further from the truth. Lage was completely shit at it too.

Thankfully GoN can do it, he just needs help defending.

Click to expand...

Yeah, Nuno had a couple of spells with us doing that (and at Spurs he did it too in bizarre fashion) and always ended up going back to what worked well for us.

I don't know what we do at the back other than stop pissing about with the ball with players who can't do it.

Behind signing a striker (as we don't own one who's fit for purpose, as Hwang and Cunha aren't really strikers) then it's got to be the priority in the summer.

If you offered me a clean sweep - so get rid of every current CH and sign 4 new ones + bring Yerson I Can Boogie back - or nothing, I'd take Option A without a second thought.

Oh yeah. Technically we can play Hoever and Cundle in this game. Loans have ended at Stoke and as they were both born after 1 January 2002 (just about), it doesn't matter that we didn't name them in our PL squad in February of this year.

We won't though.

Edit: We can't play Cundle thinking about it. Played for Plymouth and Stoke this season.