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Crystal Palace 1-0 Norwich City: Punch First Pinches Palace Points - Five Things We Learned

Written by Robert Sutherland

What a relief. Palace win against Norwich to put an end to the most frustrating of winless streaks. Here are Robert Sutherland's five talking points. Photo credit: Sebastian F

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We've played better and lost

This wasn't a classic performance. It was a nervous, edgy encounter teeming with a sense of not wanting to fail. And with that fear of failure comes an unwillingness to take the kind of risks that win you matches.

We've seen Palace play better than they did against Norwich, only to lose. The defeats to Tottenham, Bournemouth and Watford were all games in which Palace created more clear-cut chances but failed to take them. Matches where individual errors undermined better performances.

The difference here was a willingness to take chances, to defend collectively and to focus for the entire match. And it worked.

jason finally finds his punch

It's taken all season for Jason Puncheon to find his range, a point of frustration for one of Palace's most influential midfielders.

With a wonderful shot that zoomed past the outstretched arms of John Ruddy, Puncheon put an end to the talk of him not contributing. He may not have scored goals this season, but we've missed him when he hasn't played.

Punch, who according to Alan Pardew, carries the club in his heart, was visibly emotional when he scored. This is a player willing to run with the ball, to drive at the heart of defences.

Perhaps, prior to this injury, he spent too much time worrying about creating chances for others. But that goal proved that he's still capable of picking his spot. And this time, it was a hugely crucial effort to give Palace three points in a relegation six-pointer. We've missed him.

let's Give Hennessey the benefit of the doubt

One of the problems we've all witnessed in this run is an inability to keep clean sheets. It's therefore only right that, with no goals conceded against Norwich, credit is given to the players for the work done.

Key to this clean sheet was the Wayne Hennessey save less than sixty seconds after Palace went into the lead. At a point where a Norwich goal might have given them the impetus to push on, Hennessey stretched to push away a Ryan Bennett shot that looked certain to go in.

This spell of games without a win has been punishing on all of our players - but Hennessey has probably suffered more than most. His every move is analysed to the most minute level -- more so than any other player -- and even yesterday, he was subject to ironic cheers when he collected a cross and chants calling for Julian Speroni.

Whether he's worthy of being our first team goalkeeper or not, we're better than what Hennessey was subjected to yesterday. Pardew has given him the benefit of the doubt - its time Palace fans did the same.

Jedinak beast-mode saw us through

Norwich played a surprisingly direct approach on Saturday, and in Scott Dann, Damien Delaney and crucially Mile Jedinak, Palace had all the tools needed to combat it.

Jedinak lead by example, getting his head to crosses, clearances, goal kicks and free kicks, putting his body in the way in a bruising encounter for him.

He also showed a temperament that we've criticised him for previously. It's generally accepted that the Palace captain isn't a passing midfielder, but he did that job brilliantly. It was a performance worthy of the Man of the Match award.

Let's never do that again

Winless runs in the league happen sometimes. Three, four, five game runs. Not 14 games. Not three and a half months.

We didn't deserve to go on such a run for so long. We lost out to plenty of last minute goals, and plenty of tight encounters.

The point to take from this run is that the players never lost that spirit. That willingness to fight. After such a prolonged spell, they could have been forgiven.

But Palace persevered. And that's what mattered.

West Ham 2-2 Crystal Palace: Gayle Goal Strikes Hammers - 5 Things We Learned

Written by Robert Sutherland

Whoda thunk it? Palace getting a point at top-four chasing West Ham! There were plenty of talking points to consider - here are ours...

gayleKouyate red was deserved

If you read all the comments that followed the Cheikhu Kouyate's red card for his tackle on Dwight Gayle, you would have thought it was the most innocuous of challenges he'd committed.

It was neither fair nor 'just' robust. Slaven Billic suggested it might not have been worthy of a yellow card let alone a red - but that alone tells you that he's not in a position to make a fair assessment.

This was a tackle that, had it been on Dimitri Payet, would have incensed West Ham fans. While Kouyate won the ball, he also left a stud-showing high foot in. Enough to leave a mark on Gayle. Had his foot been planted on the ground, the injury could have been much worse. Just because he won the ball, doesn't mean it wasn't violent.

The decision turned the game, no doubt. It gave Palace the impetus to play and the space to exploit.

Palace had Gayle sent off for a second yellow card in the club's first encounter with West Ham this season, a decision that was softer than the one made in this fixture. It was a decision that allowed West Ham to push on.

Consider the balance redressed.

Gayle's time to shine

Has the Emmanuel Adebayor experiment worked? Despite suggesting he wouldn't take an international call-up in order to focus on Palace, it was disappointing to learn that he did in fact play for Togo and that he subsequently suffered an injury. With Adebayor's injury comes an opportunity for Dwight Gayle.

It's obvious that Palace need to score more goals. There can be only one conclusion - to play Gayle and Connor Wickham together against Norwich.

Alan Pardew keeps saying that Gayle is Palace's best finisher. He added yesterday that he has bulked up, looks fitter and is stronger. If he can't stake a claim for the starting spot in the side now, it might be time to move him on in the summer.

The Canaries have had quite a turnaround in recent weeks. But as their result against Newcastle United showed, they will concede goals. If Palace are going to push away from the relegation fight, there needs to be a focus on scoring goals.

Gayle's finish at West Ham showed the qualities that we know he's capable of. Opportune, sharp and incisive. A Gayle and Wickham partnership might just see the goals scored to keep Palace up.

On a wing and a prayer

There are only three certainties in life; death, taxes and Yannick Bolasie is a winger. Alan Pardew's hand has been forced by injuries to his first choice strikers Connor Wickham and Emmanuel Adebayor but yet again decided to go with Bolasie up front in his own.
 
And yet again it didn't work. Yannick never look comfortable up front on his own and this game was no different. But when he was moved out wide in the second half he absolutely terrorised Hammers left-back Aaron Cresswell. It's a no brainier; Bolasie is far more of a threat for Palace out wide and is wasted in the middle.
 
He may not really fancy Gayle or Fraizer Campbell but Pardew will find his team much more balanced with one of those two up front.

Time for Kelly

What has Martin Kelly got to do to get a place in this Palace team? Both full-backs Joel Ward and Pape Soaure are really struggling for form and Kelly has never let the Eagles down when picked at either position.
 
Yes he prefers centre-back but he won't get much of a chance in front of Dann or Delaney, at least for the rest of this season. Ward and Souare again had less than impressive performances and again Palace failed to keep a clean sheet. They haven't don't that in the league all year.

Palace back with a Punch

It's sometimes easy to forget what an influence some players have on team until they are absent. Jason Puncheon hadn't been having a fantastic season up until he got injured in early February but he's been missed since.
 
And his return against West Ham proved this as for the first time in a while Palace looked more confident on the ball in the middle and more of a threat going forward. That was down to Punch who was arguably Man of the Match.
 
He also cares; one moment where he chased down a loose ball and got in a block before visibly geeing up his teammates was lapped up by the away fans. We love a bit of good old fashioned passion and Punch has that in abundance.

Crystal Palace 0-1 Leicester City: Palace Toil Again - Five Things We Learned

Written by Robert Sutherland

Just one league win. That's all we're asking for. A win that might give us more. A win that kicks the bad habit of defeat. Here are five things we learnt from not winning, again. 

 

1. Fullbacks are a problem

One of the frustrations we're really seeing currently is that players who have shown an inclination to doing the job that's expected of them have failed to do so for the past three months. While Pape Souare is likely to get most of the attention for the goal that lead to Palace's defeat against Leicester City, Joel Ward's form is also hugely concerning. Alan Pardew likes to play an attacking way - which is great so long as the strikers are doing the job of scoring goals and defenders are doing the job of defending - but the flaws in such a tactic are highlighted when a player or two lose focus, even for just a split second. Whether you're pointing the finger of blame at Ward for being caught out of position or Souare for switching off to allow Mahrez to drift unmarked into the area, it's clear that neither player is performing to the ability we know them to have. That's concerning at a time when we need them the most. 
 

2. Adebayor needs to buck his ideas up 

There's a concern when you hear of Emanuel Adebayor talking about wanting to enjoy the game and smile - as he did in an interview with the Premier League prior to the game against Leicester City - because it belies the attitude that is really needed at this time. We need to see effort and intent - a willingness to chase and disturb the opposition to the point of them making costly mistakes. Adebayor's input on Saturday was that of a player who didn't really fancy it - like it or not, we are in a relegation battle and with that comes some responsibility - which the Togo striker failed to show. It took him most of the first half to successfully win a header, and a similar amount of time to chase defenders down. You have to put in the hard work before you can talk of enjoying the game - that didn't happen, and he was rightly taken off.  
 

3. Bolasie up front loses the quality of Bolasie on the wing

The reasoning behind bringing Bakary Sako on in a wing-role and shifting Yannick Bolasie into a striker role was, on the face of it, a logical one. By bringing Sako on, you introduce a greater goal threat - and the Malian winger stung the palms of Kasper Schmeichel a number of times - but in doing so, Palace subsequently moved Bolasie into the centre, a position in which he failed to influence the game. Yala is at his best when you allow him the opportunity to take on defenders one-on-one - and there were a couple of occasions where it worked. In the central position, Robert Huth and Wes Morgan found it all too easy to close him down. He also isn't an instinctive striker - so when Sako did produce some great crosses, there weren't any players capable of taking a chance. It's difficult to know what the solution is - but if Bolasie isn't effective on the wing, the answer probably isn't to put him in the centre.  
 

4. The FA Cup won't give Palace a league incentive 

For all the talk of using cup games to give the players an incentive to win in the league, the tactic has failed miserably. Palace have lost each match that follows a cup win - the third round defeat of Southampton was followed by the shoddy performance at Aston Villa, the win over Stoke was followed by an equally shambolic defeat to Bournemouth, Palace then lost to West Brom following the fifth round win over Tottenham, and the defeat to Leicester followed a quarter-final win over Reading. While the players have battled admirably against their FA Cup opponents, the league performances have at times looked laboured, tense and frustration-filled. If Palace are going to win in the league it can't be because we won in the FA Cup - it has to come inspite of that. 
 

5. Izzard is a hero

 

When you see players talking about how hard they tried, how difficult a game was, how frustrated they are by the outcome, and you consider just how richly they're rewarded for it, you realise there's an imbalance to just how important their jobs are. A footballer's career is brief, but at the top level it is one of luxury and of being spoilt. They train hard - and there's no doubt that in most cases, they're truly dedicated to their profession. But then you look at what Palace fan Eddie Izzard did for Sports Relief, and you realise just how silly and inconsequential the comments are about 'hard work' and 'trying hard' following a defeat. Izzard ran 27 marathons in 27 days. Because of a visit to the hospital following one of those runs, he decided to do two marathons on his last day. He did it all for charity - raising £1.35m so far. Most folks who do the London Marathon train for months, conditioning their bodies and their brains to deal with the arduous process of completing the distance. Izzard did 27 of those. And he did his 25th wearing a Palace shirt. That's a heroic effort and it puts some of the struggles of watching Palace recently to shame. 

Reading 0-2 Crystal Palace - Palace Leave it Late to Secure Cup Win - Five Things We Learned

Written by Robert Sutherland

Wemberlee! Wemberlee! We're the famous Crystal Palace and here are five talking points about the match that saw us reach the semi-final at Wemberlee...

That was a performance of dominance

For all the talk of Reading being unlucky, or for the penalty being unfair (more on that later) - make no mistake, it was a triumph of Palace's forward momentum over Reading's sheer bloody-mindedness. While there was some ponderous play during the first fifteen minutes of the match, the 75-minutes that followed were interspersed with Palace chances and Reading's resolute defending. 
 
In fact, the Royals had one clear chance - a header by Ola John well saved by Wayne Hennessey at the far post - but that pales in comparison to the free-kicks, set pieces and open play chances that Alan Pardew's side created and Ali Al-Habsi snuffed out. The way Palace won it was controversial - but the fact they won it was not. 
 

Clean sheets win prizes

Remarkably, since Palace conceded a goal against Southampton in the third round of the FA Cup, the club haven't conceded one in all the rounds that have followed. Compare that to the porous way in which Palace have played in the League in 2016, and you realise why the squad are toiling as much as they are. 
 
While Pardew said that he wanted his side to push for a second against Liverpool like they did against Reading, shutting up shop against a highly capable Liverpool side would have been far more sensible a tactic. Palace have struggled with that attitude this season - rather than go for the win by going a little more defensive once in the lead, Palace have gone for the jugular and have all-too-often and have suffered the consequences. The Sunderland game was another prime example - substitutions that should have allowed Palace to see out the result were instead like-for-like ones which left gaps where there shouldn't have been any. 
 
Pardew is a manager who seeks solace in being a maverick - by always looking for more goals - but some entertainment can come from being a little more defensively minded. We've had four enjoyable FA Cup games so far, thanks in part to that defensive resilience, let's try and work on that in the league and see how it goes. 
 

Soft penalties are a Palace problem, too

If you want a talking-point from last night's game, the way in which Yannick Bolasie won the penalty is it. The Palace winger ran into the penalty area with the intention of latching on to a header, only for there to be slight contact with Reading defender Jake Cooper and for Bolasie to go down. Mike Dean saw it and immediately gave it. 
 
The aftermath has seen a lot of comparison with Christian Benteke's penalty last weekend, with some of Pardew's critics in the media taking umbrage to his refusal to comment on Bolasie's penalty having been so vociferous when Benteke tumbled in the box. The issue here is about interpretation of the law. There seems to be a trend now that, contact in the area, no matter how slight, constitutes a foul. If that is how we should interpret the law, then both Benteke and Bolasie were entitled to make the most of those fouls. However, my interpretation differs from that - I believe that the contact should be enough to genuinely impede - that if a player can stay on his feet, he should do. 
 
I ask this also - would Yannick Bolasie have fallen to the floor like he did had he not seen how Benteke profited from it on Sunday? I'm not sure. The additional context in that we've seen Wilfried Zaha fouled on numerous occasions in the penalty area, only for referees to dismiss all but a few of these decisions. The standard retort is that Zaha has a reputation for diving. Perhaps he should have a reputation for being brilliantly evasive, instead? 
 
Whatever the case, the penalty was soft - but the counter argument is that Cooper shouldn't have stuck his arm out in front of Bolasie. Just as Damien Delaney probably shouldn't have slid in to make a challenge so late in the game. 

 

Cabaye excelled against cynicism-free competitors

There was a calmness to Palace's midfield yesterday, with Yohan Cabaye the conductor, gently swinging and swaying to allow Palace to play to a winning tune. The Frenchman had some outstanding statistics - he had the most touches (79), the most interceptions (9), the most shots on target (3), the most chances created (3) and was Palace's lead tackler (3) [thanks to Palace's social media wiz @samuelpjordan for these stats!] - a performance that warranted him being touted as our man of the match. 
 
Key to some of this performance was the lack of cynicism on Reading's part. Perhaps they should have been more aggressive in targeting Cabaye. A trend we've seen all too much recently in the league is that our midfield talisman has been targeted for rotational fouling - squads being instructed to each take turns to foul a player, often meaning that a side will give a player rough treatment while dissipating the risk of getting a red card - throughout matches. He's been kicked all over the pitch by opposition attackers, midfielders and defenders, and more should be done to ensure that the tactic of rotational fouling is punished. 
 
Cabaye finished the game for the Eagles - a rare sight in recent weeks - and did so while producing a match-winning performance. 

 

This goalkeeper conundrum will last all season

I feel a little sorry for Alex McCarthy, Wayne Hennessey and Julian Speroni. The difficulty we currently have in the goalkeeping department is one of tension, and fear. McCarthy started the season tentatively, made a few errors and was dropped. Hennessey took his place, started well but has since made a few costly errors and has shown a nervousness in dealing with some of the simpler elements of the game. Speroni, who has watched on and always been a diligent and respectful servant to the club, has inexplicably not been given an opportunity yet. All of this points to a crunch time coming in the summer. Pardew will need to make a decision about just who is his first-choice goalkeeper - and if it is one of the three, he will need to make that clear.
 
Hennessey made a few decent stops during the match yesterday. There will however be a focus on the errors - the spill which almost allowed Ola John to score in the first half and the flapped attempt at a catch which Mike Dean deemed to be a foul on him. Both of these incidents were indicative of a player nervous about making mistakes - we saw Hennessey do a far better job of those catches earlier in the season, so he's clearly capable of collecting crosses. But there is something that seems to be nagging him - a self-doubt or a fear of failure - which plays on his mind whenever these kind of decisions need to be made. That nervousness will also play a part on the defenders in front of him - it can be catching. 
 
If Palace are to persist with Hennessey beyond this season, work will need to be done to ensure that that nervousness is eradicated. Otherwise, we might need to see another number 1 arrive to take his place.