Saturday's defeat to Chelsea was disappointing but there were lessons to be learnt. Here are Alex Pewter's quick takeaways from the game. 

As far as managerial debuts go, away to the European Champions was never a desirable first fixture for Patrick Vieira. Losing heavily to Chelsea happened on both occasions last season, so in that respect, this result is par for the course of late. Here are our quick takeaways from a disappointing day at Stamford Bridge:

Four-Four-F***ing-Two

The Ghost of Hodgson Past continues to linger at Crystal Palace, as Patrick Vieira opted to play a formation very familiar to the Palace fans. The team's "base" 4-3-3 formation has been on display throughout pre-season, but Vieira switched his formation to 4-4-2 in an attempt to counter the opposition. Zaha joined Mateta up top as Schlupp and Ayew took up wide-midfield roles, leaving only McArthur and Riedewald in the centre of midfield. 

The consequence of this setup left Zaha anonymous through the first half, unable to get on the ball in any meaningful situations. The central midfield looked light on numbers, with Jaïro Riedewald not nearly as comfortable in a two-person central pairing in or out of possession. 

Chelsea's dominance was paramount, and the experiment ended following Chelsea's second goal, as Palace defaulted to a 4-3-3 seen in the build-up to the season. Vieira would change the formation again following the introduction of Benteke and Andersen in the second half but seemed willing to admit "Plan A" hadn't worked as foreseen. 

Possession Football vs Pressure

If pre-season failed to replicate any game conditions for Vieira, it was pressure. As their only Premier League opposition, Watford let Palace dominate possession against them. The team strung multiple passes together as they easily transitioned the ball across defence and into the midfield. 

Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea had other ideas. Palace started with their plan to pass the ball out of the back, but Chelsea was comfortable pressing them high up the pitch. This press, combined with Palace's change of shape from pre-season, gave the central defenders few chances to work the ball into the midfield, often opting to play the ball optimistically into the Chelsea half as a final option. 

The second half offered more chances for Palace to build some play, but partly due to Chelsea lowering their intensity after Trevor Chalobah secured the result with a long-range effort. 

Vieira shouldn't abandon this philosophy, but this was the first genuine test to show how the team will have to improve their passing. A return to having a deeper playmaker in midfield to link up with the defence and Andersen's addition will help facilitate this.
 

Debuts, Debuts, Debuts

Today's fixture marked many debuts for Crystal Palace. Aside from Patrick Vieira and his new coaches in the dugout, Marc Guéhi, Joachim Andersen and Jesurun Rak-Sayki all made their debuts for the club on the pitch.

Even in defeat, Guéhi and Andersen already look like the future central pairing for the club. Whilst their time on the pitch today was in a three-person pairing with Cheikhou Kouyaté, both players are an exciting proposition in the future. Both players were happy to carry the ball forward and should be a good foundation for the team's passing game. Andersen, in 33 minutes, was able to show some of his passing range, playing one lovely long ball down the left flank, finding his man over the top of the Chelsea wing-back. 

One of the positive moments for Palace was a professional debut for Rak-Sayki against his former club. If he had nerves, it didn't show as he played with the same calm demeanour the fans are accustomed to seeing in the U18 and U23 sides. With Palace yet to reinforce the wide areas, Vieira will be looking to Rak-Sayki to back up the starters.

The xG Battle

Chelsea (1.21) 3-0 (0.35) C Palace

— The xG Philosophy (@xGPhilosophy) August 14, 2021

A fair result, reflected by the number of chances for each team, Chelsea still scored two low percentage chances to take home the victory.  

Their dominance in the first half was paramount. Under duress, Palace conceded many corners and free-kicks in the early stages of the game. The free-kick given to Chelsea for the first goal was debatable, but the quality of Marcos Alonso's strike wasn't as Vicente Guaita was left standing to watch it sail into the top right corner as they broke the deadlock. 

In that theme, Palace did a solid job restricting Chelsea to long-range efforts on goal, with the rebounded effort of Pulišić the only clear-cut chance of the game, with an element of fortune for the American international in the build-up.

Next Up: Brentford

Having seen Brentford defeat Arsenal on Friday night, Vieira's home debut will also be a tough outing. It will be likely that both Joachim Andersen and Christian Benteke will move into starting positions in the team, having played the final third of the Chelsea game.  

Conor Gallagher, ineligible for this fixture due to the loan agreement with Chelsea, will be available to make his debut for the club. As a natural fit for Vieira's midfield, Gallagher can be expected to supplement the efforts of James McArthur in a box-to-box capacity. The rumoured acquisition of another central player like Will Hughes shows the club wants to add more energy to the team's midfield.

If the team returns to a 4-3-3 formation next weekend, there will still be a desperate need to add a starting winger to play opposite Wilfried Zaha to fill the hole left by Andros Townsend. Jordan Ayew has been the starter in this position throughout the pre-season but, based on today's outing, shouldn't be relied on as such.