Din
Well-Known Member
Don't know if anyone's going to bother reading this, and considering how long it is I couldn't really blame you but I needed to let off some steam so here we go:
Today perhaps was a bit of a lesson and a reality check for us. In the championship if you make a mistake there's a good chance you'll get away with it, particularly if you're one of the top teams. In the Premier League if you make a mistake, you often don't get away with it, and that was certainly in evidence today. We defended poorly on two occasions, and found ourselves 2-0 down, and that's the way it works in this league.
Lets give Palace their dues, they're a good side. Weren't at it properly for the first 30 minutes or so, but overall they were the better team, and visibly had that extra bit of quality that we lacked. In the likes of Zaha, Puncheon and Cabaye they've got players that will cause even the best teams in this league problems, and although 3-1 was a bit flattering I think they deserved the win.
The most disappointing thing about today is the fact that the goals were completely avoidable. The first goal just wasn't good enough defensively at all. Watching it back on TGMD's links it's very clear to see what went so wrong. Bassong gets beaten for pace a little too easily for my liking, although I might be being a bit harsh considering Puncheon is quick. Tettey fails to track Jordan Mutch's run into the box, and because of that Whittaker shuffles across to pick him up, leaving Zaha completely unmarked at the back post. Ruddy perhaps could've done slightly better having got a touch to it, but he may well have been blind-sided by Whittaker so don't think we can attach any real blame to him. The second goal though is even worse. Cleverly worked from Palace but the fact that nobody spots Souare's run into the box is pathetic really, he then heads it back across the box (unintentionally by the looks of it) where Delaney has been left unmarked who smashes it. Russell Martin was marking Delaney but watched the ball float towards the edge of the box rather than check how close he was to the man he was marking, the ball was then put back across goal and by that time Delaney was so far away from Martin that there was no way he could get a block in, or get to the ball first. Poor from Russell Martin. The third goal didn't really matter but it is absolutely pathetic from Martin. He closes down McArthur to stop the shot, jumping in the air and turning his back on play in the process, just as McArthur slips in Cabaye, who Russell Martin was marking, who then goes on and scores. Ridiculous goal, but ultimately the game was already lost by then.
For me personally, our best player was Howson. There were actually quite a few candidates but Howson edges it for me. He didn't actually look all that comfortable out on the right hand side in the first half, but defensively he was solid, doing a lot of the nitty-gritty stuff that often goes unnoticed, and he hardly ever gave the ball away. Hoolahan was superb as well. Caused the Palace defence/midfield a lot of problems, although he did give it away on a couple of occasions a little easily, even for him. He's undoubtedly a crucial player for us though, and will be if we have any chance of survival. Dorrans was also very good, and he formed a nice combination with Howson and Hoolahan that was where practically all our creativity was coming from. Often kept it simple but wasn't afraid to play the long balls out to the wings either, which he did well a number of times. One problem with him though is that defensively he doesn't offer enough, certainly not as much as Howson or Tettey. Robbie Brady impressed me today. The two free-kicks where he went for goal were poor, but aside from that it was hard to fault him. Zaha couldn't get round him in the first 15 minutes or so, hence why from that point onwards he went out to the left to face Whittaker. He was relatively solid all game, and put in a couple of great deliveries. I think he probably offers more in left midfield, but he was good cover for Olsson today. Ruddy also made a couple of good saves, in particular the one from Mutch I think it was when he went through 1-on-1. Perhaps could've done slightly better for Palace's first goal, but it's hard to tell really. Bassong was pretty solid all game, won everything in the air and in general dealt with Murray quite well. Tettey was solid but unspectacular really, and the decision to take him off on a yellow card was the right one, especially with Mulumbu injured. Redmond had a big impact when he came on. Obviously scored a brilliant goal and was heavily involved in general and it's not hard to see why supporters are a little frustrated he didn't start. Jerome didn't have quite as big an impact, but ultimately scored a good goal that was wrongly ruled out, and had it of stood he would've been the hero again.
Our worst player was Bradley Johnson, followed by Martin and then Whittaker. Johnson won a few headers, including one that set-up Jerome for his illegal goal, but lost out in the air more times than he won. On the ball he didn't really do anything of much good, and his movement off the ball was terrible. The number of times that Wes or Dorrans would take the ball into the middle and look for an option on the left hand side, only to find that Johnson had come inside was absurd. I had my doubts about whether he could reproduce last season's success, and based on today's evidence I'm not optimistic. Martin was at fault for Palace's second and third goal, and just isn't good enough in general. He got caught out time after time, and we really need to sign a quality centre back to play alongside Bassong. I like Martin, seems like a nice guy who loves this football club, but the fact is we need quality if we're going to stay up, and he just isn't it. It's not hard to see why Neil likes him, because one thing that he's good at, and did well today was bring the ball out of defence and travel 15/20 yards before playing the pass, but I really hope that isn't enough to convince Neil to stick with him. Whittaker was quite good going forwards, and was unlucky as well with his effort that was cleared off the line, but he was humiliated by Zaha time after time, and the same with Bolasie when he came on. He was slow to turn and not great going into tackles either. I understand that Zaha and Bolasie are two very tricky, pacey wingers who any full back in the division would struggle against, but the fact is that is what we're up against this season, and today he didn't look up to it. Grabban blew hot and cold. Some of his link-up play, in particular with Hoolahan in the first half was very good, but that some of it wasn't so good, and he gave the ball away a fair few times. He was also prepared to run the lines which he did reasonably well. I think that people's judgement of his performance has been clouded by that miss in the first half. He wasn't great but he certainly wasn't as bad as some (not really anyone on here, mainly those on Twitter and Canary Call) are making out. The fact is though that in this league you cannot afford to miss chances like that. They are few and far between so when they come your way you really need to take them, and Grabban didn't, and that has always been the problem with him which we all witnessed clearly last season. For me Jerome is the superior player, and if he was fully fit I would've started with him. But the way that Grabban has been written off as 'not good enough' after one Premier League game, where he was by no means our worst player is ridiculous.
I think Alex Neil did reasonably well on his Premier League debut despite the defeat. When I saw the starting line-up I was slightly disappointed, and surprised that he chose to leave out Jerome and Redmond. But I actually think it was a good call. Although it's seen as quite unambitious and negative to play with four central midfielders in a home game against a mid-table team, it was actually working well for us in the first 25 minutes or so, and we were certainly on top. The reason we lost this game was completely down to the defence, nothing to do with the midfield, or rather the fact that Redmond was omitted from it. If we defended better for the first two goals and therefore we don't concede them, then we would've gone onto win the game regardless of the fact that Redmond or Jerome didn't start. Ok, you could argue that Jerome would've stuck Grabban's chance away, but had defended properly I'm sure we would've won the game regardless of that miss. Neil also made exactly the right changes at the right times. I imagine what he was thinking at half time is to leave any substitutions until the hour mark, and if it's still 1-0 then bring on Redmond and Jerome. It was just unfortunate that we turned off from a set-piece and ended up 2-0 down and with a mountain to climb before he could make those changes, but having gone 2-0 down he made them immediately. Had it stayed 1-0 until the hour mark and Redmond and Jerome had come on, I would've been much more confident we could get something from the game. The decision to bring on Hooper for Dorrans with about 10 minutes left was also the correct call, it was just unfortunate that we couldn't really break Palace down and therefore Hooper wasn't really able to get in the game.
As for the referee, what a ****. It is so typical that we get the ref who happens to have never managed in the Premier League before, and you can clearly see why. I didn't get a clear enough view of the penalty appeal for handball because I sit at the other end of the ground, but I have seen Palace fans say they were lucky to get away with it. There is absolutely nothing wrong with Jerome's goal though, and to rule it out for dangerous play is beyond ridiculous. Not only does Ward put his head downwards, but he's behind Jerome, so the only way Jerome's foot can hit Ward is if Ward goes towards it. Just in general though he had a terrible game. Let Palace get away with so much without brandishing a card, and there was absolutely no consistency in the way he did things, for example booking Tettey for bringing down Zaha, and yet a few minutes earlier McArthur went in two footed on Hoolahan, with both feet off the ground, and didn't even get a card. It was unbelievably bad, and I hope he never manages in the Premier League again.
Anyway, onto Sunderland away, which is certainly a game that falls into the 'winnable' category. A lot of supporters seem to be panicking over this defeat, but it's only one bloody game, where we came up against a good side and actually didn't play too badly, not to mention being let down by the referee. There's a long way to go yet and a win against Sunderland (and possibly a signing of a striker or centre back during the week) and suddenly all the fans that have stated how doomed we are after this defeat, will suddenly think we'll be in with a chance of a Champions League place again.
Today perhaps was a bit of a lesson and a reality check for us. In the championship if you make a mistake there's a good chance you'll get away with it, particularly if you're one of the top teams. In the Premier League if you make a mistake, you often don't get away with it, and that was certainly in evidence today. We defended poorly on two occasions, and found ourselves 2-0 down, and that's the way it works in this league.
Lets give Palace their dues, they're a good side. Weren't at it properly for the first 30 minutes or so, but overall they were the better team, and visibly had that extra bit of quality that we lacked. In the likes of Zaha, Puncheon and Cabaye they've got players that will cause even the best teams in this league problems, and although 3-1 was a bit flattering I think they deserved the win.
The most disappointing thing about today is the fact that the goals were completely avoidable. The first goal just wasn't good enough defensively at all. Watching it back on TGMD's links it's very clear to see what went so wrong. Bassong gets beaten for pace a little too easily for my liking, although I might be being a bit harsh considering Puncheon is quick. Tettey fails to track Jordan Mutch's run into the box, and because of that Whittaker shuffles across to pick him up, leaving Zaha completely unmarked at the back post. Ruddy perhaps could've done slightly better having got a touch to it, but he may well have been blind-sided by Whittaker so don't think we can attach any real blame to him. The second goal though is even worse. Cleverly worked from Palace but the fact that nobody spots Souare's run into the box is pathetic really, he then heads it back across the box (unintentionally by the looks of it) where Delaney has been left unmarked who smashes it. Russell Martin was marking Delaney but watched the ball float towards the edge of the box rather than check how close he was to the man he was marking, the ball was then put back across goal and by that time Delaney was so far away from Martin that there was no way he could get a block in, or get to the ball first. Poor from Russell Martin. The third goal didn't really matter but it is absolutely pathetic from Martin. He closes down McArthur to stop the shot, jumping in the air and turning his back on play in the process, just as McArthur slips in Cabaye, who Russell Martin was marking, who then goes on and scores. Ridiculous goal, but ultimately the game was already lost by then.
For me personally, our best player was Howson. There were actually quite a few candidates but Howson edges it for me. He didn't actually look all that comfortable out on the right hand side in the first half, but defensively he was solid, doing a lot of the nitty-gritty stuff that often goes unnoticed, and he hardly ever gave the ball away. Hoolahan was superb as well. Caused the Palace defence/midfield a lot of problems, although he did give it away on a couple of occasions a little easily, even for him. He's undoubtedly a crucial player for us though, and will be if we have any chance of survival. Dorrans was also very good, and he formed a nice combination with Howson and Hoolahan that was where practically all our creativity was coming from. Often kept it simple but wasn't afraid to play the long balls out to the wings either, which he did well a number of times. One problem with him though is that defensively he doesn't offer enough, certainly not as much as Howson or Tettey. Robbie Brady impressed me today. The two free-kicks where he went for goal were poor, but aside from that it was hard to fault him. Zaha couldn't get round him in the first 15 minutes or so, hence why from that point onwards he went out to the left to face Whittaker. He was relatively solid all game, and put in a couple of great deliveries. I think he probably offers more in left midfield, but he was good cover for Olsson today. Ruddy also made a couple of good saves, in particular the one from Mutch I think it was when he went through 1-on-1. Perhaps could've done slightly better for Palace's first goal, but it's hard to tell really. Bassong was pretty solid all game, won everything in the air and in general dealt with Murray quite well. Tettey was solid but unspectacular really, and the decision to take him off on a yellow card was the right one, especially with Mulumbu injured. Redmond had a big impact when he came on. Obviously scored a brilliant goal and was heavily involved in general and it's not hard to see why supporters are a little frustrated he didn't start. Jerome didn't have quite as big an impact, but ultimately scored a good goal that was wrongly ruled out, and had it of stood he would've been the hero again.
Our worst player was Bradley Johnson, followed by Martin and then Whittaker. Johnson won a few headers, including one that set-up Jerome for his illegal goal, but lost out in the air more times than he won. On the ball he didn't really do anything of much good, and his movement off the ball was terrible. The number of times that Wes or Dorrans would take the ball into the middle and look for an option on the left hand side, only to find that Johnson had come inside was absurd. I had my doubts about whether he could reproduce last season's success, and based on today's evidence I'm not optimistic. Martin was at fault for Palace's second and third goal, and just isn't good enough in general. He got caught out time after time, and we really need to sign a quality centre back to play alongside Bassong. I like Martin, seems like a nice guy who loves this football club, but the fact is we need quality if we're going to stay up, and he just isn't it. It's not hard to see why Neil likes him, because one thing that he's good at, and did well today was bring the ball out of defence and travel 15/20 yards before playing the pass, but I really hope that isn't enough to convince Neil to stick with him. Whittaker was quite good going forwards, and was unlucky as well with his effort that was cleared off the line, but he was humiliated by Zaha time after time, and the same with Bolasie when he came on. He was slow to turn and not great going into tackles either. I understand that Zaha and Bolasie are two very tricky, pacey wingers who any full back in the division would struggle against, but the fact is that is what we're up against this season, and today he didn't look up to it. Grabban blew hot and cold. Some of his link-up play, in particular with Hoolahan in the first half was very good, but that some of it wasn't so good, and he gave the ball away a fair few times. He was also prepared to run the lines which he did reasonably well. I think that people's judgement of his performance has been clouded by that miss in the first half. He wasn't great but he certainly wasn't as bad as some (not really anyone on here, mainly those on Twitter and Canary Call) are making out. The fact is though that in this league you cannot afford to miss chances like that. They are few and far between so when they come your way you really need to take them, and Grabban didn't, and that has always been the problem with him which we all witnessed clearly last season. For me Jerome is the superior player, and if he was fully fit I would've started with him. But the way that Grabban has been written off as 'not good enough' after one Premier League game, where he was by no means our worst player is ridiculous.
I think Alex Neil did reasonably well on his Premier League debut despite the defeat. When I saw the starting line-up I was slightly disappointed, and surprised that he chose to leave out Jerome and Redmond. But I actually think it was a good call. Although it's seen as quite unambitious and negative to play with four central midfielders in a home game against a mid-table team, it was actually working well for us in the first 25 minutes or so, and we were certainly on top. The reason we lost this game was completely down to the defence, nothing to do with the midfield, or rather the fact that Redmond was omitted from it. If we defended better for the first two goals and therefore we don't concede them, then we would've gone onto win the game regardless of the fact that Redmond or Jerome didn't start. Ok, you could argue that Jerome would've stuck Grabban's chance away, but had defended properly I'm sure we would've won the game regardless of that miss. Neil also made exactly the right changes at the right times. I imagine what he was thinking at half time is to leave any substitutions until the hour mark, and if it's still 1-0 then bring on Redmond and Jerome. It was just unfortunate that we turned off from a set-piece and ended up 2-0 down and with a mountain to climb before he could make those changes, but having gone 2-0 down he made them immediately. Had it stayed 1-0 until the hour mark and Redmond and Jerome had come on, I would've been much more confident we could get something from the game. The decision to bring on Hooper for Dorrans with about 10 minutes left was also the correct call, it was just unfortunate that we couldn't really break Palace down and therefore Hooper wasn't really able to get in the game.
As for the referee, what a ****. It is so typical that we get the ref who happens to have never managed in the Premier League before, and you can clearly see why. I didn't get a clear enough view of the penalty appeal for handball because I sit at the other end of the ground, but I have seen Palace fans say they were lucky to get away with it. There is absolutely nothing wrong with Jerome's goal though, and to rule it out for dangerous play is beyond ridiculous. Not only does Ward put his head downwards, but he's behind Jerome, so the only way Jerome's foot can hit Ward is if Ward goes towards it. Just in general though he had a terrible game. Let Palace get away with so much without brandishing a card, and there was absolutely no consistency in the way he did things, for example booking Tettey for bringing down Zaha, and yet a few minutes earlier McArthur went in two footed on Hoolahan, with both feet off the ground, and didn't even get a card. It was unbelievably bad, and I hope he never manages in the Premier League again.
Anyway, onto Sunderland away, which is certainly a game that falls into the 'winnable' category. A lot of supporters seem to be panicking over this defeat, but it's only one bloody game, where we came up against a good side and actually didn't play too badly, not to mention being let down by the referee. There's a long way to go yet and a win against Sunderland (and possibly a signing of a striker or centre back during the week) and suddenly all the fans that have stated how doomed we are after this defeat, will suddenly think we'll be in with a chance of a Champions League place again.
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