Football News: Crystal Palace Premier League season so far
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Results so far:
H v West Bromwich Albion 0-1
A v Tottenham Hotspur 0-1
H v Bournemouth 1-1
A v Middlesbrough 2-1
H v Stoke City 4-1
A v Sunderland 3-2
A v Everton 1-1
H v West Ham United 0-1
As usual with Alan Pardew teams, Crystal Palace have been consistent in their inconsistency. After a summer of investment in the team, there seems to have been little advance in the clubs situation on the pitch, with Palace still lacking a clear tactical plan or organisation. While managers such as Jose Mourinho concentrate on a strong tactical plan, Pardew is all about letting his players just play. That is ok when players are on form and you have the better players, but it does leave the team lacking when attacking players have off days.
Luckily for Pardew, he does have a lot of pace and attacking quality at his disposal, which should be enough to keep Palace in the top half of the table, unless they have a meltdown similar to the one his Newcastle United team suffered. With players such as Christian Benteke, who is particularly well-suited to Pardew's way of playing, there should be no meltdown this season, but there are question marks over whether he can do enough to keep the owners happy in the long term. He may be a cult hero amongst the Palace fans, but the owners have no such bias towards him and they will want to see progress maintained on and off the pitch.
I do feel Pardew's lack of preparation, which shows in his teams' organisational deficiencies, will catch him out in the end. No matter how much money you have, and how good the players are, if they are not used correctly then they will not make the most of their talents. You only have to look at the difference at Barcelona, since Luis Suarez moved central and Lionel Messi moved to the right of him, to see how even the best players benefit from being played in a way that gets the most out of their talents. That it is not just about giving them freedom to do their thing, even the greatest need some kind of direction to point their efforts towards areas they will have most effect to the benefit of the team.
Will Alan Pardew be able to tear himself away from admiring himself long enough to instil that kind of organisation and direction to his team? I very much doubt it, so he will need that to come from his coaching staff, who seem quite incapable of doing so. That is why Palace will have to face a glass ceiling, at some point, that no amount of money will get them through. At least, not while Pardew is the manager.
Written by Tris Burke October 18 2016 07:02:11
