Scrolling through Twitter after the Brentford game made for a rather grim viewing. At the start of the game, most Palace fans would probably have said they would've taken a draw. But the manner of our defeat led to an uproar amongst the fanbase. So how bad is it now – or are we catastrophising things?
After Ebere Eze put us 1-0 up in the 69th minute, it looked as if we were on course to take our first 3 points of 2023. But with essentially the last kick of the game, Vitaly Janelt equalised for the Bees, denying us the win.
This has become a recurring theme for Palace since Patrick Vieira took charge, with Palace dropping 10 points from winning positions already this season.
On the flip side, we are second-best in the league for points won from losing positions, with 14 points won after falling behind.
This sums us up perfectly this season - very close to being a top team one week, then the next looking like we should be playing alongside the Clowns down in League One. There simply is no in-between with us this season.
With the attacking quality that we have on paper, scoring goals should not be as challenging for us as it has been so far this season. We saw a glimpse of it yesterday with a beautifully worked team goal - Eze, Michael Olise, and Jordan Ayew all contributed. But this hasn't been the case for much of the season.
Vieira has struggled to pick a consistent attacking line-up this season, which I think plays a major part. The lack of a striker that is starting every game and connecting the play means that we lack any cohesion going forward. Jean-Phillipe Mateta has struggled for form this season, with his hold-up play noticeably poor. This, therefore, gives us nothing to aim for in attack, meaning they often come to nothing.
I still - alongside many other Palace fans, don't understand why Odsonne Édouard is not our starting striker. Not that he has been faultless this season, however, I feel he offers a lot more than JPM.
Édouard said in a Sky Sports interview before the Brentford game "I need to score more goals and get more assists, but sometimes it is hard. I just have to keep working to help the team."
The Frenchman is clearly unhappy with his current form - but eager to improve it. This drive is something I feel has been lacking up-front and could perhaps change our fortunes.
However, it is always easy to focus on the negatives. Looking at our fixtures in 2023, is it surprising that we are yet to win?
Our last 5 games have all been against in-form teams, who were billed to turn us over. So, to gain 4 points from teams all in the top 10 must surely be seen as a good thing?
We didn’t lose against Brighton – after being completely played off the park, and despite the Brentford game ending in frustration, it is another point on the board.
We sit on the same number of points as this time last season (26), so despite not having progressed, we haven’t been worse. We also scored a goal from open play yesterday.
There is a clear direction in which this team is going, however, we still need more signings in the summer to achieve this. I think ultimately, Vieira is still absolutely the man to take us forward – but this pattern of conceding late goals must be sorted.
Individual errors are costing us points and stopping us from moving up in the table – Ayew giving the ball away yesterday, and then some awful positioning from the midfield when defending the counter-attack. Vieira’s team selections are often baffling, but these are all things that can be improved
The fixtures don’t get any easier, with Liverpool and Man City in 2 of our next 3 games.
It's always worth bearing in mind, we’ve had it a lot worse since coming up to the Premier League – the 0-4 at home to Sunderland always springs to mind. So, despite it not being perfect currently, the boys deserve our backing as much as ever.
We now look to a home game against Liverpool on Saturday 25th of February, where we will face another tough test.
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