In true Palace fashion, we dug our heels in for an extremely satisfying 0-1 away victory against Erik ten-Hag’s Manchester United side on Saturday. We managed a mere 23% possession and just two shots on target.
However, these types of performances give me so much joy as a Palace fan, as I know it does across the fanbase.
There is something hugely satisfying about pitching up at one of the big boys' grounds, refusing to be bullied into how they want to play, and grinding out a victory.
In this instance, Joachim Andersen’s goal was hardly a typical scrappy 1-0 winner, with the Dane hitting a peach on the half-volley into the top right corner, which made this victory even sweeter.
This piece is really just to take a general look at how this season has been so far and take a look at the pros and, inevitably, cons of the team and club currently.
Andersen and Guéhi – A constant at the back
Having just touched on Joa’s heroics at the front of the pitch, it’s important not to forget the colossal effort he and Marc have put in at the back for us this season.
The pair seem to have struck a chord with each other, looking as if they have defended together for years.
Andersen sits top in the league for headed clearances and second for clearances. We also boast the joint most clean sheets so far this season, with both players playing a huge part in that.
Guéhi perfectly complements Andersen, with ariel duels not being the strong point of his game; his physicality and ability to read the game are second to none.
Both players constantly look assured in their defensive abilities, whilst always looking to drive the team forward with an impressive range of passing displayed by both.
Ultimately, I think whilst this season is not shaping up to be the most exciting because of the lack of investment in attack, we can rest easy in the knowledge that we have a great centre-half pairing that will prevent us from being in any relegation battles this season.
Injuries preventing us from pushing up the table
After the news broke this morning that Ebere Eze was set to be sidelined for up to 6 weeks with a hamstring injury, it really hammered home how serious our injury situation is becoming.
While it is not a ‘crisis’, we are now starting to lose key first-team players, whereas it had generally previously only been fringe squad players.
On a personal note, I feel so sorry for Ebs, who, after really finding form again this season, is now set to miss out on Gareth Southgate’s England squad being announced on Thursday.
It also leaves a huge hole up front, with Michael Olise still out after reaggravating his hamstring injury a few weeks ago.
Summer signing Matheus França is also still yet to feature, however, he is now in training with the first team.
Dean Henderson is also out after sustaining a muscle injury during his debut against Manchester United in the Carabao Cup 3-0 defeat. Hodgson offered a very downbeat update after Henderson’s scan, so it would seem he will be out for the foreseeable future.
Whilst Johnstone has performed brilliantly so far this season, it is more the fact we spent the bulk of our budget (£20 million) on Henderson, only for him now to be injured within one game.
Despite the doom and gloom surrounding our injury situation, Ed Aarons of the Guardian today stated, “Hodgson will hope Édouard can return to face Forest at Selhurst Park on Saturday”, which would massively help now Eze is out for the foreseeable future.
Frustrations at the board are warranted, but let’s not let that distract us from a very solid start to the season.
While I resonate completely with the frustrations aimed at the board, the start from the management and players has been a very positive one.
The lack of investment in key areas over summer (fullbacks and attackers) has unsurprisingly led to frustrations amongst the fanbase. Furthermore, with the injury total now standing at nine players, decisions made over summer have come under greater scrutiny, and rightly so.
However, let’s not forget the main reason as to why the board chose to appoint Hodgson in the first place – he can work with very little but still provide results.
Of course, it is so disheartening to see us merely ‘existing’ in the Premier League for another season; however, given our current financial situation, it was unrealistic to expect the board to splash out huge sums of money this summer.
We are currently sat 9th, with a very winnable home fixture against Forest on Saturday. The backline, as I’ve said have looked very solid, with Joel Ward who has been heavily criticised over the last few years taking Marcus Rashford out of the game on Saturday.
Just to roundoff, this has been my first proper blog since the start of the season. Apologies for the inconsistency; however, I can’t wait to get back to covering all things Palace!
I will have the Forest match preview out on Friday.
Have a great rest of the week, Up the Palace 🔴🔵
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