Battle plans

As the countdown to the new season ticks away, Patrick Vieira’s revolution has ripped out large parts on an ageing squad and sithened off huge chunks of the wage bill. The additions of Michael Olise, Marc Guehi, Jaochim Andersen and Connor Gallagher have bolstered the squad for the upcoming campaign, with more additions seemingly on their way to Selhurst park. I am going to look into what these new signings will bring to the squad, and how that will translate into next seasons performances.

In the few weeks since the appointment of Patrick Vieira, Palace have stopped at no expense to divert away from Roy Hodgson’s style of football, releasing the likes of Andros Townsend, Mammadou Sakho, Wayne Henessey and Gary Cahill, and replacing them with highly rated younger assests like those labelled above. Since promotion, Palace fans have had to watch what can only be described as anti-football, an acceptable method considering the quality of our squad, size of our transfer budget, and looming threat of relegation. But in the last few season, us eagles supporters feel as though it may be time to finally branch away from the stale, dull and teeedious game plan of safety first football and implement a more attractive style of play. Watching newly promoted teams come up and adopt a more attractive brand of football has become a regular occurrence, with Leeds, Fulham and Bournemouth all impressing in their brief spells in the promised land. Despite some of those selected teams being unable to avoid the drop with their somewhat dangerous style of football, it is worth pointing out that newly promoted squads are often not unable to summon significant punching power in the transfer window to sustain this brand of football. This has been shown with Brentford and Norwich’s lack of movement this summer which will likely cost them dearly. So some of you may be asking what’s different with Palace? Let me tell you…

Under Hodgson, the team were expected to take as little risk as possible around the back and when in possession, making for a very dull and unimaginative viewing for us supporters. Throughout Roy’s tenure, some of our greatest footballing assets were left out or under-utilised for large parts of seasons. It took Hodgson nearly 3 years to show any trust in Jairo Reidewald, and has been shown even as recently as the last campaign where Ebere Eze was dropped from the starting XI for no apparent reason at times. Roy’s safety first approach scrapped any chance of seeing well worked team goals from the back. Townsend’s goal at Anfield is seen as a collectors item, and is held to its magnificently high standard as a result of this. The short of it is that Hodgson has made our squad hesitant to stay on the ball, blind to creative and probing passes, and sucked the energy from both our defence and midfield. Now let’s not get it twisted, this saved us. It saved us for multiple seasons and had enabled us our longest ever period in the premier league with an ageing, under-invested squad which is a monumental achievement. But the sacrifice was a sore sight for us fans, especially over the last couple seasons. To change the playing style, Vieira, Dougie and Steve have had to rip out the decaying aspects of our club and start again. This starts from the back. With an estimated £37m being spent on two new centrebacks, it’s is clear that this time Parish is committed to changing the way Crystal Palace play football next season. Marc Guehi and Jaochim Andersen have both had their praise from peers, coaches and pundits alike, but their best abilities have clearly been pointed out as their ball playing technique. Their ability to deal with pressure on the ball, spot and play the correct pass whilst keeping good positional awareness makes them an alien asset to Crystal Palace fans, as the Palace faithful have been used to seeing possession squandered from kick off with Kouyate and Dann respectively launching long balls to the opposition’s defences. Guehi and Andersen will give us a platform, an outlet to receive the ball and play incisive balls into the full backs or midfield, as well as providing a good option for a return pass, allowing us to soak up the pressure. There will inevitably be times where our hearts are in our mouthes, mistakes are made, and things look as though they aren’t going according to plan, however it is important we stay patient, breaking free from the shackles of Roy Hodgson’s tactics will take time, and the players will need to adjust to this new way of playing. A point which I feel is hugely overlooked however, is the keeper situation. It is safe to say that Vicente Guaita has never been tested as a ball playing goalkeeper, and to the best of my knowledge, I cannot remember the Spanish goalkeeper having been particularly comfortable with the ball at his feet. This is not to say that VG cannot improve these particular attributes, but the 34yr old will have to evolve into something more than a good shot stopper if he will keep his place between the stick next season, as Jack Butland will surely be hungry to pounce on any opportunity that arises. Despite this, this transfer window has enabled us to be better equipped to handle any pressure in playing out from the back, and will surely translate into more chances for Palace further up the pitch. 

Going into the midfield is arguably the most important aspect when considering the success of Palace changing playing styles. I believe that following the CB’s gaining the ball from the goalkeeper, the midfield will need to stay compact with the defensive midfielder coming deep to gain possession. I think this is a perfect chance for Kouyate to slot back into the central defensive midfielder role. An aggressive, defensively solid and tall player who has shown last season he can keep the ball in tight areas under a great deal of pressure (most of the time!). Next to Kouyate (presuming we play a 3 man midfield) I would play Gallagher and Reidewald. These two will take turns in their attempts to push further up the pitch, whilst the other helps Kouyate with defensive duties. The reason for this being that both Gallagher and Jairo are known for their passing ability, and with Gallagher’s workhorse playing style, it will provide a nice balance in front of the defensive minded Kouyate. This is assuming we will focus our remaining transfer budget further up the field as opposed to the midfield area. Depending on fixtures, score-lines and opposition, the ability to swap Kouyate with Luka and the two midfielders with Macca will offer us another alternative to our in-game approach. The option of Kouyate also proves handy as the Senegalese midfielder can drop back into a defensive 3 alongside Guehi and Andersen with ease is also a hugely powerful tool. This will allow our fullbacks to push high, giving us a wide attacking threat at a seconds notice, bamboozling any opposition that should encounter this tactic. The introduction of Gallagher should bring about a freshness to our midfield which we have lacked for seasons now, I believe this would give us a huge edge in our games next season, and we should all expect the work rates in midfield to increase substantially considering the prestige of our manager, one of the greatest midfielders of all time. Again, it should be worth noting that upon the arrival of Ebere Eze and Michael Olise from injury, the midfield and attack will need to be altered to help fit these creative youngsters back into the team.

The attack will be harder to comment on, as I still feel there are still multiple incomings in that department. One thing to keep an eye on is the long ball option from our new centre-halves. Andersen was recognised for his long passing last season, delivering mouthwatering passes over the top of defences, across the field switches and probing through balls. Guehi has also been known to play long balls excellently, displaying a great passing range during his time with Swansea City. This will act as a huge weapon when considering the pace of Wilf Zaha, and the knockdowns of Christian Benteke. Andersen’s passing in particular was normally met by the cool touch of Adamola Lookman, a player who Palace have reportedly been eyeing up for some weeks now. Fulham were able to use this as a way to escape the constant pressure of their opponents, and in some cases giving them a sight of goal. I believe Palace will operate in a similar way, opting to bypass the midfield at times to play attacking long balls into the flanks for our attackers to latch onto. I believe this will also translate into more touches in the opposition box, considering our more patient display on the ball which will see carefully worked passing translate into clearer cut chances as opposed to the half chances we often saw last season. Spending more time in the box will allow our tricky players such as Zaha, Olise and Eze (when they are back to fitness) work their creative footballing brain and quick feet. I would expect to see our penalty count rise as a result of this. This was seen against Watford at the weekend just gone, where Zaha was awarded a penalty for our patience and trickery The idea of our back line, midfield and attack working harmoniously, interlinking passes and keeping possession is a thought that makes me giddy. The sights of the last two seasons were turgid, solid, but turgid, and turning that around to play possession based football at a packed out fortress Selhurst will push the team every inch of the way. Thanks 

With more additions expected before Chelsea, it is impossible to precisely predict the tactics and style of play for next season. But based on the signings we’ve already brought in and the footballing philosophy of Patrick Vieira, we know we’ll be seeing a new era at Crystal Palace football club this year. An era which branches off from the style of football we have watched over the last 9 seasons, and hopefully one that raises the expectations and league standings for the eagles.

Please RT, let me know what you think and reply letting giving me your opinions on the upcoming campaign!

@CPFC_Curt