Crystal Palace (a)

[Mick]

Could be a high-scoring game given the strength both teams possess up front?

It will be vital for our makeshift defence to perform if we are to get anything here.

[Mick]

Team News:
UnMartin Dubravka, Emil Krafth, Fabian Schär, Jacob Murphy, Bruno Guimarães, Sean Longstaff,Elliot Anderson Harvey Barnes, Anthony Gordon, Alexander Isak.

: Loris Karius, Tino Livramento, A Paul Dummett, L Matt Ritchie, Callum Wilson, Alex Murphy Lewis Hall Joe White Ben ParkinsonParkinson.

[GhostfaceKillah]

Really interesting test. They won't come onto us like Spurs did, so we are going to have spells in the game where we need to work openings that are not counter attacked based. Olise and Eze are super dangerous, I thought they might have been tempted to start with both, but then Ayew does a lot of work off the ball that neither of those do, but I expect at some stage we will see them both on the pitch.

Post Spurs we heard a lot of players talking about the change in tactic and game plan for Spurs, and I am looking forward to see what we have planned for an entirely different test like Palace.

6th is ours for the taking, we have decent fixtures and we are coming into some form, and even getting some players back from injury. I can see us sneaking this one tonight, but I don't expect an easy game.

[GhostfaceKillah]

Carbon copy of the Fulham game so far. We look tired in both body and mind, unable to implement any sort of game plan, 2nd best to everything, just a complete fucking mess. Just like the Fulham game, the last 5-10 minutes had signs that the game was changing ever so slightly.

The plus point, we haven't conceded, and you can see that Isak is so close to getting in on goal. They should tire quicker than us having only played a few games a go, which means this is all to play for in the 2nd half.

Longer term though, I don't understand why we are so shit away from home in the first half of games, we look like we haven't played together as a team before.

[Eeeeen]

Carbon copy of the Fulham game so far. We look tired in both body and mind, unable to implement any sort of game plan, 2nd best to everything, just a complete fucking mess. Just like the Fulham game, the last 5-10 minutes had signs that the game was changing ever so slightly.

The plus point, we haven't conceded, and you can see that Isak is so close to getting in on goal. They should tire quicker than us having only played a few games a go, which means this is all to play for in the 2nd half.

Longer term though, I don't understand why we are so shit away from home in the first half of games, we look like we haven't played together as a team before.

Tidied that one up for you, but you're quire right.  Poor showing tonight.

[Eeeeen]

If that useless cunt Longstaff wasn't constantly throwing himself to the ground for no reason, we might have had a penalty there.

[cg40k]

Pretty easy win for palace though they did need to stay in their toes.

[GhostfaceKillah]

11 days to prepare for that, must have had some cracking games of Truth or Dare and Pin the Tail on the Donkey in training.

No one gets above a 4/10 so not going to point out too many individuals. The setup was awful and what Howe did to Ange, Glasner has done to Howe. Tactically out thought and their players were everything ours weren't. It's like we had no idea what Palace were going to do, despite the fact they played EXACTLY the same way against West Ham in their last game.

Gordon completely invisible away from home again, Barnes did nothing, Isak given so little service. The midfield was absolutely dominated by Hughes and Wharton, hard to believe they only played a few days a go, you'd think we had played last night looking at that absolutely gutless, pathetic showing. The lack of fight was alarming, did the players not believe in the system? Not sure how else you can explain that fucking mess.

We were well and truly beaten in every single aspect of the game, but it was a game that Howe lost before it even started with the way he set that team up.

Final thought for the travelling fans, they should be refunded for going all that way to watch that.

[Mick]

Second best all the way through - the usual problem with an inability to keep the ball and/or actually pass to each other.

Especially away from home.

What exactly DO they practice in training??

[GhostfaceKillah]

Big questions Mick, because the press was so impressive last season, and because momentum meant we went from game to game with so much energy, we got away with playing pretty much the same way all season long.

This season Howe has to adapt through lack of personnel and away from home it has failed more often than not. They have had 11 days to prepare for a Palace team that under Glasner press hard and fast, why were none of our players ready for this? Why did we surrender from the first kick off, it's just so fucking bizarre and infuriating when last season we had such a reslience and such a fuck you attitude to every team we played. All that work to become top class shit housers, and we are absolutely pathetic away from home this season, you get the feeling if someone said boo to one of them they would shit themselves and fall on the floor. We were like this when we had Trippier and Joelinton available as well, so there is something else fundamentally wrong, and Howe hasn't found an answer going into the final few games.

I looked at Gordon tonight, he was tentative with his touch, he was half hearted in tackles, he just looked frightened to get on the ball, and we have seen this so many times away from home this season. Why is he so committed, positive and explosive at home, and so meek and mild away from home? It's a plague that runs through the entire team, but it stands out with Gordon because the contrast between home and away performances is so huge.

Something has happened this season to the confidence of the group that they haven't found a fix for, does this mean it is a personnel issue, or does this mean the messages Howe was getting across last season just don't have the same impact this? Maybe a bit of both and a refresh in the summer will help us find a consistent way of playing again.