Team Focus: Palace's Positive Attacking Approach Under Pardew
"Mathematically, we’re not safe, but we’re in a great position," Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew said following Saturday’s 3-1 win over QPR. The Eagles ran riot in the opening 45 minutes against their London rivals, which ultimately helped them to an important 3 points. With 8 points now separating Palace and 18th-placed Burnley, Pardew’s side are indeed in a superb position to guarantee their top-flight safety. The 53-year-old has worked wonders at Selhurst Park since he succeeded Neil Warnock as manager and the current boss deserves the plaudits for his good work with the south London side.
Part of the reason behind Palace’s success under the new manager has been the work of trio Yannick Bolasie, Wilfried Zaha and Jason Puncheon. The concern when Pardew took over the reins at Selhurst Park was how to implement a system that incorporated the trio. Bolasie may have been unavailable for selection due to his participation at the Africa Cup of Nations, but his eventual return was always going to give Pardew a selection headache.
Nevertheless, the former Newcastle boss has shuffled his pack accordingly to accommodate, arguably, Palace’s three most creative players. Mile Jedinak’s extended absence due to his involvement at the Asia Cup followed by a spell on the sidelines with an ankle injury perhaps made Pardew’s selection choices easier. He had an extra space in midfield that needed filling. Joe Ledley and James McArthur have established themselves as the tough tackling duo in the middle of the park to protect the defence, but creativity was needed in central areas.
It’s in the middle where Puncheon has flourished. "He has improved massively since I managed him at Southampton. He’s been the best player since I took over," Pardew said of the 28-year-old following the win over QPR. Puncheon may be a consistent performer on the wing, but it is fair to say he has excelled in the middle. His WhoScored rating in the middle of the park (7.52) in the Premier League this season is better than every other position he has played for Palace.
Nevertheless, had Pardew persisted with Puncheon as a winger, there is a high chance he would not have featured as regularly, given the experienced manager has Bolasie and Zaha in wide positions. "I wouldn’t say they are the best wingers in the country, but they’re exciting," the Palace boss said of the pair after the QPR win. The two players were involved in all 3 of the Eagles’ goals on Saturday, with Bolasie helping himself to 2 assists (for Zaha and McArthur), while Zaha provided the assist for Joel Ward’s first ever Premier League goal.
Only man of the match Matty Phillips (8.57) gained a batter WhoScored rating than Zaha (8.46) and Bolasie (8.27) in the fixture as the duo worked tirelessly in support of frontman Glenn Murray. In a 4-3-3 formation, the widemen are tasked with coming inside when the player on the opposite side of the pitch has the ball and it’s for this reason Zaha scored just his second Premier League goal of the season at the weekend. When Bolasie got the better of young Darnell Furlong on the left, Zaha made a late surging run to the back post and was duly rewarded with the chance to tap into an empty net.
The fact of the matter is, both Bolasie and Zaha have stepped up their respective games under Pardew. A consistent run in the starting XI has aided the duo’s progression, with their WhoScored rating improving following Pardew’s appointment. Bolasie’s rating has increased from 6.96 to 7.15 under the new manager, while Zaha’s has also risen - more substantially - from 6.61 to 7.05. Puncheon’s, though, is the largest rise of the three players, with his rating going from 6.68 before Pardew’s appointment to 7.47 after.
With Ledley and McArthur covering behind, Puncheon is gifted more freedom to exert himself in the attacking third, which has helped Palace. In the 9 matches since Pardew’s appointment, only David Silva and Eden Hazard (both 27) have played more key passes than Puncheon (26) of all Premier League players. In the same period, the attacker has played more key passes from set-pieces than any other player (15). Having him on the pitch is beneficial to Palace, given his accuracy from free kicks and corners, with Murray’s brace and Scott Dann’s header in the 3-1 win at West Ham last month a testament to this.
Moreover, Bolasie and Zaha can capitalise on Puncheon’s vision when he is in possession. Getting the ball to the widemen is crucial in a 4-3-3 formation given the influence they can have in a passage of play and Puncheon’s creative ability means he can thread passes through to either winger to run at the opposition defence.
Bolasie, Zaha and Puncheon have each impressed since Pardew took over and the manager deserves praise for deploying a system that has allowed each player to thrive. Palace have all but secured their place in the Premier League, which seemed an unlikely feat following Tony Pulis' resignation, with the trio all performing their task at hand to a high standard to help the Eagles consolidate a place in England’s top-tier.
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