Team Focus: Is Pardew Being Found Out After Positive Palace Start?
"We got a lot of the ball, a lot of possession, (but) unfortunately we could not create a sweet moment and things went the wrong way for us,” Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew said in the wake of Monday night’s 1-0 defeat to Sunderland. It was a frustrating evening for the Eagles on home turf in a match they dominated from start to finish. Ultimately, it was an uncharacteristic error by Scott Dann that presented Jermain Defoe with the opportunity to tap into an empty net that secured the Black Cats all three points. It was, indeed, a smash and grab win by the visitors.
However, while the victory was unsurprisingly celebrated by the travelling support, a loss on home turf posed more questions than answers at Palace. Monday’s mishap at the back aside, the Eagles have been relatively solid in the Premier League this season. Only four teams have conceded fewer goals than Palace (13) this term. It’s in attack, though, where the problems arise. Only five teams have scored fewer league goals than Pardew’s team (14).
Five of those goals have been scored by defenders, while midfielder Yohan Cabaye (4) is the club’s top scorer, though three of his four goals have been penalties. Pardew has five strikers at his disposal this season, yet none have a league goal to their name this term. For a team that ended the previous campaign in impressive fashion, the form of the frontmen is cause for concern. This was a slight issue with the team last season also, with Glenn Murray topping the scoring charts with just seven goals, only to then be sold to Bournemouth over the summer.
Connor Wickham has proven thus far to be an insufficient replacement for Murray, though injury problems certainly hindered his settling in period. Nevertheless, it’s those behind him who are struggling, particularly in home games. Palace’s venomous attack is built around the dribbling qualities of Yannick Bolasie and Wilfried Zaha, with Jason Puncheon operating in the number 10 role, while the capture of Bakary Sako only swelled Palace’s attacking ranks.
Palace are a team built for counter attacking football, utilising the directness of Bolasie, Zaha and Sako and creative qualities of Puncheon and Cabaye to spring lightening quick offensive moves. Away from home, this tactic works with immense success. Palace are more than capable of soaking up the pressure, before hitting teams on the break, particularly with the onus on home sides to attack the opposition. They executed this to perfection in the 2-1 win at Liverpool prior to the international break.
At Anfield, Palace had fewer shots (9 to Liverpool’s 22) and less possession (37% to 63%), yet completed just two fewer successful dribbles (15) than Liverpool (17) in the victory. With the Reds committing men forward, the Eagles were able to pick the hosts off as and when to come away with all three points. It’s a game plan that many have adopted in the past and one that Palace utilise to great effect.
This approach has seen them gain 12 points away from home this season, a return bettered only by four teams. However, as effective a style it may be, it’s one that they struggle to implement on home turf. It’s worth noting here that Palace have gained 19 points this season. While they sit just two points off sixth, the frustrating displays in south London leaves a lot to be desired. Indeed, there was a hint of fortune in their win over Aston Villa back in August, with Tim Sherwood’s questionable tactics and an individual Jordan Amavi mistake helping the Eagles to all three points.
The Eagles are also one of only a handful of teams who boast a better WhoScored rating away from home (6.85) than at home (6.76), with the latter figure one of the lowest in the Premier League. They’ve scored more goals on their travels (8) than they have at home (6) and have shipped fewer goals on the road (5) than at Selhurst Park (8). At home, the defence will often press forward as the minutes tick by, particularly when the team is chasing a goal. For example, as Monday’s game neared its climax, the gap between Wayne Hennessey and the back four became larger, which Defoe capitalised on when a hopeful punt up field left the Palace defence all at sea.
Away from home, though, the back four is positioned closer to goal and refrain from straying too far upfield, closing the space between the lines for the opposition to exploit. As a result, the hosts push higher up the pitch to score, which then allows Palace to pick them off at a whim. It’s therefore no shock that Palace are averaging marginally more shots on target per game at home (4.7) than away from home (4.5) in the Premier League this season.
In front of their own fans, Palace are often forced to shoot from distance as the opponents pack their penalty area, as was the case in the loss to Sunderland, but away from home, the Eagles are able to maximise the speed and directness of their attackers to score. Nevertheless, this presents a problem to Pardew. Teams when they visit Selhurst Park can now be confident of coming away with a win providing they can stifle the Palace offensive and hit them on the counter.
When he first arrived, Pardew’s gameplan worked perfectly, and to an extent it still does. Away from home, Palace remain one of the league’s better teams. However, the 54-year-old must find a way to alter his team’s approach when Palace play in front of their own fans if they are to improve at Selhurst Park over the season.
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