And so it came to pass on Thursday when news of Alan Pardew’s sacking began to do the rounds on social media. Some felt it was time for the 55-year-old to be shown the door, while others believed he deserved more time to work his magic at Selhurst Park, but what is true is that Crystal Palace needed a shot in the arm at such a crucial stage of the season. For all the money invested into the club, the Eagles hierarchy feel they should be performing better than their points total (15) suggests, which is a fair assumption.
Palace twice broke their club-record transfer fee over the summer, first to sign Andros Townsend from Newcastle, then to bring in Christian Benteke from Liverpool, but the club linger just one point above the relegation zone. Fingers, then, were pointed in the direction of Pardew, with Charlton and Newcastle fans quick to highlight the dangers of appointing the former Wimbledon midfielder. As follows trend, Palace started strongly under Pardew. From his first league game as Palace boss – a 2-1 win over Tottenham in January 2015 – the south London side averaged 1.72 points per game until the end of that season.
In Pardew’s first full season at the helm, though, that figure dropped to 1.11 per game, owing to a fine start to the season, before dipping further to 0.88 points per game this term. Over the course of the year, though, that figure makes for grim reading. Palace have averaged fewer points per game (0.72) than any other team in England’s top four leagues this calendar year, while Pardew’s Palace lost more Premier League games (22) than any other team in 2016. For those feeling the time was right to sack the manager, there’s a solid argument to be made.
Pardew largely relied on the individual quality of Wilfried Zaha and Benteke to drag Palace out of trouble, with the pair the club’s highest rated players for the club, with a 7.58 and 7.47, respectively. Of all current Palace players, Jason Puncheon places third with a 7.16, a significant gap of 0.31 between he and Benteke. Meanwhile, only three Eagles players rank above a 7.00 in the Premier League this season, which adds weight to the suggestion that, without superb individual performances, they would be struggling more than they already are.
Of course, any manager will look to their star players to make the difference in Premier League games and Zaha and Benteke rank highly of Palace’s best players, but beyond the pair, there’s an argument to be made about a lack of quality personnel to help shoulder the attacking responsibility. Without Zaha and Benteke, Palace would be in a far worse position then they find themselves currently in, with the former ranking top for assists (6) and the latter for goals (8). Goals, though, were never a primary concern for the side, with the 28 goals league goals scored this season ranking highly in England’s top tier.
Rather, a lack of defensive solidity has routinely set Palace back as noted in that only Swansea (37) and Hull (36) have conceded more goals than the Eagles (32) in the Premier League this season. Pardew looked to improve at the back with the captures of Steve Mandanda and James Tomkins, but the pair’s injury concerns and dip in form hindered rather than helped at the back. The primary concern, however, was when it came to denying opponents from set-pieces. Palace have conceded more goals from set-piece situations (14) than any other Premier League side this season. Pardew bemoaned lacklustre defending from corners and free-kicks in the wake of the 2-1 loss to Manchester City last month, but it was an issue he failed to work on sufficiently. Their poor form from dead ball situations have seen them develop a statistically calculated WhoScored weakness of ‘defending set pieces’, which is unsurprisingly deemed ‘very weak’.
Not only that, but only West Ham (11) have conceded more shots on goal from individual errors than Palace (9) in the Premier League this season, while only a handful of teams have won possession in the midfield third fewer times than Palace (370) so far. Individual mistakes and a failure to provide sufficient cover for the defence only increased the pressure upon the Palace backline. Given an average of 49.5% possession is a fairly middle of the road return, when not on the ball, the Palace midfielders should have been doing more to win possession to ease the burden on the defence.
As such, it’s little surprise that Palace have not only made more last man tackles (3) than any other Premier League side, but no top-flight team have conceded more goals from outside the box than them (7). A lack of pressure on the opposition midfield and attack forced Palace into either last ditch defending or allowed opponents close enough to goal to test either Mandanda or Wayne Hennessey from distance, which has proven costly.
Pardew acted accordingly to bring out the best in his strongest attackers, with only Southampton (355) attempting more crosses from open play than Palace (330) this season, hinting that he looked to use Benteke’s aerial strength to improve the club’s attack. However, in doing so, he neglected the necessary defensive responsibilities and such a Gung-ho approach ultimately cost him his job at the Selhurst Park helm. With January fast approaching, some could suggest that the transfer window would have given him the chance to strengthen the squad at the back in order to improve, but the numbers speak for themselves. A fresh manager and a fresh start in the New Year will only serve Palace well as they aim to haul themselves up the Premier League table on the back of another Pardew collapse.
