Saints 1 v Palace 1 Match Reaction

[angelman]

It got so bad that at one stage the whole of the Kingsland were on their feet shouting at the players to pass the ball to him.

 

Myself in Block 30 included.

[Lighthouse]

I thought Valery was the better of the two fullbacks. Targett played his part in the goal, which you have to credit him for, but was otherwise terrible and couldn't get past Wan-Bissaka all night.

 

Hoj and Rom I thought were decent an covered a lot of ground, the trouble was there wasn't much going on around and in front of them. I think we were one light up front and looked better when we brought Moi on; simply by having an extra body not because he was any good.

 

I've never thought Stephens is good enough for this level and tonight highlights my concerns about him. Switching off at critical moments, ball watching and losing his man or making sloppy misplaced passes. Having said that Vest also had an off game.

 

Redmond tried hard but wasn't having much look and got little help from Targett. Ings was just nowhere all game. I'd like to defend him by saying the service was poor but even in possession he was wasteful, other than one decent shot second half.

 

A quick note on Palace; Zaha and Townsend who everyone fretted about were pretty poor all in all. We did a decent job of keeping them quiet and their goal was hardly a piece of Zaha magic. What a princess he is though. It's not like we kicked them off the park and he seemed to lose his sh*t when JWP was shepherding the ball out for a throw for some reason, unless someone closer than me saw differently.

 

Anyway a point will do and I'd taken not losing against Palace and Burnley, if we beat Cardiff.

 

We do need some better players though. I was pretty confident we'd stay up and I still am... sort of; however we're betting big on Cardiff being gash for the rest of the season. Would be a bit sh*t if what keeps us in this league ends up being a plane crash.

Edited 30 January, 2019 by Lighthouse

[Lighthouse]

The number 4 Milosevic spent the first half kicking lumps out of anyone near him Messi he isnt bit rich them moaning about kicking

 

You mean Milivojevic? He was a bit rough but I don't think he was involved in the Bosnian genocide.

[Lighthouse]

Yeah i didn't think Zaha was that great. It was more than we looked scared of their pace regardless of how they were playing.

 

We gave him too much space and he got a shot off. Near post but it's McCarthy so it's probably going to go in isn't it.

 

If Zaha gets a few games ban for his reaction to the ref, which he should, Palace won't win any games without him.

 

I wonder if he has stopped clapping yet.

[qwertyell]

Bank the point, move on. 8 points from our last 4 (unbeaten) games.

 

Yes, we weren't very good and I don't think we will be particularly good in any of these upcoming games against team at our level because we lack any kind of quality to unlock obdurate defences. It is what it is. Hopefully we can still muddle our way to a few more results.

 

We're an extremely limited team. It's going to be an ugly scrap to stay up, sadly, but we've probably got enough to finish above three sides.

 

Probably.

 

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[doggface]

I thought Ralph got that one wrong tactically for most of the game. The 352 was too defensive and Ings and Redmond weren't getting any service. I would have preferred 3421 with Armstrong in there. Most of our best play this season has come when Armstrong and Redmond have been on the ball.

 

Didn't have a great view of their goal but it looked very saveable to me.

 

Valery did pretty well. Targett had a bit of a mare but did well for our goal. Hopefully Bertrand is back soon.

 

Bednarek made yet another incredible clearance stopping a certain goal. Probably our best player.

 

Hojbjerg, Romeu and JWP were too flat and too strung out across the pitch. My tactical gripe.

 

I'd like to see us a bit more positive in the next couple of matches and hopefully we can add someone tomorrow as we are very thin at the moment.

 

 

Totally agree with this post.

 

 

Both the Palace & West Ham games have really emphasised the extreme lack of pace and strength in our team. I think Ralph is well aware of this and although he could/should have started with 3421 in my book, not much he can do about physical attributes with the players at his disposal.

 

 

I like a manager that expresses his opinion, but I personally disagree with Ralph suggesting the crowd should have had more patience in the 2nd half. We were crap tonight hard to pick out anyone who played well.

 

 

If Ralph had to put up with what the St. Mary's crowd have watched from this team over the last 2.5 seasons, then surely he would know how lucky they are that anyone even bothers to even turn up.

 

Let's not forget still only 2 home wins this season. Credit to the team to keep going and earn a respectible point against a well drilled Palace side, but I expected a better performance.

 

 

With bit more focus, quality and directness tonight they would have earned themselves more patience.

[Shroppie]

Why ludicrous? Targett, Yoshida, Stephens, Vestergaard are all incredibly average. If we genuinely want to progess they need replacing.

Yeah right. Get real.

 

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[musesaint]

Not a good performance. A draw a fair result.

 

Bank the point and move on

[Saint Garrett]

Thought they did a job on us tonight, pressed us out of it and didn’t give Redmond any space at all. They bullied us.

 

McCarthy Stephens and Targett all very poor, thought Vestergaard was excellent in parts and shocking in others.

 

Seems like Stephens was also lucky to not get sent off.

 

Redmond and Ings couldn’t get in the game, don’t think anyone played particularly well. midfield did ok, but just seemed completely overrun in there tonight.

 

Thought Valery did well on the whole, but had a couple of poor moments, notably when Zaha scored, but thought he had a decent game mostly.

 

Take a point and move on, bit of a wake up call to those think we’re not in a relegation fight anymore, we’re not suddenly a good side, we’re still pretty poor. Absolutely should have strengthened in this window. Hopefully we get enough points against relegation rivals to stay up and have a rebuild in the summer.

[waylander]

Let's remember that Palace scored 3 at Anfield in their last league game, they are a decent side who played well

[Saint IQ]

Think it would all be easier if people realised the objective is to just stay up and then re build in summer, as Ralph has stated so many times, but seems to go over most fans heads and not be relevant information.

 

This current squad is capable of finishing somewhere between 16th and 13th.

 

 

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We lost 12 points from winning positions with Hughes, only 3 with Ralph.

 

I have no doubt we'd be in with a shout for 7th or top half had he been in charge the whole season.

 

There's little difference in quality between the squads from 7th to 20th only Cardiff and Huddersfield you'd say are considerably weaker.

[Shandy_Top_89]

It got so bad that at one stage the whole of the Kingsland were on their feet shouting at the players to pass the ball to him.

 

Didn't think that was just for Prowse either, we appeared generally reluctant to go wide when players were in space. Most of the team ignored Valery and Targett in space when they came forward too.

 

Separately Valery is like a reverse Targett, good defensively but poor going forward.

[Lord Duckhunter]

Not a good performance. A draw a fair result.

 

Bank the point and move on

 

It wasn’t a fair result at all, we deserved **** all.

 

The fact we got a point is the one decent thing about a pretty average performance. The past couple of years when we’ve played badly we get beat, so managing to nick a point when we played so badly is encouraging.

 

Our support was ****ing woeful tonight.

 

 

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[skintsaint]

Played ****e and got a point. Didnt think we would beat Palace. Lets avoid defeat at Burnley and beat Cardiff..will be a decent run.

[John Boy Saint]

It got so bad that at one stage the whole of the Kingsland were on their feet shouting at the players to pass the ball to him.

Same in the Chapel, JWP was doing his nut, for the umpteenth time it was looking very likely to be punted left into congestion folks got up and were all pointing at JWP with half of Hampshire to run into. Ralph may comment about the fans needing to patient and understand that the players were looking for THE pass, Think when he analyses the video he might spot what the fans were getting worked up about.

Dont think the 10 days off did us any good, which was a surprise, on the flip side Palace were well drilled and stuck to their task which also made us look flat.

As for the cobblers about Zaha getting battered, on more than one occasion he hit the deck in the opposite direction to travel, he was getting the favour of the ref, and we seemed to stand off him a little as a result afterwards. As for him being sent off, both him and JWP were off balance and off the pitch, think he was more upset at the ref for not blowing in his favour then JWP didn’t bite on his chirp. But I don’t 5h8nk I have ever seen a player given a yellow then seconds later given a second, how many times have you seen Rooney booked then still be effing and blinding towards the ref as he walked away with a face like a smacked backside and get away with it.

At the end of the day boys and girls, we have got to the end of January so far unbeaten in the league in 2019, that for Saints is pretty damn remarkable.

[Pilchards]

Thought they did a job on us tonight, pressed us out of it and didn’t give Redmond any space at all. They bullied us.

 

McCarthy Stephens and Targett all very poor, thought Vestergaard was excellent in parts and shocking in others.

 

Seems like Stephens was also lucky to not get sent off.

 

Redmond and Ings couldn’t get in the game, don’t think anyone played particularly well. midfield did ok, but just seemed completely overrun in there tonight.

 

Thought Valery did well on the whole, but had a couple of poor moments, notably when Zaha scored, but thought he had a decent game mostly.

 

Take a point and move on, bit of a wake up call to those think we’re not in a relegation fight anymore, we’re not suddenly a good side, we’re still pretty poor. Absolutely should have strengthened in this window. Hopefully we get enough points against relegation rivals to stay up and have a rebuild in the summer.

 

 

Exactly all this but I still hope we strengthen on Thursday if the correct players become available.

[Gingeletiss]

Bank the point, move on. 8 points from our last 4 (unbeaten) games.

 

Yes, we weren't very good and I don't think we will be particularly good in any of these upcoming games against team at our level because we lack any kind of quality to unlock obdurate defences. It is what it is. Hopefully we can still muddle our way to a few more results.

 

We're an extremely limited team. It's going to be an ugly scrap to stay up, sadly, but we've probably got enough to finish above three sides.

 

Probably.

 

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Word of the week, well done sir

[Batman]

A draw was not a 'fair result'

we were very poor. They were the better side and more worthy of the 3 points

 

thank god for Andre Mariner

[Toomer]

As good as we were against Everton we were poor last night but Palace were set up to stop our pressing game, would giv MOM to JWP just for the goal and his part in getting Zaha sent off.

[Cabbage_Face]

People moaning at Macca for first goal. Bants. Was shocking for crosses thou.

 

 

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[Maya's Dad]

poor in general, but those comparing it to a MH performance have lost the plot. the team actually showed grit and spirit in a game where things didnt go our way. the ref didnt help but palace had us sussed out and we couldnt get it out, shows how much we miss that VVD or a tobey type cb who can distribute it quicker. we all know stephens isnt that, nor has anyone said he was so, understand the frustration there but jeering one of our own is hardly helping..

 

but credit to ralph to change it when he did, could easily have taken JWP off when armstorng came on and kept it like for like. i know valery was on a yellow and up against the fastest player on the pitch, but still it was an attacking move and clearly paid off..valery would never have been in the box for that cross

[saintwbu]

Thought we were average, but Palace (like West Ham) set up perfectly. Playing Ayew over Wickham/Benteke showed they were here to let us have the ball all night and just counter when they could, which worked well. Felt for Stephens, thought he was good first half, won everything in the air all night, but seemed to have about 80% of our possession in front of a packed Palace side.

 

Our support is a ****ing joke, took until the 89th minute for the stadium to sing anything, even despite Palace making multiple references to our support throughout. Team full of young lads, many of whom weren’t playing under Hughes, all getting the groans from 5 minutes in. The jeering Stephens got for not wanting to give the ball away was embarrassing, and the sarcastic cheer that accompanied his long awaited pass to JWP was one of the most pathetic things i’ve seen at St. Mary’s.

 

Thought Targett and Valery were better than people are giving them credit for, Targett up against Wan Bissaka who’s been one of the best RB’s in the country this season, and found it tough but still found space for the winning assist. Valery made a great recovering tackle on Zaha in the first half, as well as one in the second half, Zaha was largely ineffective all night I thought despite the goal.

 

I bloody love JWP, he’s played right back for 15 minutes and made more successful forward runs than Cedric in the last 18 months, great awareness and finish. Topped off with his winding up of Zaha, which is something we don’t do anywhere near enough.

 

Andre Marriner is ****, don’t think he was particularly generous in favour of anyone, I just find he literally doesn’t make decisions, and last night we made more fouls than them, which meant he went in our favour by default. Stephens and Wan Bissaka both lucky with potential red cards which went unpunished.

 

Showed the weaknesses we still have when expected to dominate possession, but good spirit to keep going and find an equaliser, which isn’t something we’ve done for a long time it feels.

[Dan Johnson]

I thought tactically palace were excellent, they set out to nullify us and use their strengths to hurt us, they should have won and highlights their own weakness as well as ours, Zaha petulance aside was excellent and a constant threat which we struggled to deal with. They didn’t allow us space and sat back in possession which didn’t allow Redmond or Ings to get into the game and meant our midfield struggled to find their rhyme/forward passes.

 

That was mainly due to our lack of pace at the back which meant our CBs didn’t squeeze the game enough, due to the treat of Zaha on the break. Our CBs have been affective at pushing forward in possession and drawing out the opposition in previous games allowing more space for the midfield, because they didn’t do that last night it meant the Palace half was congested and our approach play became much more ponderous and predictable.

 

Hoj, JWP, Rom are just not creative enough to pick passes out in a congested midfield, the lack of space behind the Palace back line because we weren’t drawing them out meant Redmond wasn’t playing to his strength.

 

They did to us last night what we did to them earlier in the season.

 

I don’t think we played as badly as some are making out, as mentioned though, it did a good job of highlighting our weaknesses... creativity and pace.

 

I think we will see a better performance against Burnley as they don’t have as much pace going forward and they’ll try and press our back line creating the space we need to play our game more affectively.

 

Overall it’s 3 games unbeaten with more winnable games to come.

[Baird of the land]

 

Stephens and Wan Bissaka both lucky with potential red cards which went unpunished.

.

 

Agree both challenges were similar. Disagree that either of those challenges should ever be red cards, it’ll spoil if they keep going this route of trying to remove tackling from the game by this new interpretation.

[Vancouver Saint]

Reality check - we are an extremely ordinary team with very little flair and no attacking edge. We got more than we deserved today against a Palace team that were better than us pretty much all round.

Am I the only one that feels we cheated Zaha? - he was the best player on the pitch, he was scythed down by Bednarak who was lucky not to get a red and fouled by JWP who then mock threw the ball at his face for the sending off incident (yes the clapping is petty - but be honest if that situation was in reverse we'd be mad at the ref for not calling a foul). Thought JWP's reaction was immature.

Terrible performance all round. Take the point and count ourselves lucky. Let's not have another 11-day break if that's the result. What's the story with Bertrand and Lemina for goodness sake - when will we ever see them again? We lack class. Yoshida needed back too.

[Danbert]

teams that are set up well and sit deep are going to pose us real problems. We lack quality technical players that can unlock teams and wing backs like Targett simply are not good enough to pose half decent fullbacks a problem. Cant fault our effort, but we lack guile.

 

This.

[doddisalegend]

Happy with the point after a very meh performance from us. Palace were better than us and probably deserved the 3pts. Looking at the stats this was the first time in a while where we had more possession than the opposition and we looked terrible with it.

 

Not a game where to many players looked good. McCarthy seemed off last night not his usual assured performance especially at corners and crosses.

 

Targett spent most of the night in the pocket of palaces right back (who looks a prospect).

 

The forward line hardly seemed to get into the game Ings and Redmond both quiet.

 

Armstrong s introduction seemed to give us more energy and our best spell came after that.

 

Shout out to Bednarek not his best game but vital headed clearance off the line.

 

As for Zaha what a tosser. I think he had a case for a free kick against JWP, who pushed him, but by his reaction you'd think he had just been on the end of a real leg breaker.

I really don't know why Zaha, Palace and their fans seem to think he should get some sort of special protection fouls happen and lots go unpunished in every game the **** needs to man up.

 

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[Shroppie]

Reality check - we are an extremely ordinary team with very little flair and no attacking edge. We got more than we deserved today against a Palace team that were better than us pretty much all round.

Am I the only one that feels we cheated Zaha? - he was the best player on the pitch, he was scythed down by Bednarak who was lucky not to get a red and fouled by JWP who then mock threw the ball at his face for the sending off incident (yes the clapping is petty - but be honest if that situation was in reverse we'd be mad at the ref for not calling a foul). Thought JWP's reaction was immature.

Terrible performance all round. Take the point and count ourselves lucky. Let's not have another 11-day break if that's the result. What's the story with Bertrand and Lemina for goodness sake - when will we ever see them again? We lack class. Yoshida needed back too.

 

If that's a reality check, you're living in a parallel universe. Your version of what I saw at the game is about as unreal as you can get.

 

We deserved at least a draw. In the first half both teams played well but defences were on top. I agree we struggled to find the way past them once they scored and sat back but we weren't terrible. Finding a way past a solid packed defence has caused better teams than Saints problems. Look at Man City on Tuesday. But we kept going, got the equaliser and had chances to win it at the end. As a Saints fan, rather than someone who just comes on here to run the team down, I'm happy to note where we need to improve, be happy that we've got a team that, with this manager, will improve, take the point, draw a blue line and move on.

 

Apart from the goal, Zaha was poor and his stupid petulant tantrum was the result of knowing he'd been kept quiet by a 19 year old and then a stand-in RB. JWP didn't foul him in the sending off incident. He deserved everything he got and I hope and expect it'll be more than a one game ban as he continued his mocking of the ref after he was given red.

 

 

 

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[Give it to Ron]

If that's a reality check, you're living in a parallel universe. Your version of what I saw at the game is about as unreal as you can get.

 

We deserved at least a draw. In the first half both teams played well but defences were on top. I agree we struggled to find the way past them once they scored and sat back but we weren't terrible. Finding a way past a solid packed defence has caused better teams than Saints problems. Look at Man City on Tuesday. But we kept going, got the equaliser and had chances to win it at the end. As a Saints fan, rather than someone who just comes on here to run the team down, I'm happy to note where we need to improve, be happy that we've got a team that, with this manager, will improve, take the point, draw a blue line and move on.

 

Apart from the goal, Zaha was poor and his stupid petulant tantrum was the result of knowing he'd been kept quiet by a 19 year old and then a stand-in RB. JWP didn't foul him in the sending off incident. He deserved everything he got and I hope and expect it'll be more than a one game ban as he continued his mocking of the ref after he was given red.

 

 

 

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Good post Shroppie Palace went too negative a trait of Hodgson whose tactics early on were spot on. We were worried about their pace so alienated Ings.

Redmond had 3 to beat every time a good point.

 

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[LGTL]

Still can't believe Sacko missed that header, McCarthy had totally missed it and he had a completely open goal. How he managed to put it where he did I'll never know!

[doddisalegend]

If that's a reality check, you're living in a parallel universe. Your version of what I saw at the game is about as unreal as you can get.

 

We deserved at least a draw. In the first half both teams played well but defences were on top. I agree we struggled to find the way past them once they scored and sat back but we weren't terrible. Finding a way past a solid packed defence has caused better teams than Saints problems. Look at Man City on Tuesday. But we kept going, got the equaliser and had chances to win it at the end. As a Saints fan, rather than someone who just comes on here to run the team down, I'm happy to note where we need to improve, be happy that we've got a team that, with this manager, will improve, take the point, draw a blue line and move on.

 

Apart from the goal, Zaha was poor and his stupid petulant tantrum was the result of knowing he'd been kept quiet by a 19 year old and then a stand-in RB. JWP didn't foul him in the sending off incident. He deserved everything he got and I hope and expect it'll be more than a one game ban as he continued his mocking of the ref after he was given red.

 

 

 

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JWP did foul Zaha you can see the two handed push on the replays. He probably should have got a free kick. Having said that Zaha's reaction was massively over the top for the sort of foul that goes on in every game and frequently don't get give to lots of players who don't feel the need to react like he did.

 

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[ALWAYS_SFC]

no he wasn't he did pretty well the issue was him going forwards and delivered very little. Defensively did fine

 

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Correct, the only thing Zaha ripped to death were his toys when he lost his head

 

 

Best bit of the game was the interplay between Redmond, Armstrong and Targett ending with the pass to JWP

Edited 31 January, 2019 by ALWAYS_SFC

[shurlock]

If that's a reality check, you're living in a parallel universe. Your version of what I saw at the game is about as unreal as you can get.

 

We deserved at least a draw. In the first half both teams played well but defences were on top. I agree we struggled to find the way past them once they scored and sat back but we weren't terrible. Finding a way past a solid packed defence has caused better teams than Saints problems. Look at Man City on Tuesday. But we kept going, got the equaliser and had chances to win it at the end. As a Saints fan, rather than someone who just comes on here to run the team down, I'm happy to note where we need to improve, be happy that we've got a team that, with this manager, will improve, take the point, draw a blue line and move on.

 

Apart from the goal, Zaha was poor and his stupid petulant tantrum was the result of knowing he'd been kept quiet by a 19 year old and then a stand-in RB. JWP didn't foul him in the sending off incident. He deserved everything he got and I hope and expect it'll be more than a one game ban as he continued his mocking of the ref after he was given red.

 

 

 

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If you think we deserved at least a draw, you were watching a very different game from me.

[Shroppie]

JWP did foul Zaha you can see the two handed push on the replays. He probably should have got a free kick. Having said that Zaha's reaction was massively over the top for the sort of foul that goes on in every game and frequently don't get give to lots of players who don't feel the need to react like he did.

 

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Ok - I, like the ref, didn't have the benefit of replays and, as you said, it's one you sometimes get and sometimes don't.

 

Zaha's reaction was typical of "big" players who seem to expect special treatment and automatically be given a free kick if they ask the ref for one.

 

And he'll probably get away with a one game ban, despite continued mocking and dissent after the red. "Lesser" players would get the book thrown at them for that.

 

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[doc oli]

Also don’t think we played quite as badly as is being made out. There is, under Ralph, a desire/urgency in all the players to move the ball forwards quickly (especially in the first half) and many of the mistakes were from forward passes just going astray. But the overall tempo is so so much better than the previous three bosses, even when not playing as well. Bertrand coming back will be like a new signing.

[spyinthesky]

People moaning at Macca for first goal. Bants. Was shocking for crosses thou.

 

 

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He made a decent save to his right in the second half

[simo]

Zaha gave away about as many fouls as he was fouled imo ?

[saintadjg]

I never saw last nights game bit sounds like a few all had off games at the same time.Think that's going to happen from time to time for the rest of the season. It's not going to be a quick fix to undo damage done by MoPe & Hughes . Kids are playing and we're still picking up points.

[simo]

Also thought too many out balls to the wing back were floated out in the air rather than quickly along the floor giving the palace defenders time to close them down .

[Forester]

Agree with overall sentiment, poor performance against very astute opponents who probably deserved to win. And all in Baltic conditions!

 

3-5-2 or adaptation thereof has worked well for us, but I was agitating for this to be changed at half time and sacrifice one of the centre backs because it became obvious that the balance of players in front of the ball when we were in opossession versus level or even behind us just wasn’t right when you are chasing the game and Palace understandably happy to just build congestion. It’s very important that you take the lead with this system, not made for chasing the game down. Ralph did so very late and got away from it, I think he will reflect that on another day we wil not have done.

 

The good news though is that the old adage of “if you don’t play well, make sure you don’t lose” is apt. Onwards and upwards.

[angelman]

People tend to under rate Hodgson. He's a pretty astute manager, and although Palace blow a bit hot and cold at times, they are a dangerous side. It is easy to under estimate them due to their inconsistencies, but they are a pretty solid side.

[itchen]

I think we played as though Hughes was still in charge for much of that game. Too much passing around at the back instead of the quick breaks forward we've recently enjoyed. Was that just because Palace stopped us playing that way? We had plenty of chances to get it forward with JWP when he switched to the right but insisted on punting it to Targett who was then outnumbered.

 

As for the Zaha incident, he was fouled a lot and he also dived a lot. The coming together with JWP may have been a foul but, if it was, it was a minor one. His reaction was out of all proportion and I hope he gets an extended ban and weakens our rivals.

[St Louis]

If you think we deserved at least a draw, you were watching a very different game from me.

 

Ditto, we stole a point, and I'm happy to take it and run onto the next one. As many have said, we would probably have lost that game under previous managers, and the most important thing is that Palace didnt pull 3 points away from us.

 

Ralph is working miracles with a bang average squad. Cedric clearly better than Valery too, etc but if he didnt want to be here, then I'm happy for him to do one and for Ralph to have faith with the players that do. I'm sure if we can stay up this year, Ralph will start to shape his squad in the summer, we just need patience and to keep putting points on the board, even the undeserved ones.

 

Onwards and upwards....

[simo]

Ditto, we stole a point, and I'm happy to take it and run onto the next one. As many have said, we would probably have lost that game under previous managers, and the most important thing is that Palace didnt pull 3 points away from us.

 

Ralph is working miracles with a bang average squad. Cedric clearly better than Valery too, etc but if he didnt want to be here, then I'm happy for him to do one and for Ralph to have faith with the players that do. I'm sure if we can stay up this year, Ralph will start to shape his squad in the summer, we just need patience and to keep putting points on the board, even the undeserved ones.

 

Onwards and upwards....

 

Cedric not clearly better than Valery.

[Alanh]

Roy got his tactics right pretty much throughout and we couldn't find a way past the way they were set up. We rode our luck a few times losing possession when we were looking for the right forward pass, but I would rather see us try to find the passes than revert to the negative play we saw under Puel and MoPe where we just passed it back and forth across the back line. Palace were organised and their full backs (with support from midfielders) managed to nullify our wingbacks. This made it impossible to set up the sort of pass and move plays involving Redmond and Targett which we have been successful with recently. They were happy for our CBs to have the ball fairly safe in the knowledge that all of the dangerous passes were blocked off by man marking our attacking threats out of the game.

 

We will face this sort of defensive performance again and need a strategy to counter it. That probably means using 4 at the back to release another player further forward and in the summer bringing in players who can offer us alternative options - a bit more pace, power and creativity.

[mrfahaji]

Palace were the better side, but I'm not sure it was quite the daylight robbery so many are making it out to be. We had a decent spell in the first half, before falling to pieces for a while, culminating in conceding a terrible goal. We rallied for a period in the second half and actually managed to score during this spell, something that we have previously struggled to do. For the rest of the game, it was scrappy and frustrating, of which some credit of course has to go to the way Palace set up, but on the other hand I don't recall them peppering our goal or us constantly being under the cosh - even when they hit on the break, it wasn't like they looked destined to score every time.

[doddisalegend]

Roy got his tactics right pretty much throughout and we couldn't find a way past the way they were set up. We rode our luck a few times losing possession when we were looking for the right forward pass, but I would rather see us try to find the passes than revert to the negative play we saw under Puel and MoPe where we just passed it back and forth across the back line. Palace were organised and their full backs (with support from midfielders) managed to nullify our wingbacks. This made it impossible to set up the sort of pass and move plays involving Redmond and Targett which we have been successful with recently. They were happy for our CBs to have the ball fairly safe in the knowledge that all of the dangerous passes were blocked off by man marking our attacking threats out of the game.

 

We will face this sort of defensive performance again and need a strategy to counter it. That probably means using 4 at the back to release another player further forward and in the summer bringing in players who can offer us alternative options - a bit more pace, power and creativity.

The issue is as soon as we go four at the back we will be easier to counter attack by sides like Palace. Our CBs have proved time and again that playing in a four they suck balls.

 

I still think the formation would work better with higher quality wing backs with more pace than Targett and Valery.

 

Sent from my moto g(6) using Tapatalk

[angelman]

I couldn't really see the angles from where I was sat, but how close was Armstrong to scoring, or rather how good a save was it?

[Wes Tender]

There were a couple of factors which swung the impetus of the match in Palace's favour. Hodgson who is an old and wise bird, set them up perfectly to neutralise the threat of our preferred high press under Hasenhuttl. Secondly, it appears that as is often the case, we don't play as well after an extended break between matches, losing impetus and weakening the confidence gained from our last win. Palace have speedy players in their team, so it was their natural away game plan against a high press team to create an impenetrable barrier at the back to stifle our attack, and to hit us on the break. On more than one occasion especially in the first half, they broke forward at speed and we were only saved by some last ditch tackles. Palace's defensive plan also meant that there was little benefit in us breaking fast, or putting the ball over the midfield, as our forwards weren't there to receive it. We were restricted to the ponderous build up play seeking an opening through a packed tight midfield, meaning that many of our short passes were intercepted. Palace were well drilled and riding high on their more recent success knocking Spurs out of the FA Cup three days earlier.

 

The first half was an edgy affair, both sides playing tentatively, but Palace were looking the more threatening, especially through Zaha, and there was an inevitability that it would be him who broke the deadlock. Once ahead, Palace could sit on their lead, inviting us on to them, but increasing the chances of hitting us on the break as we sought the equaliser. Hasenhuttl had to make tactical changes to try and change the dynamics of our team, but when he made the substitutions, I was quite incredulous and had Hughes made the same ones, I would have accused him of losing his marbles. First, he took off Valery, who I thought had played quite well against Zaha most of the time, and replaced him with Armstrong just after the hour. OK, going for more bite and invention in midfield, but weakening the defence. But then I was astonished when he took off Vestergaard for Elyounoussi on 75 minutes. That seemed to leave a gaping hole in defence and add not a lot of anything in return. The later substitution of Hojbjerg for Slattery on 85 minutes was fair enough after Zaha was sent off and we were chasing all three points, so the introduction of fresh legs was a good tactic. Despite my misgivings, the substitutions worked, as we managed to score an equaliser, quite out of the blue, finally some incisive passing around the box allowing Ward-Prowse to slot home yet another goal. He is having a real purple patch, making himself difficult to leave out of the team. However, he had been quite poor up until then, but the scoresheet is what matters.

 

The game-changer came with Zaha's red card towards the end of the match. Ward-Prowse blatantly pushed him out of play and instead of getting the free kick that he deserved, the incompetent referee, Mariner, awarded a throw in to us. Zaha was incensed and following a handbags scuffle he received a yellow card, followed shortly after by the second for dissent. Zaha had been their main threat, most of Palace's other shots having been poor, from distance, high and wide. We surged forwards trying to score the winner, having a goalward shot blocked at the death.

 

Palace are a decent team, well managed, and were the better team on the night, and yet we could have won all three points. Such is football. When they had scored, it still looked as if we couldn't respond, so the point is a good one. We will do better against the teams that don't park the bus and allow us the space to press high and pass and move, which is our game under Hasenhuttl. Pochettino's team with Saints used to suffer in the same way against those tactics, and it is instructive that Palace beat Pochettino's high riding Spurs a few days previously.

[S-Clarke]

It really was a poor show, we looked lethargic and half asleep for the majority of that game. Very penetration in attack going on, Redmond very quiet and ineffective and Ings just moping around not doing a great deal.

 

Midfield got over run, Hoj had a poor game I felt. Valery was OK, but still got beaten a couple of times. Vesterguard looks great in some moments but then scares the life out of me in others, he had a mixed game.

 

Best player - again - was Jan. Beast of a defender, body on the line, blocking everything.

 

Basically, we didn't deserve to get anything from that game but somehow, we snuck an equaliser. Good finish from JWP I thought, who didn't have the best of games generally.

 

Draws in games like this is a step forward I feel. We'd have lost this previously, but there's just a little bit more grit running through this side now. Given the performance it's a very positive point.