Oh dear. Not a brilliant start to the season at all as Palace lose at home to West Brom 1-0 on the opening day. But what did we learn? Here's Naveed Khan with five things...
40 points is still the target
Fourth season in the Premier League, an abundance of new TV deal money available yet Saturday was a stark reminder to Palace that 40 points is still the primary aim for the season.
The unfinished transfer business, players not featuring for various fitness reasons and a run of 2 wins in 22 all combined to make that 40 points seem a long way away and signs that this season will be a battle; perhaps even more so than previous seasons. The last 2 losing FA Cup finalists have been relegated the following season – there is hard work ahead for Palace to buck that trend.
Ward can’t keep escaping the radar
Joel Ward has been through much at Palace – from being dropped soon after he signed, to being a key part of the promotion winning team in that same season, playing in central midfield and left back for much of the first survival season followed then by two seasons settled at right-back. But as the club looks to progress and Pardew talks about our style transitioning, Saturday raised questions about how he fits into this.
When tasked with modern full-back duties, to go forward as much as defend, he is at times vulnerable to letting crosses in from his side while also letting wide players cut inside him too easily. As the longest standing member of the back 5 and in his forth Premier League season, time for Joel to not be so comfortable in possession of his shirt.
Home tactics
Alan Pardew has won 10 of 30 home Premier League matches, a return which is poor from a manager who often talks of playing games on the front foot and used this as a justification for breaking the club transfer and wage record on Cabaye last year. Against WBA, we saw more of the same confused tactics which have become the norm under Pardew.
Wingers ready to play on the counter, but the ball goes from the defenders up for Wickham to chase. Puncheon dropping closer the centre back to receive the ball to get us to have periods of possession, but the ball hit into the channels. If we are to evolve how Pardew wants us to, we need an identifiable style and one which the players we have are on board with.
Lee was like a new signing
On Saturday, Pardew took the unusual step of playing Lee from the start and in his favoured position, as ‘number 10’. And the player responded with maybe his best performance in a Palace shirt. At ease with the ball, able to buy himself a yard and good use of the ball, Lee showed he has the tools to succeed in that role, at least as back up to Puncheon when the squad is back to scratch. The burning question really is why it’s taken the manager over 18 months to use a player in the position had been excelling in when he joined Palace?
Jedi is more than just a player
Sure, his passing is not up to Premier League standards and his mobility is naturally declined as he gets more miles on his clock, but Palace will miss Jedinak if his transfer to Villa goes ahead and Saturday showed why. He was not at his best or our best player, but he rarely is those things. What he was, was a leader who made sure that we stayed in the game within a team where the holes were gaping.
He was ensuring that while we created little, WBA could not create much themselves. It is apparent that the players rely on him and his leadership and the hope they and the fans will have is that the manager can enable other leaders to emerge as the season progresses.