“Typical Palace. Typical f*****g Palace”.

If I had a pound for every time I’ve have uttered this phrase over the years, I’d have enough money to buy the club myself. I’d have Neymar, Ronaldo and Messi playing in a front three. Selhurst Park would be a 90,000 capacity stadium with luxury heated leather seats installed for all spectators (turned off in the away section when Brighton visit) and I’d still have change in my pocket to buy everyone a half-time pint.

This season I’ve grumbled the above phrase twice already. We’ve played only four games. Lose to Sheffield United in an utterly dismal display, followed by beating a European super-power away? “Typical Palace”. Take on lower league opponents the following Tuesday, only to lose on penalties? “Typical f*****g Palace”!

In truth, the fact this club of ours sends us on such a rollercoaster is why we are so devoted to them. I suppose we wouldn’t have it any other way. However, it is fair to say that our summer business in the transfer window and a sense that all is not well behind the scenes is testing our collective patience.

Make no mistake, our transfer business has been nothing short of disgraceful this summer. The victory at Old Trafford merely papers over the cracks of a dreadful window that has left us significantly weaker than this time last year.

When the full time whistle drew the season to a close at Selhurst in May, there were three main topics on the minds of Palace fans. The first was whether we’d see Zaha in red and blue again. The second was whether we’d also witness AWB at Selhurst week in and week out too. Lastly, fresh from scoring two goals before returning to Chelsea, there was a recognition that if we didn’t get Michy Batshuayi in on a permanent deal then we’d need to get a striker in relatively sharpish.

READ MORE: Crystal Palace are Suffering an Identity Crisis On and Off the Pitch

It is never particularly nice knowing you’re likely to lose your best players but as Palace fans we all know our place in the pecking order. And so we said a fond farewell to AWB whose meteoric rise in the game was a joy to witness. To be fair to United, they didn’t mess around. By the end of June Wan-Bissaka had left to join the Manchester club and we had £45m to play with.

But did we exploit this? Absolutely not.

Weeks passed and there was nothing to be heard. It was obvious even then that at the very least we needed a right-back to replace AWB and a striker. Nothing happened. Our rivals were starting to assemble their squads with relative efficiency. Southampton signed Che Adams, Brighton were putting feelers out for the promising Neal Maupay, even Anderlecht was signing a promising talent from the Championship in the name of Kemar Roofe, a terrific footballer who’d have been a bargain for us. But we sat on our backsides and did sweet f**k all.

Meanwhile all was not well with our Wilf. Unlike United’s honest pursuit of AWB, Arsenal lacked their class when deliberately unsettling Zaha. Rumours that the Gunners were willing to pay £45m for our talisman and give us their tea lady in exchange didn’t go down particularly well with the board and the wider Palace community. The club were right to hold their ground but by then the damage had been done.

Wilf clearly wanted to leave. Everton got whiff of this too, preparing a similar paltry bid which was promptly rejected. Where we should applaud the board for sticking two fingers up at clubs who are not willing to pay full value for our best player, there was a sense that the rumours not only unsettled our talisman but also prompted our owners to sit tight and see what happened, rather than ensure vital enforcements got over the line. In short we stalled, meaning we lost numerous transfer targets to other clubs.

All of the above stinks of poor planning. As soon as Batshuayi left we should have secured a striker. We have been crying out for one for years, ever since Benteke’s confidence decided to go AWOL. That we haven’t is more than incompetent. That we haven’t and also let Sorloth leave at the same time is criminal.

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It was becoming clear our transfer policy was frustrating the mild-mannered Roy Hodgson. Not one to rock the boat unnecessarily, the ex-England boss was telling when he suggested he thought himself, "Doug" Freedman and Steve Parish were “on the same page” with regards to strengthening the squad and at that time he was frustrated that that didn’t actually seem to be the case.

Indeed, if you read his comments immediately after the Colchester debacle one gets the sense that despite some reinforcements coming in before the window closed he’s still not happy, bemoaning the fact we lack firepower. And who can blame him? We needed a right-back urgently and we needed a striker. It was blooming obvious. Instead we got two midfielders in Victor Camarassa and James McCarthy, a 31-year-old third choice keeper in Stephen Henerson and Jordan Ayew, who didn’t particularly tear up any trees last season but hopefully will gain confidence from a solid start to the season this month.

The whole summer recruitment process has been nothing short of disastrous. And it is massively frustrating. Never before have I felt we are on the cusp of achieving something remarkable for a club of our size, only to gain a sense we’re about to blow it. The reality is the squad is aging, our best player wants out and fans have zero confidence the club has the infrastructure in place to identify, pay for and secure reinforcements which will make us significantly stronger.

READ MORE: Palace Pursuit of James McCarthy Drives at Heart of Tactical Issues

Of course, one has to bear in mind that money doesn’t grow on trees. Within hours of losing to Colchester news filtered though that Bury FC were gone for good, expelled from the league due to financial issues. All in the football community are gutted for them and we wish them well in their recovery, hopefully seeing them back in the league years down the line. No Palace fan I have spoken to wants to see us spend recklessly. But we do want to gain a sense that all is well with the club. We do want to feel that there is cohesion and a clear strategy from top to bottom about how to take this club forward.

I fear this isn’t the case however. It is well known the Americans want out. It was bound to happen. It is well known now that Zaha wants out too. Who can blame him either? He is ambitious; the club he plays for clearly isn’t, or at least it is trying its best to paint itself as not being so.

Of course, we will be back every single week getting behind the players with the passion and fire we always demonstrate. Palace fans are unique like that. But I hope whatever is happening behind the scenes resolves itself quickly because clearly, somewhere along the line something isn’t quite tickety-boo at boardroom level.

It would be “typical Palace” to shoot ourselves in the foot just when we have the chance to properly take off. We’ve been there many times before; let’s hope with all our hearts we don’t end up there again.

Naveed Khan takes a look at Palace's 1-0 defeat to Sheffield United and questions whether Palace are making the most of the squad's abilities.

Let’s get the caveats out of the way first:

1 – we are only two games into the season; and

2 – Roy was dealt a harsh hand in the transfer market, with the squad a pair of full backs and attacking player short.

Now that’s covered, the 1-0 defeat to Sheffield United was as eye-opening for the reality of where we are as a football club as it was eye-closing during the 97 minutes of play. For the last two seasons, Hodgson’s set up and approach has been justified with the set goals and vindicated by end results. But there comes a point where that can no longer be effective because it is both predictable and, even in the last two years, the tactical approach to the game has evolved.

The squad at his disposal is not a bad one despite the rhetoric around this. While James Tomkins and arguably the club’s best ever central defender Mamadou Sakho are injured, Scott Dann and Martin Kelly are very able understudies as evidenced by a competent display against Everton. Joel Ward, while not Aron Wan-Bissaka, is a reliable Premier League full back who has half a decade of experience as first choice. The manager has an abundance of midfield options at his disposal. He has, in Wilfried Zaha, one of the best players in the Premier League.

The question that needs to be asked of Hodgson is not whether or not he is a good manager, because the answer to that is yes. He has over 40 years of experience and success as well as an excellent track record. The question is whether, after two years in the job, he is able to get the best out of the players.

There is some nuance here. It is the bit in-between whether he can get the best out of the players in the system and tactical set-up of his choosing and whether he can set-up tactically to get the best out of the players. Are the players to get the best out of his system or should the system be getting the best out of the players?

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The talk of Zaha’s position is largely a red herring; players like him in the modern age can operate in two or three attacking positions. The key issue is whether the set-up around him is appropriate to get the best out of him and those around him. In Hodgson’s first two years, the work of Christian Benteke up front next to Zaha and a solid narrow midfield behind him has allowed Zaha the freedom needed to have a decisive impact on games. But football has not stood still – the reliance on one player, albeit Palace’s best ever, has become predictable and a prime focus for opponents.

Stop Zaha, stop Palace. It isn’t rocket science. As we enter Hodgson’s third season, he needs to embrace other creative options in the side, even if that means less freedom and more all-round responsibility for the talisman.

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Max Meyer has spent too long either on the left side or left out altogether. Andros Townsend, who has shown his ability to be creative on a number of occasions, is now a functional wide right midfielder with as much defensive responsibility as attacking. In the centre of midfield, James McArthur is still plugging away trying to be a Yohan Cabaye replacement which is increasing the burden on Luka Milivojevic. When he has mixed up the midfield, it’s been with a versatile Jeffrey Schlupp as opposed to bringing Meyer into where he can impact the game or giving time to Cheikhou Kouyate who can provide the solid base for others to perform.

This is in no way meant to discredit the superb job Hodgson has done at Palace. The last two seasons have seen us finish well up the league regardless of how we started seasons. The functional narrow 4-4-2 has worked. Zaha  in a free role has worked. McArthur central or wide ride has worked. Andros sacrificing his attacking game to be part of a team unit has worked. But the signs are these things are not working now. And that is where we are – Hodgson needs a move away from his functional team base and needs to enable more space to creative outlets at his disposal rather than rely on Zaha.

The other quandary is Benteke. The striker has scored four goals in his last 50 appearances, having previously scored a goal every two games (66 goals in 132 starts) in the Premier League and the link there is Roy Hodgson’s appointment as manager. Rather than a loss of scoring form, tactical decisions can help explain the change. He uses the forward as a focal point for his team’s shape, ergo his average position is deeper than it was in the season where he scored 17 goals.

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Further, the focus on recovery from lost possession and shape naturally means there is an aversion to crosses being attempted. Often, the team works the ball back towards the centre rather than putting a cross in. While this ensures that if the ball is lost the team has good shape, it also means fewer opportunities are being created for a forward like Benteke. The answer isn’t simply changing a forward; it is changing approach.

Again, while understanding what has always made Hodgson a successful manager and his accomplishments at Palace to date, he has an important part to play in linking the club and fans again. That may be a hefty or for some an inappropriate burden for him to face, but in the position Palace are in now, with rumoured disengagement from some of the ownership, relegation battle fatigue amongst fans, our best ever player wanting to explore new opportunities and a lack of exciting new signings, it falls on Hodgson to invigorate the squad and therefore the fans. This isn’t a call for him to go; it’s a call to acknowledge that while we recognise his remit is to ensure we stay in the Premier League, there is a way to do it which doesn’t create a bigger gap between the fans and what happens on the pitch.

Crystal Palace are going through an identity crisis, both on and off the pitch. The result is a sense of frustration, says Robert Sutherland. 

What a shambles, but what did Sheffield United fans think of Palace on Sunday? Here's Sam from Dem Blades thoughts...

Rate your teams and Sheffield United's performance out of 10/ As a spectacle, what would you give the game out of 10?

Blades 6/10

Palace 4.5/10

For Sheffield United, the match was a barometer for the distance travelled: very far, very quickly. Roy Hodgson’s Palace, awash with internationals, looked pretty lost out there. United hassled when required, showed quality when possible. It was quite a measured performance from us, and I feel we held a little back. I do think it’s hard to form a view on Palace. I thought there were some decent signs, but it seemed like Roy had not done his homework on our back five. He had no plan for a team who, despite the talk of us being an attacking team, have kept clean sheets in the majority of our last 20 home games.

What were your overall thoughts on the game, and was it a fair result?

The game was pretty turgid. After we scored to go one-nil up (which we deserved by the way), we opted to sit on the lead and never really looked troubled. I wouldn’t have kicked and screamed had the game ended 0-0, but I do think we were the better team and deserved all three points despite it being a close-run thing. Let’s call it for what it was though: not the prettiest game of football anybody will ever watch. 

What did you make to Palace’s style of play, what were our strengths and weaknesses, did you overcome them?

I don’t want to be too negative because I appreciate that Palace had injuries to key defenders and that Zaha was not at the peak of his powers. (There is a big ‘but’ coming). But, I couldn’t discern any ‘plan a’, and there wasn’t a ‘plan b’ once we took the lead. I thought Joel Ward and Patrick Van Aanholt were particularly weak, both sloppy in possession and struggling with our overloads without the ball. This might’ve had something to do with they way Hodgson set up the side; the deep central midfielders were very ineffective because the Blades did not try to play through them – they were too deep to affect any attacks when Palace had the ball, and pedestrian when they didn’t. My overall summary of Palace was just a bit meh. I feel like it was a case of wrong tactics for the wrong game, and perhaps the wrong manager in Roy Hodgson. 

Who were Crystal Palace’s key men?

I live near Crystal Palace, so my train journey home included a conversation with a couple of Palace fans, they led me to believe that Zaha had a poor game. Despite that, Zaha is the player who Palace rely upon and that much was evident. As an opposition, you always feel worried when he picks up the ball and runs directly; what felt like an organised backline seems to open up in front of him.

Will Palace stay up?

On that performance, no. I doubt many Palace supporters would disagree with that(?). I do, however, think it will be a close-run thing between the bottom six and predict that it will be a season where team genuinely need 40 points to stay up. When key players return from injury, and with some consistency from Zaha, then survival is of course well within reach. Having said that, for the Blades to stay up, we need there to be three worse teams and, after the only two games upon which I can base a view, I can see Palace being one of those three poorer teams.