Crystal Palace v AFC Bournemouth

tedisking said:
The real surprising thing is that people are so surprised, this has been on the cards for the last 5 or6 games,.......but to be fair even I am shocked how bad tonight's performance was.......and to think my Chelsea and Brighton tickets arrived yesterday.....
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Tbf this was in the cards when we were drawing against the teams in the bottom three. I was ranting a bit crazy but most here were celebrating. I didn’t get it then and don’t get the surprise now.
 
langham said:
Sorry to say there's a real lack of character in the team. S Cook apart, who shouts, organises, gives direction?? Is this why Eddie keeps bringing on Francis, who over years has been a key onfield presence? (Eddie must be desperate, given Francis's chronic lack of pace.)

This is a young squad lacking, above all, grit and determination. I'd buy at least one experienced, creative midfielder with some "go" in them. Until Brooks is fit we've nothing on the bench. Incoming needed before we fade out of sight.
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This is very much the problem and Francis was the potential leader option.

He also didn’t do badly against Zaha (again!) and if he’d been able to have got forward he could have provided a cross with his superb delivery. It wasn’t the most bizarre change like some believe it to have been, under the circumstances with zip all attacking options on the bench.
 
DJ said:
This is very much the problem and Francis was the potential leader option.

He also didn’t do badly against Zaha (again!) and if he’d been able to have got forward he could have provided a cross with his superb delivery. It wasn’t the most bizarre change like some believe it to have been, under the circumstances with zip all attacking options on the bench.
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Francis actually tried to attack against Palace and his shot was parried for a corner.
 
YankCherry said:
Tbf this was in the cards when we were drawing against the teams in the bottom three. I was ranting a bit crazy but most here were celebrating. I didn’t get it then and don’t get the surprise now.
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I didn't see anyone celebrating, we should have won at Watford and both that game and Norwich were disappointing but we've been through results like those many times. Last night was a new low.

Eddie needs a long hard look at himself this morning, not the players or the transfer policy. These players, given the right set up should win or at least draw against 10 man Palace. Playing the ridiculous flat 442 formation he started with last night and his tactical changes and subs, they got what they deserved and it really wasn't a surprise considering he had the last 8 games to look at as evidence.

Absolutely awful to watch and that isn't Eddie Howe or Bournemouth.
 
West Moors Cherry said:
I didn't see anyone celebrating, we should have won at Watford and both that game and Norwich were disappointing but we've been through results like those many times. Last night was a new low.

Eddie needs a long hard look at himself this morning, not the players or the transfer policy. These players, given the right set up should win or at least draw against 10 man Palace. Playing the ridiculous flat 442 formation he started with last night and his tactical changes and subs, they got what they deserved and it really wasn't a surprise considering he had the last 8 games to look at as evidence.

Absolutely awful to watch and that isn't Eddie Howe or Bournemouth.
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Sums up exactly what I am feeling. Somebody else asked "what do they practice in training ?" and you do have to wonder. It's as if we have a team out there being asked to play a system they can't get to work in any way, shape or form. When we lose then of course it's their fault. When that happens two or three times in a row, you can imagine how the players begin to feel that they are on a hiding to nothing and start to gradually lose all motivation. Eddie MUST freshen things up. The malaise has well and truly set in.

I was only saying yesterday to somebody who asked me about the possibility of Eddie leaving for a "bigger" club and even before this sh*tshow I said that I doubt that Eddie is so deluded that he believes he would be good enough to take such a job. He really does have a lot to learn about managing PL ( or at least perceived PL ) quality players. It's a different job to the one he took on and as the squad evolves we are seeing some of the issues which are cropping up.
It will be interesting to see how Eddie rises to this challenge. It is a good opportunity for him to improve himself and I am sure he will embrace it.
Good luck Sir Ed, get stuck in, get your head around it !!!!
 
I missed the game last night, but am desperate to see the highlights. I've never seen so much moaning.... its got to be a good watch! (for all the wrong reasons)
 
Normally the morning after a game I've managed to condense strains of thought and emotion down into something coherent, but I'm still in ranting mode right now. For which I apoligise. So a couple of things:

1) Ake and Mepham. With Palace down to 10 and sitting deep, the CBs are going to see a lot of the ball, and more to the point, have a lot of time and space when they are on the ball.

So why did they sit so deep? They were getting the ball off of Ramsdale, or passed back to them by the recycling midfield, and for much of the time they were halfway within our own half. I get that they were worried about counter attack so didn't want to push on too much, but when Ake/Mepham have the ball at feet and there's fully 30 yards of empty space between them and the nearest Palace player - why were they so hesitant?

Stride forwards 10-20 yards into midfield man. You'll either bring a Palace body towards you and create a gap in their first rank of defence, or you'll drive the rest of our formation forwards 10-20 yards with you. Either is an assertive, progressive, aggresive move.

Instead they'd passively take a touch, look around, another touch, and then timidly pass it sideways to the other, or to the full back.

Even Ake, normally oozing his class, looked devoid of the confidence to do the above last night.


2) Billing and Lerma. It's well documented that we have a lack of partnerships right now, the above hints at this also. One partnership that just a few weeks ago was looking pretty tidy: Billing and Lerma. How in the space of a few weeks being apart, have they seemingly lost all that understanding with each other? They played like two strangers, with no link up, or anticipation of the others movements. When the partnership that was working a few weeks ago is going wonky, then it's a worrying trend.
 
For me, the main difference between now and last season is how utterly slow and predictable we are when coming forward. Pass to the left – come back – pass to the right – come back – pass to... It must be so easy to defend against (if you're a well drilled team).

It feels like our one and only play is to try to get in behind their fullbacks. If that doesn't work (and invariably it doesn't) then we have no plan B.

We have one of the youngest squads in the league, yet we play like we're a 'walking football' team. Where's the energy? Where's the gung-ho spirit? We have so much pace in the team, yet we barely see any evidence of it.

We struck fear into the hearts of many defenders last season – now they must look forward to playing us.
 
stuseddon said:
For me, the main difference between now and last season is how utterly slow and predictable we are when coming forward. Pass to the left – come back – pass to the right – come back – pass to... It must be so easy to defend against (if you're a well drilled team).

It feels like our one and only play is to try to get in behind their fullbacks. If that doesn't work (and invariably it doesn't) then we have no plan B.

We have one of the youngest squads in the league, yet we play like we're a 'walking football' team. Where's the energy? Where's the gung-ho spirit? We have so much pace in the team, yet we barely see any evidence of it.

We struck fear into the hearts of many defenders last season – now they must look forward to playing us.
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I am beginning to wonder whether a really important part of Eddie's strategy for tightening up at the back this season was simply to not give the ball away so much in midfield areas. Maybe he has been hammering that into the squad all preseason and all season so far, with the net result being that there is a real fear and lack of attacking intent in the midfield and on the wings ? The players may be overly conscious of not starting a transition for the opposition and that has become more of a focus than actually getting forward and trying to hurt them when we do have the ball. We have the players to attack teams and pull them all over the pitch but at the moment we seem very hesitant to have a go when we have the opportunity. Maybe unburdening the creative players from this "safety first" mentality and giving them more creative licence is all that is needed ?
 
Is it possible to see what we were all saying when we first came up and were going all-out? I'm sure we were calling for a more cautious approach. ;-)
 
RobTrent said:
Is it possible to see what we were all saying when we first came up and were going all-out? I'm sure we were calling for a more cautious approach. ;-)
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I think that might well be the case and unfortunately in the meantime we have acquired players who on paper should make us a better ATTACKING team. It just feels as though we are a long way from seeing the full potential of some of our recent signings. Are they being hamstrung by a new mantra of "don't lose the ball cheaply in dangerous areas" ? I think most of us would prefer us to stick to our old style of play, see us get humped frequently but occasionally bloody the nose of the big boys. Eddie always used to respond with "Football is entertainment" when he was criticised for being too naive. Now it seems as though entertainment is less important than goal difference all of a sudden. Come on Eddie, unleash the boys. Let's rediscover that gung-ho spirit !!!
 
thegazzyb said:
I think that might well be the case and unfortunately in the meantime we have acquired players who on paper should make us a better ATTACKING team. It just feels as though we are a long way from seeing the full potential of some of our recent signings. Are they being hamstrung by a new mantra of "don't lose the ball cheaply in dangerous areas" ? I think most of us would prefer us to stick to our old style of play, see us get humped frequently but occasionally bloody the nose of the big boys. Eddie always used to respond with "Football is entertainment" when he was criticised for being too naive. Now it seems as though entertainment is less important than goal difference all of a sudden. Come on Eddie, unleash the boys. Let's rediscover that gung-ho spirit !!!
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Intertesting that Spurs defeated us with the option of Route One football which unlocked us instantly. If it works for them why not add it to the repertoire at times of stalemate, it's nothing if not easy to try!. Tippy tappy is driving me nuts.
 
Doofus said:
Tippy tappy is driving me nuts.
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We really aren’t a tippy tappy team and haven’t been for sometime. Our style is all about fast and direct counter attacks. This is why our possession is well down on earlier seasons.

The trouble is, when confidence is low and we are chasing the game (which is most of the time now sadly) we don’t have players with the imagination to open up packed defences. So players pass the responsibility to a teammate for the creativity and it becomes tippy tappy. This is not by design. It’s a mentality problem
 
Well, I've just watched the highlights and can't see wot you're all moaning about - it looked quite exciting :)
 
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