Crystal Palace (A) | Post Match Thread

mcfcbill91 said:
Hard to pick fault with a majority of the performance last night. Reduced Palace to one shot on target and minimised the counter threat well. Certainly avoided the mistakes of the game from October by constantly working them and not playing into the traps they leave. They want you to play into those central areas and try risky passes early etc so they can nick the ball and run off up the other end.

Pitch was a dried out & scruffy mess with the ball bouncing around. Usual ridiculous 30-40 seconds stoppage each time the ball went out and any concerted pressure ended up with one of their players 'injured' for 2-3 minutes. We did well to stay focussed and create the chances we did.

However, the finishing was a big disappointment. We've created 3-4 absolute golden chances which have to be scored - this will be the difference between 1st/2nd & any other trophies we remain in.

Compared to Southampton, Spurs & Everton maybe, I felt the performance was there.


I'd suggest reviewing the PL fixtures played by City & Liverpool since the start of January. Hard to imagine a team playing a softer run of games given opponent's placing & form.

There's a long way to go and the margins are fine.
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Yes, they seem to play Watford, Norwich, Leeds and Burnley on repeat
 
Are the City fans who claim Liverpool will drop points related to the dippers who kept saying "City will drop points" when we won the last 14 (?) games three seasons ago?
Liverpool would have beaten Palace comfortably last night, but that doesn't mean we can't go on a long winning run including beating them at our place.
 
Psychedelic Casual said:
All teams match up differently to each other. Palace are just one of those teams with one of those coaches who we’ve find difficult to beat this season.

It’s just one of those things. It’s why no team has ever achieved 114 points, it’s why one team has only ever achieved 100 points, it’s why the Prem is the best league in the world.

They might be bottom half but Palace are a better side than Sporting who we played in the Ro16 of the CL, and that’s supposed to be the premier competition in this sport.
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So we found them difficult to beat first time round. Then it's getting towards 90mins the second time round and still nothing changes.

What relevance is Sporting?

No excuses from Pep to not try and change that game. You don't leave Sterling and Jesus on the bench when you need something to happen. Sterling and Jesus frustrate the life out of us all but a much better chance they bundle one in and have it bounce off their arse and take all 3 points then anyone else.

Palace players were out on their feet towards the end and still we persisted with passing it around Infront of them.
 
tolmie's hairdoo said:
I expect Liverpool to win at Arsenal but our team has been down this road before.
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Has it though? I don't think it has.

We have either chased from a fair bit behind, to edge forward and see it out (three times)

Or we have raced ahead and watched others collapse and their challenge fall apart (two times).

We have not really ever been in the position of being seemingly comfortably in front so long to gradually lose momentum while someone closes down incrementally. Completely different dynamic, and it will test the team, 100%. Particularly the game agains them at ours.

Bring it on.
 
Bobby the blue said:
But what would plan b consist of. Knocking it long for a knock down or such sort. Plan A was working ok. We carved out very good chances against a stubborn side.
we are a technical side and lobbing it up top rarely works. Keep moving the defence about. Keep probing and continue stretching there back line works for us.
Listen I’m just as frustrated we didn’t win of course I am but today seems very knee jerk. I still think there will be twists and turns to come and we need to keep the faith. God wills it as is often said on this fine platform.
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I would say the problem in the second half yesterday was that we didnt do any of the things you mentioned. Our attackers didnt move, stretching the defense out. They were standing still, just like Palace whole team in their own penalty box. The whole second half was basically our defenders passing the ball between them for 5 minutes before crossing it in for an easy clearance by the Palace defense, followed by a fake injury, and than we started over with the same thing again. We only had 4 attempts to score (compared to 14 in the first half) and none on goal in the entire second half. For me, its hard to argue our plan was working at all. Looked more like Palace plan was the one who was working.

With that said, I think Pep is the best manager in the world and we are so lucky to have him. That doesnt mean he is flawless, no one is. Yesterday we seemed to lack ideas, at least to me. I'm a big fan of Pep, but there's a difference between being a fan and being a fanatic.
 
Cobwebcat said:
Not that this will change anyones mind but…

City have scored 68 goals and were expected to score 69 from the positions we shot from.

Liverpool have scored 73 goals and were expected to score 74 from the positions they shot from.

Both teams have exactly the same level of being “clinical”

Yesterday is just fresh in the mind.
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Expected by who? I don't really get that stat.

Yesterday I could have expected 3 from the chances created, we scored 0.

There have been games I could have expected 6, we scored 2, and I expected 0, we scored 1.

Not sure it can be argued we are clinical. Don't watch Liverpool enough to compare.
 
Coatigan said:
Expected by who? I don't really get that stat.

Yesterday I could have expected 3 from the chances created, we scored 0.

There have been games I could have expected 6, we scored 2, and I expected 0, we scored 1.

Not sure it can be argued we are clinical. Don't watch Liverpool enough to compare.
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Agree with this. xG is a stat with many flaws and uncertainties that can/should be used as an indication, not an absolute fact.
 
Bobby the blue said:
But what would plan b consist of. Knocking it long for a knock down or such sort. Plan A was working ok. We carved out very good chances against a stubborn side.
we are a technical side and lobbing it up top rarely works. Keep moving the defence about. Keep probing and continue stretching there back line works for us.
Listen I’m just as frustrated we didn’t win of course I am but today seems very knee jerk. I still think there will be twists and turns to come and we need to keep the faith. God wills it as is often said on this fine platform.
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You're wasting your time with these people, Bobby. Let them rant and rave and talk bullshit for the next few hours. It happens every time we drop points because a high percentage of football fans don't know anything about football.
 
Well, frustrating, and I did wonder why no subs, especially as I thought we looked a bit leggy last 15mins. That said, I just watched the 8min highlights on club site and how the hell did we not score? Didn't see some of those chances so clearly from the arthur wait, old eyes and a long afternoon build up to the game.
Long way to go yet...
 
A draw away to Palace under normal circumstances isnt really a terrible result, they usually raise their game against us and its a tough place to go on a shit shit pitch. Not scoring against them in a whole season is pretty incredible though.

The worry for me is the drop off in our consistency, and the amount of chances that we squander time and time again. The impetus we've given Liverpool in recent weeks is massive.
 
Dropped points. Not the end of the world. Kept it in our own hands. Missed a few sitters. Very dodgy pitch that stopped our passing game and a few players not quite at the races.

Still think we need to shove Jesus up top. I'm all for the false 9 system in the Champions League and against Liverpool where the best option is control but some games dictate the need for a centre forward who understands how to occupy centre halves with his back to goal. Foden needs the game in front of him.
 
One for Madchester here. At least we won't have the distraction of an FA Cup semi-final to worry about this season, unlike Liverpool & Chelski. Likewise we are not sharp enough to get past any of the remaining Euro contenders, unless United miraculously scramble through. For those reasons and the strength of our squad, we should hold off Liverpool for the league title.
 
mcfcbill91 said:
Hard to pick fault with a majority of the performance last night. Reduced Palace to one shot on target and minimised the counter threat well. Certainly avoided the mistakes of the game from October by constantly working them and not playing into the traps they leave. They want you to play into those central areas and try risky passes early etc so they can nick the ball and run off up the other end.

Pitch was a dried out & scruffy mess with the ball bouncing around. Usual ridiculous 30-40 seconds stoppage each time the ball went out and any concerted pressure ended up with one of their players 'injured' for 2-3 minutes. We did well to stay focussed and create the chances we did.

However, the finishing was a big disappointment. We've created 3-4 absolute golden chances which have to be scored - this will be the difference between 1st/2nd & any other trophies we remain in.

Compared to Southampton, Spurs & Everton maybe, I felt the performance was there.


I'd suggest reviewing the PL fixtures played by City & Liverpool since the start of January. Hard to imagine a team playing a softer run of games given opponent's placing & form.

There's a long way to go and the margins are fine.
Click to expand...
good stuff. Teams now abandon the touch-line when we attack, the ball has to come into/in front of the box and is met with a mass of bodies. Unsophisticated but effective. For every tactic a counter-measure evolves, up to Pep to find one. The alternative is a squad full of the best players in the world, playing their best, and we carry on as we are.
 
perhaps its because we havent got a genuine striker or a target man up front and the rest under 5ft4
 
Vester said:
Agree with this. xG is a stat with many flaws and uncertainties that can/should be used as an indication, not an absolute fact.
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It used to in the early days though it was still the best indication of future performance. Things have moved on quite a bit since then though. It still doesn’t tell the whole story…no stat ever will, but it can pretty easily answer the question of if a team is clinical or not.
 
Coatigan said:
Expected by who? I don't really get that stat.

Yesterday I could have expected 3 from the chances created, we scored 0.

There have been games I could have expected 6, we scored 2, and I expected 0, we scored 1.

Not sure it can be argued we are clinical. Don't watch Liverpool enough to compare.
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Too big a topic to get into on BM, though if you are interested its all out there particularly how Brighton and Brentford owners made their billions Using xG and similar stats.

Plus BM has decided it’s bollocks ;-)
 
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