Match Day Thread CRYSTAL PALACE v NORWICH CITY, Premier League, Tues 28th Dec. ko 1500hrs

I thought that was very positive in the second half considering we were 3 goals down. Gilmour grew into the regista role as the game went on and his distribution was good most of the time. He lacks the physicality defensively that Norman has and how we miss that.

McLean had his worst game yet and Lees-Melou was up and down but Rowe didn't look out of place out there. Placheta gets better with each game and along with Lees-Melou was our highest rated player on WhoScored. Byram did well replacing Aarons and almost scored as well. Watford's loss means we can go on hoping however tenuous things seem now.

 

I think we need a new MDT contributor.
We regulars are as poor as the team.
Any takers?

 

Completely agree. He needs so much protection to be able to play his game without being a liability...and then if you let him play his game, what does he offer? He's like Leitner except more ponderous on the ball, with worse decision making, and no real attacking contribution. His only assist this season was from a corner, and I don't remember him creating many clear cut chances (xA is 0.07 per game, agreeing with that).

If we're going to have to play him with 2 of McLean, Sorensen and Normann just to have a midfield that's semi-competent defensively, I'd much rather have Vrancic in the 4-3-3. At least he carried a goal and dead ball threat.

Gilmour is a defensive liability and doesn't seem to possess the ability/skillset to change a game at the right end of the pitch. I'm sure he'd be fine for Tuchel in a team that dominate possession with a world class DM alongside him. But in a relegation scrap when we know he won't come back next season, what's the point persisting with him?

 

I just wish he'd go back onto Chelsea's 'regista' instead of ours.
Lightweight and a definite liability, not an asset.

 

Get the new thread up and stop moaning you pant Wetter .

R I P @canardave

 

I keep getting nosebleeds just contemplating the thought!!

 

Despite the player shortages, the lineup looked like there was a game plan today which should have made effective use of the players available. A workmanlike midfield 3 distributing to the flanks, where a winger+full back combo would work crossing opportunities for Idah, the opposite winger and PLM/McLean to get on the end of. That suits most of the players used, and arguably going forwards is the easiest plan for next season given the players we'll have.

 

14 goals conceded non scored zero points in December on the back of a new manager change

 

Be fair, though - November was sexy

 

Aids

 

When his head was together, Leitner was light years ahead of what Gilmour is at the moment, and probably what he will ever be.

 

Can we have Farke back please?

 

Seriously, lose the next game and we have taken five points from ten games. Arguably the first ten were harder games. Add to that we have lost a manager with proven ability to get promotion and what was the point? I am not blaming Smith, it's just that we have at best moved sideways.

 

There were 2/3 players starting today that you would say are normally in the starting 11, against a Palace side that although missing 6 were able to fill those holes mostly with experienced Premier League players.

Im glad I missed todays game, I had a bad feeling about how it was going to go adn after seeing the starting line up felt it was the right decision.
As others have said the midfield is the real issue in the team I feel, they seem both incapable of defending while also being devoid of creative/goal scoring skills. Bewildering!

Give Jack Wilshere a contract, even a half crocked version is better than our current options.

 

Yes, I'd take him back, Rob. Although I'm glad he's not here because of all the poison that would be aimed at him.

 

I feel sorry for Dean Smith, he's a decent man trying to do a hard job in impossible circumstances. I don't think that anybody would have achieved a better outcome with the players available to him yesterday. But I do think that the win at Brentford might have given us some momentum and we wouldn't have been any worse off with Farke. What has happened benefits nobody apart from possibly one of the other four clubs in the relegation mix.

 

I really liked Farkeball but it did have major weaknesses which were exploited by PL teams. Smith has made us more disciplined and organised, particularly the FBs, who no longer bomb forward at will. He's also greatly improved our defending against set pieces, especially corners. The injuries and covid problems have made his task crushingly difficult. The absence of Normann, Rashica and Hanley has really hit us hard as all three would be definite starters. Omobamidele has also been greatly missed. We're trying to fight the odds without our best players during this run of losses and yesterday's situation was ridiculously difficult with 4 CBs missing and 6 other players as well.

Byram emphasises defending as a unit and that was what we struggled to do under Farke.

https://www.pinkun.com/sport/norwich-city/crystal-palace-0-ncfc-3-sam-byram-reaction-8589514

 

What's the point of winning promotion with a manager of proven inability to structure a team to survive in the EPL? If the Farke years are the height of your aspiration for the club, that's fine, but the stated aim now is to become "a top 17 club". Dean Smith has built two teams both of which are currently in the EPL and both of which have made a far better fist of it than we have with our Farke-built and Farke-managed squads.
It will take more than a single transfer window to adapt the squad to Dean Smith's style of play. The priority next season shouldn't be immediate re-promotion; it should be to make that adaptation so that, when we do get promoted again, we have a real prospect of survival.

 

I would be much more confident of getting out of the Championship with Farke than Smith.

No point in looking to the past as we have already paid off Farke's contract .

Obviously I hope Smith gets us winning games again but from what I have seen so far I would predict us to finish top half in the Championship for a couple of seasons bringing through academy players.

 

I actually sit in the other side of the fence, although I loved Farke I think, I doubt he would have got us straight out of the Championship next season. He proved that tactically he was ok but not brilliant, rarely had a plan B and too often made subs too late in games. He was aided in having the best player in the league in Buendia, one of the best GKs in the league and a top striker in Pukki. Buendia’s contribution cannot be overlooked, he was the heartbeat of Farkes teams and just looking at our record when he missed games proved that, also if we look at stats behind Pukki or Buendia who else contributed double figures in goals and assists? So was it all Farke or was it the brilliance of Buendia