Squad Numbers

The next instalment in our Premier League preview are the clubs that are the definition of mid-table, but feel less so than the lower mid-table teams. To finish either 9th or 10th always feels like a solid achievement for any mid table side, if not quite at the level where they can compete for European places. Let’s take a look.

9th: Crystal Palace

It’s a great time to be a Crystal Palace fan, the club are unbeaten in competitive matches since the beginning of April, and the run of 6 wins and a draw from their final 7 games provided some of the best football the fans have ever seen at Selhurst Park.

The potential has been there for it to be a turbulent summer for Palace, with Michael Olise leaving for Bayern Munich, and Marc Guehi likely to leave with Newcastle and Manchester City among those interested. There is also likely to be interest in Ebere Eze, Jean-Phillipe Mateta and Adam Wharton.

Palace will want to hang on to as many of their players as possible, as the team that they had at the end of last season excelled. However, a couple of these players leaving, as Olise and Guehi almost certainly will (or have), will actually help boost Palace’s funds to bulk out a squad which is weak in areas. Oliver Glasner’s intense style of play will be harder to maintain over the course of a whole season than it is over a 7 game run, but a stronger squad, with more depth will make that less difficult.

Palace’s excpetional run towards the end of last season wasn’t just about the players though, it was about how coherent and well drilled the team was together. Their high press was one of their main strengths. Often, when people talk about triangles in football, they talk about in possession triangles, with three players occupying adjacent spaces near to each other to outnumber the opposition in that area. However, Palace create these triangles out of possession instead, crowding out the opposition. Here is an example from their game against Newcastle at the end of last season:

Here you see Palace having the three player triangle of Eze, Mitchell and Hughes, which cuts off all passing lanes for the opposition, Palace invited Newcastle to play into this position, then snapped into the triangle, once they were in this position,they can’t play out, and the only option that they have is to lose it, or play a long crossfield pass which has a low chance of being succesful. In this case, Chris Richards also steps up to join the triangle, making it more like a rectangle. This is another facet of Palace’s press, often their centre-backs will step up.

Here is another example of that same idea from that Newcastle game:

Again you can see the same three Palace players, Eze, Mitchell and Hughes closing down the opposition into a tight space, with all of them covering the clear passing options, Mitchell intercepts the attempted long ball, and Palace win it back.

The transfer market is still important though, and so far they have added well to the squad.

Daichi Kamada has arrived on a free transfer from Lazio, Glasner knows Kamada well from their time at Frankfurt, and it is likely that Glasner will be able to trust Kamada to do what is required of him immediately, we have seen that in pre-season, Kamada looks at home in this team, and could have an exceptional season.

Despite Kamada playing in a similar position to the outgoing Michael Olise, he is a very different player to Olise. Kamada is more of a midfielder, tenacious in the tackle, and a silky dribbler, the ball seems to stick to his foot while he dribbles. Olise on the other hand, whilst very adept in the middle, was more of a winger, he was excpeptional cutting in from the right onto his devastating left foot, and more often found the back of the net. If you could stop Olise from shooting (hard enough), he would instead fire a perfectly weighted cross into the middle for a teammate to tap home, he was complete.

Olise was a more direct player than Kamada will be, Olise dribbled at pace, taking on his man, giving him nightmares in the process, yet whilst he did everything at scintillating speed, it seemed as if he was completely in control, time slowed down for him when he had the ball at his feet. Olise is impossible to replace with just one player, Palace knew that, so they have also brought in Ismaila Sarr from Marseiile.

Sarr has been on Palace’s radar for many years, and he brings something that Palace don’t have, pace, searing pace. Sarr is known for his direct nature from during his time at Watford. Glasner demands runs in behind from his front players, and last season it felt at times as if Palace were struggling to do that, Sarr will solve that problem, and the idea of him coming off the bench to run at tired defences is quite frankly frightening.

Due to the switch to a 3 at the back formation, new centre-backs were also going to be a necessity for Palace this summer, so the addition of Chadi Riad from Barcelona is a smart one.

Riad is a 21 year old, Morrocan defender, he is a aggressive, and looks to defend on the front foot, just what Glasner wants from his players. Riad is also comfortable on the ball, as you would expect from a La Masia graduate. Riad is one for the future, but he may even be ready for significant Premier League minutes now.

Another centre-back will need to be added when Marc Guehi leaves, as he is expected to.

Palace should also look to add depth in the wing-back positions, as there is no back up to Tyrick Mitchell, and a lot has been asked of Glasner’s wing-back’s. Another Striker may also be on the agenda if Odsonne Edouard leaves the club.

Palace have a strong foundation to build on, they finished in the top half for the first time since promotion last season, despite in February, it looking like it may be one of their most disappointing seasons since their return to the top flight. There were even banners aimed at the board citing “No structured plan” and “No Shared Vision”. It feels like a different club and a very different atmosphere just a few months later. I am fully confident that they can maintain their top half status and kick on again this season.

ONE TO WATCH: Jes Rak-Sakyi

Last year was a real let down for Jes Rak-Sakyi, having just come off the back of an excellent loan spell with Charlton in League One, where he scored 15 goals, and assisted 8 more, expectations were high for Rak-Sakyi, the thought was that he could kick on, go on loan to the championship and excel there, instead, despite interest from the championship, Roy Hodgson convinced him to stay, citing that he was important cover in the weak wide areas for Palace, Rak-Sakyi ended up making only 6 appearances all season, none of which were starts, all in the middle in Palace’s worst injury crises in the last decade.

Rak-Sayi had his own injuries, and it was a season wasted. He has come back firing in pre-season though, scoring 3 goals in 2 games for Palace, and it feels as if wherever he ends up, whether that be on a loan in the championship, staying with Palace or leaving on a permanent, he’ll have a big season, he is not a lost talent as it has felt at times, he is just waiting for the opportunity to burst into life.

10th: West Ham

West Ham have finally moved away from David Moyes, almost 7 years after his first match in charge, it did feel as if it was time for a change. You can’t question the job that Moyes has done with West Ham, winning the Europa Conference League was his crowning moment, but he also finished 6th and 7th in the Premier League in consecutive years. However, rightly or wrongly, apathy had grown in the fan base over the lack of positive football played under Moyes, and it was time for a change. They have a myriad of exceptionally talented technical players, and it did feel at times that they were wasted under Moyes. The question is, is Julen Lopetegui the right man to bring the positive football that the fans want?

Lopetegui has certainly got experience at the highest level of football, managing both Spain and Real Madrid, neither of those escapades went particularly well though, he had a successful qualifying campaign with Spain for the 2018 World Cup, but was sacked just days before the tournament after he announced that he would join Real Madrid after the tournament had finished.

Lopetegui was then sacked after just three months in the Real Madrid job. he then rebuilt his reputation at Sevilla, winning the Europa League with them, before eventually joining Wolves and saving them from relegation, he then left Wolves before the start of his next season due to complaints over a lack of funding.

There are questions over Lopetegui’s style of play, in the early part of his career, he played the typical, possession style football that you expect from Spanish managers, but when he joined Wolves (a team with all due respect to them that aren’t blessed with quality) he played a more pragmatic style. That will not be music to West Ham fans’ ears, as they hope for attractive possession football.

West Ham have a quality squad though, and have made some very good signings so far in the transfer window, so I wouldn’t be surprised if Lopetegui is able to bring the kind of football that the fans want to the London Stadium.

They have added Max Kilman, who is not a £40 million player, as they signed him for, but he is a solid centre centre-back. Kilman is 27 years old, and comfortable on the ball, so will be capable of living up to Lopetegui’s demands, he will form a strong partnership at the back with Jean-Clair Todibo, who is another top quality signing, snatched from under the noses of Juventus, Todibo signs from Nice on loan with an obligation to buy of around £30 million. Todibo is very comfortable on the ball, and posseses great recovery pace, so will be an invaluable addition for Lopetegui.

They have also added Crysencio Summerville, which is a top signing, as he was on the radar of many clubs in England and abroad. Summerville is a 22 year old, versatile attacker who can play on either wing, he was the standout player for Leeds last season, scoring 19 goals in 43 Championship games. He will add competition in the wide areas which already have quality first choice options in Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus, but Summerville and the also incoming Luis Guilherme will provide stronger depth and competition for places in that area of the pitch.

Niclas Fullkrug is possibly the marque signing of the window for West Ham, the 31 year old centre forward joins the club for around £30 million, which is very expensive, but could be worth it. Fullkrug is your typical old fashioned number 9, he’s big, strong, holds up the ball well and is a quality finisher. Last season, he had 20 goal involvements in 29 starts for Dortmund in the Bundesliga, 12 of those being goals. I don’t think that he will repeat those numbers in the Premier League, and I can see him being labelled as a flop come the end of the season, but whilst I don’t think he’ll thrive in front of goal, his contribution to the team will be invaluable.

Lopetegui likes having a big centre forward who can link up the play, so Fullkrug will be a perfect signing for him.

Guido Rodriguez also been signed, on a free transfer from Real Betis, Rodriguez will add competition to an already strong midfield of Edson Alvarez, James-Ward Prowse and Lucas Paqueta.

There are questions of West Ham this season, their fans will have high expectations for a change from the Moyes era, and if those perhaps unrealistic expectations for perfect football are not met, it could get very toxic very quickly, those expectations will extend to the board as well. The other question is the future of Lucas Paqueta, who was charged for betting offences, it is yet to be seen if he will be given a ban, and if so, that will be a massive loss to their season.

ONE TO WATCH: George Earthy

The day is the 11th of May 2024, West Ham are playing Luton Town at the London stadium, the home side are 2-1 up with 15 minutes to go, 19 year old George Earthy is subbed on for Michail Antonio, just a minute later the ball is in the back of the net, the scorer? Earthy, in just his second Premier League appearance. A dream moment for a kid who joined the club aged 6. Earthy is a technical attacking midfielder, that has earned praise from former West Ham captain Mark Noble, as he was awarded West Ham’s young player of the year award, chosen by Noble himself. Earthy could thrive under Lopetegui. The more progressive style used by the Spaniard compared to that of David Moyes, could allow Earthy to show what he’s got more than he could under Moyes. Earthy has been widely praised for his work rate, which will only give Lopetegui more reason to get him involved in the first team, and he could be in for a breakout season.