Squad Numbers

Crashing back down to earth. That is how I would describe the atmosphere at Selhurst Park on Saturday. Just a few months ago, the sun had been shining, Palace were demolishing opponents left right and centre, they were playing the most fluid football in the club’s history and had some of the worlds most exciting players thriving every weekend. Oliver Glasner had changed the mood around the club for the better, and there was genuine optimism that only the sky could be the limit in the following season for Palace.

Now, things are different. Torrential rain poured down in London in the morning, and throughout the start of the game as well. It was quite fitting really, the club had their customary pyrotechnics ready to go for the start of the game, but the fire which was meant to bring an explosion of warmth and wow to the crowd was instead a damp, underwhelming and quite frankly embarrassing little display, which could be more likened to a sparkler you get on bonfire night than the intended fireworks.

The club had just lost two of its most important players in Joachim Andersen and Jordan Ayew the day before, and they had not been replaced, so there was a sense of slight dysfunction. The entirety of the transfer had and continues to be a mess which did not help, Michael Olise had already departed to Bayern Munich earlier in the window, and the ongoing transfer saga of Marc Guehi only added to the uncertainty.

The frustration with the clubs activity in the transfer market was only heightened as the match went on, as defensive acquisition Chadi Riad, who started the game, gave the ball away on multiple occasions, and looked slightly out of place on his first Premier League debut. Meanwhile the attacking signings failed to impress as well. Both Daichi Kamada and Ismaila Sarr were only introduced as substitutes, with Kamada being out muscled in the build up for West Ham’s first goal, and Sarr missing a couple of big chances late on.

The performance itself was good. Palace created a myriad of chances, it was the inability to take said chances and the weak defending which led to frustration from the crowd. Odsonne Edouard had multiple chances throughout the game, the best of which coming on a counter attack, where he ran through on goal and essentially had a one vs one with the goalkeeper, albeit from a not straightforward angle. There was also an occasion where a perfect ball got played across the box, and Edouard failed to get forward to tap it in, or more accurately, Edouard failed to attempt to get there. Ebere Eze came close on multiple occasions, having an early shot from the left hand side of the box well saved by Areola in the West Ham goal, although you would expect a player of Eze’s quality to finish it off. Eze then hit the crossbar just before half time with a spectacular effort from the edge of the box. Both Jean-Phillipe Mateta and Ismaila Sarr had chances late on as well. However, it was the failure to be decisive which was what frustrated those in the crowd, on countless occasions, Palace would get into good positions and either try and do one thing too many or simply failure to pull the trigger and shoot on goal.

Despite this, it did feel as if it was going to come good, I said to my father next to me around the 65th minute mark, when Palace had a free kick on the edge of the West Ham area: “The goal is coming”, two minutes later, the goal did come, only for West Ham. That cued mass frustration from the crowd, as they knew they were staring down the barrel of a second successive defeat, in a game in which they merited a much stronger result. It seemed as if that frustration was echoed in the players as well, as after the goal they seemed to lose focus, and that proved costly, as just minutes later, they conceded a second, game over. The rest of the game was more of the same, missed chances and missed opportunities to have a chance. This culminated in the stands emptying out as full time neared.

When the final whistle eventually sounded, one fan, as he made for the exit, proclaimed loudly: “Parish put your money where your mouth is, sign some players, f****** useless. Now it should be said that the opinions of some football fans are far from the mark and shouldn’t be taken for fact, however, there is a general consensus that this time, the ownership do need to do better. I am not in favour of aimlessly throwing money at players for the sake of it, however, Palace have put themselves in a lurch, and they need to act. Selling your most important players is a problem anyway, but selling them in the final week of the transfer window is a complete disaster.

Walking away from the stadium on Saturday there was a foreboding sense of dread about what things could look like the next time Palace play in the Premier League, On Sunday against Chelsea. With Andersen already gone, and Guehi (who was imperious as ever against West Ham and held the defence together at times) possibly going as well, Palace will have lost their two first choice centre backs, and will need to replace them before Friday, when the transfer window closes. The other issue is that the squad needs strengthening elsewhere, a new goalkeeper will be needed if Sam Johnstone leaves, whilst cover at left wing back and a new creative attacker would have been high on priorities list. It is unrealistic however to believe that Palace can get all of those deals over the line in time, so it is likely that Palace’s squad will go into the season incomplete.

It’s groundhog day, de ja vu, whatever you want to call it. Palace have been here before, and they are here again now. Saturday was a preview of what things could be if the club don’t act quickly and prudently over the next few days, there was real frustration in the crowd. Only six months ago were there banners in the crowd protesting against the direction of the club, and now the club are in danger of getting back to that. The ownership have nowhere to hide now, those protests a few months ago, whilst about the direction of the club, could be passed off as a symptom of poor times under Roy Hodgson, a manager who whilst was loved by the fan base for his previous contributions, was past it, and shouldn’t have been the man to lead the club into a new era. Now though, Oliver Glasner is in charge, and the fan base have no doubts about his abilities, so any lack of performance on the pitch, will be blamed on the board.

Saturday was difficult, but was only the surface showing of a club in meltdown.