Backed by almost a full house, but certainly a vociferous home crowd, and despite giving a good account of themselves, Crystal Palace fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat against Tottenham Hotspur on the opening weekend of the Premier League, courtesy of Roberto Soldado's second-half penalty.
Palace's lack of quality in the final third, alongside a clear need for more width, prevented them from really troubling Spurs' keeper Hugo Lloris, but the Eagles put in a solid defensive performance only to fall just short.
Mark Gardiner provides a superb analysis of the match and includes his ratings for each of the Palace players.
Well, perhaps this season won’t be such a long drudge as many of us feared. I don’t think anyone would deny that Spurs were the better team, but Palace somehow hung in there to be in with a chance, however slim, of dragging back a point. Survival means we have to win the key games at home against lower & mid-table teams, and the display today gave us some indications that this will not be a forlorn hope. What will need to be addressed are the simple avoidable errors that cost us a goal and helped prevent our game gaining any rhythm until Holloway made a triple substitution.
Palace lined up with a 4-3-2-1 Christmas Tree formation, with most of the team that started at Wembley. Jedinak, KG & Garvan formed the midfield trio, with Gayle & Dobbie slightly further forward in nominal support of Wilbraham. Unfortunately both the formation and the personnel employed therein soon exhibited weaknesses, the primary one being a complete lack of width in attack. Ward & Moxey tried hard to cover 80 yards but that often exposed the rearguard when the ball was lost; in addition they rarely had an outlet down the line. Attacks developed far too ponderously, with opportunities to cross or shoot being passed up in favour of laying the ball off and back; strangely when there crosses were put in they were far too early with no-one in the box to take advantage. Wilbraham was too static and totally isolated up front, while Dobbie and Gayle looked far too lightweight and distant to provide support; Gayle in particular appeared overawed & nervous, playing at this level in an unfamiliar role, and lost the ball far too easily, including in the build-up to the penalty. At the back there appeared a gap down our left between Garvan & Dobbie that Tottenham exploited several times, often outflanking Moxey. To add to this was the number of times simple passing moves were ruined by a poor pass or a misunderstanding between colleagues that saw balls left in favour of someone else.
As a result it should come as no surprise that Palace’s sole “effort” on goal was a soft header by Wilbraham straight at Lloris. Spurs took their time to find the range on the Palace goal, although it took a smart save from Speroni to turn over Sigurdsson’s effort from distance, while as the first half acme to a close Speroni had to act smartly to deny Soldado and there was a far post header that was missed. In some ways the match reminded me of our first game back in ’89 against a functional Manchester United, when Wright grabbed a late equaliser. Tottenham made the same errors as our guys but not quite as frequently; their defence looked gawky at times, and despite a Palace team that had yet to change up from first gear, they did not look like a side that should be pressing at the upper echelons of the Premiership.Their favourite move was the long diagonal ball from Dawson to left back Rose, suspiciously like the long balls launched from Delaney & Gabbidon towards Wilbraham (although occasionally they found the midget Gayle).
The second half started much the same as the first, with Palace unable to build any momentum, mostly due to slack passing play, but finally Spurs made us pay. Gayle lost the ball far too easily in our half, Lennon worked some space on our left, and as Moxey slid in to block the cross the ball struck his outstretched arm; it was a clear, definite penalty, that Soldado finished coolly. Palace continued in their mis-firing way for some 10 minutes or so, during which Gayle showed that when acting instinctively he has the raw talent when he escaped and fired a shot not far over. Then Holloway introduced a triple substitution with Williams, Phillips and Chamakh on for Dobbie, Garvan and Wilbraham. Whether this was a predetermined strategy, similar to his plan that finished off Brighton at the Amex in holding on for an hour then going for the win, or an act of desperation, only Olly knows. The formation seemed to be far more fluid, with Chamakh appearing down the right & Williams buzzing on the left and through the middle, while Phillips went through the middle, but this also left Palace more exposed than previously.
As the game stretched Spurs really should have made the game safe. Twice Palace were brushed aside as first Sigurdsson then sub Defoe managed to slide clear chances wide of Julian’s right-hand post. Palace looked more dangerous as Williams in particular was able to use the ball to more effect, and two half-chances arrived for veteran Phillips, one being blocked by good anticipation by Lloris and the other sent well wide. At the death a corner to the far post saw efforts from Delaney & KG blocked, while Spurs were happy to run down the clock. Despite the number of individual errors made by Palace players, perhaps due to nerves, and being unable to grasp a foothold in the match for over an hour, the result in the end gives us hope for the future – we have the spirit and foundations that we can build upon.
Speroni – 7 – Not as overworked as one would expect, with one athletic tip-over and some brave blocks.
Ward – 6 – At times was left outnumbered on the right as Palace could not quite get the hang of the new formation, and Lennon did a fair impression of Zaha late on in turning Joel inside out, but the right back kept going and made a number of good challenges. Also tried hard to offer width down the right in attack.
Moxey – 6 – The penalty decision was one of those things; it is difficult to keep arms at your side when sliding in, but those are the rules. Several times in the first half Dean was left exposed but he tried hard to cover back, mostly successfully. Worked hard up and down the left in both halves and provided much needed width.
Delaney – 7 – Until late on the centre of the defence held up quite well, only being caught out by one good passing move and a run by Defoe that saw the defence part.
Gabbidon – 6 – Solid for much of the match but exposed late on by Defoe’s pace.
Dikgacoi – 6 – His passing at time was poor but he put in a good shift, covering the right side with Ward, but often too deep to be an influence in creative terms. Had a late chance but denied by Lloris.
Jedinak – 8 – Outstanding but not quite perfection, as he too succumbed to the occasional terrible pass straight to an opponent. Otherwise broke up numerous Spurs’ attacks with anticipation and a bit of steel – surprisingly Clattenburg seemed to allow harder tackles than in the Championship. Jedi’s form & fitness will be crucial this season.
Garvan – 6 – Looked good with the ball, and laid off some lovely passes, but again from a deep-lying role which made the through balls easier to defend against. Was outmanoeuvred down the left a little too often for my liking but did put in one lovely strong challenge that made me check it wasn’t the Jedi.
Dobbie – 5 – Looked too slow & lightweight, including breaking up a quick counter by twice stumbling over the ball. Knocked off the ball far too easily.
Gayle – 4 – As mentioned above Dwight looked quite lost and was more of a liability than an asset, conceding possession far too cheaply. It appeared that he wasn’t sure of his role, and some of the errors betrayed his lack of professional football. Yet there is undoubtedly raw talent there, as he showed with his run and shot in the second half, which may be because he found himself playing more in a central striker’s role and he could act naturally. As with Dobbie was muscled off the ball far too easily.
Wilbraham – 5 – Difficult to see Aaron as the striker whose goals will give us a decent chance this season, as he is far too slow, and was another who when he won the ball too often knocked the ball into the space where no team-mate existed. Some of this can be laid at the feet of his supposed support from deep, but again it meant that the ball kept coming back after we cleared it.
Subs:
Williams – 7 – Made an immediate impact when he came on as the only Palace player to run past opponents with the ball, and although Spurs learned quickly and closed him down in numbers.
Phillips – 6 – Shame his pace is also 40 years old as Kevin twice found himself with chances where that extra second cost us. However the attack gained a focus that Wilbraham couldn’t supply when KP came on, making runs that gave the midfield options.
Chamakh – 6 – Looked very handy when he came on, although deployed more down the right than through the middle.