Weekly Views- Spygate, Safety and West Ham

Safety: it feels good doesn’t it? Now I know that Palace are not mathematically secure at the moment, but I am sure Pulis will already be planning for another stay in the Premier League next season. Another fantastic victory against a strong Everton side capped off what has been a brilliant few weeks for Palace. 4 wins and 3 clean sheets- that’s Champions League territory!

Despite the win on Wednesday night, many people have been left with a sour taste in their mouths over this whole ‘spygate’ scandal. I’m sure most of you know what I am talking about, but if not I will quickly sum up the situation for you. Vincent Tan and Cardiff City have accused Palace of getting information about the Cardiff team in advance of the game two weeks ago. This was apparently all found out when Iain Moody sent a text to the wrong person: a certain Dougie Freedman. Now, I always keep an open eye when it comes to claims made against Palace, but this one seems extremely strange. To me, it is as if Tan just wants to get his own back on a team that beat Cardiff 3-0 away from home, but I don’t see it happening.

Attentions now turn towards tomorrow’s game at West Ham. West Ham aren’t truly safe yet, and could do with some points just to keep them going until the end of the season. Because of this, this game will be just as tough as any other, but hopefully Pulis can guide Palace to a fifth win in a row. Palace managed to record a victory over the Hammers in December, in a game which was not the most exciting or the greatest advert for English football. It will be a similar game tomorrow, with both sides focusing on their defence. It won’t matter, though, as Pulis has taught us over the past few months that you can play good football but still keep it tight at the back and win games. Possession is just another statistic.

Palace’s key players will once again be the wingers. Bolasie and Puncheon have been in fantastic form recently, and they should be aiming to keep this going into the future, starting tomorrow. Counter attacks need to be quick, and that is what these two players offer. Palace fans will also be hoping that Bolasie can fetch himself a goal soon. He has come close in the past two games- hopefully he can send the travelling fans mental with a last minute winner tomorrow!

Up the Palace

Stay or Go- Part 1

So the season is reaching its final stages. We have seen some good performances from some and ugly efforts from others. But based on the season so far, which players will be warranting a new contract and which others will be first out of the door come July? Each week I shall analysing which players in my opinion need to stay or go.

Goalkeepers

Julian Speroni- Julian has been fantastic for us this season, with some incredible saves made. But with a new, younger goalkeeper coming in, I fear that his place in the first team is vulnerable. Hopefully his contract situation can be sorted out, as he has been immense for Palace this season.

Verdict: Staying Put

Wayne Hennessey- Although he hasn’t featured so far for Palace, Hennessey is most likely to take the number 1 jersey come August. Tall, commanding and agile, Hennessey should have a decent future at the club.

Verdict: Staying Put

Neil Alexander: Alexander has only featured so far in the loss to Bristol City in the Capital One Cup. An ageing keeper coming to the end of his career, I don’t see him being at Selhurst next season.

Verdict: Out the door

 

Defenders

Joel Ward- Joel has been fantastic for Palace this season. One of the most consistent players, some even say he might be in for a chance for a plane ticket to Brazil. He will continue to blossom as a player, hopefully on Palace’s books.

Verdict: Staying Put

Adrian Mariappa- One of Holloway’s many signings over a frantic summer transfer window. Not the tallest, but he has a decent positional sense and is good in the air. Mariappa is good cover for both the centre back and right back positions.

Verdict: Staying Put

Dean Moxey: Moxey was the player who surprised most of us at the start of the season. He gives his all for the team and the club, yet he gets exposed so easily by even mediocre wingers. Deano would be better suited off at an average championship outfit, where he can enjoy his football more and be more attacking in his play.

Verdict: Out the door

Jonathan Parr: Our player of the year a couple of seasons ago, Parr’s time at Palace has been hindered with injuries since. Better than Moxey, he can defend well, and is willing to put his body on the line- shown at Wigan. A good choice for cover, but I feel Palace need an experienced Premier League left-back if Pulis keeps Palace up.

Verdict: Staying Put

Cardiff Preview

So it’s a trip to South Wales on the cards this weekend for Palace. After such a fantastic result last week, Tony Pulis and his squad will be hoping to take some points off of Cardiff, who themselves come off the back of getting a vital point away at relegation rivals West Brom. It’s going to be a tight, tense game, with neither side wanting to lose. Hopefully it will be the boys in red and blue who are celebrating come the final whistle.

In terms of team selection, in my opinion not much needs changing. Every player who started last week worked their socks off against Chelsea, so it would be unfair for anyone to get dropped. Chamakh will hopefully be returning, but it would be a silly and unnecessary move to rush him back into the starting line-up after a few weeks out. He would probably oust Cameron Jerome from the forwards role if he was to come back into the side, but that would be extremely unfair on the best players last week.

Despite not picking up many points for their efforts, Cardiff have been scoring plenty of goals over the past few weeks, including 3 at West Brom. It’ll be extremely important that the defence stay solid and don’t let any crosses get in to players like Frazer Campell. Every Palace fan knows what a danger Wilfried Zaha can be. The two full-backs are going to be in for a tough game, but hopefully Wilf can have an ‘off’ day against his former club.

It will be a tough game. Palace will be extremely cautious, as they don’t want Cardiff to get three points and catch up in the relegation battle. A draw would keep momentum going, and a win for Palace would see the club almost safe from relegation. It will be close, but hopefully Pulis can get his tactics right and leave Palace fans celebrating this evening.

Up the Palace

Roundup- Speroni, Williams and more

Jonny Williams has been confirmed to be staying at Ipswich for the remainder of the season. This is a good move all round for all parties involved. He will get to hone his skills ahead of cementing a place in the squad next season. Palace will benefit from an improved player when he comes back, whilst Ipswich much be laughing at the fact that they get to keep such a brilliant player on their books for the remainder of the season. Pulis has said that the Jonny has a future at the club, and every Palace fan knows what he is capable of.

The under 21’s pulled off another victory yesterday, this time beating Swansea 3-1 at the Liberty stadium. This keeps their play-off hopes alive, with only one game left to play against Brentford. Currently only a point behind QPR, a win could see them progressing to the next round. This would be a fantastic achievement for Gary Issott’s boys.

There was some fantastic news in Speroni’s recent interview with the Croydon Advertiser. This is what he had to say for himself:

My priority is to stay.

“At the moment I don’t know what’s going to happen.

“As a professional footballer I need to understand different situations and I can’t say any more than that.

“As a player you prefer to sort things a lot earlier but sometimes you have to adapt to how the circumstances go.

“At the moment I just have to see what happens. I can’t thank the fans for all their support and I know they want me to stay.

“I want to stay – and I think the club wants me to stay as well. We need to sort things out. When? I’m not really sure.

“There have been some talks but I don’t think it’s going to happen any time soon.”

I would love Julian to stay and play a role at the club next season. His save against Eden Hazard on Saturday showed what a top class keeper he still is, even at his age. The man has been a hero for Palace over the last decade, and a new contract would be extremely fitting for a man who cares so much about the red and blue.

Up the Palace

Is a summer move for Zaha on the cards?

The Daily Mail are reporting that a summer move for Wilfried Zaha back to Palace could be on the cards. I’m sure that the majority of Palace fans would love this move to take place, but will it be good in the long term?

Firstly, let’s start with the positives. Zaha is a fantastic player, and anyone who was lucky enough to witness him play in red and blue knows what a talent he has. His pace, skills and desire made him caused one of the biggest clubs in the world to sign him last summer. Wilf was loaned back for the remainder of the season, and was instrumental in helping Palace to achieve promotion to the Premier League. It was his goals that led to a victory against arch rivals in the semi-finals, and it was his speed which one Palace the penalty that Kevin Phillips converted on that glorious day at Wembley.

Zaha clearly loves Palace. Being a local lad who was recruited into the youth set up at such a young age, for the majority of his life he has been in and around the club. Pulis loves a fighter, and all Palace fans know that Zaha will give his all for the club. At his peak, he is a cut above the wingers that Palace currently had, and Wilf could easily walk back into the team.

However, he hasn’t been playing regular football all season. A public fallout with David Moyes saw Wilf shipped off to Cardiff in January. Despite glimpses of brilliance, he hasn’t been able to cement a place in the starting line-up. This has meant that his match fitness will have slightly dwindled, so it would take lots of effort pre-season to get up to scratch. As well as this, Zaha still hasn’t been able to prove himself in the Premier League. Everybody knew what he was capable of in the Championship, but will he have the same effect for Palace a league above?

Personally, though, I would love to see Zaha back at Palace. It will be a new start for him, and I know for certain that he will give his all for the club. Everybody know the talent he possesses, and I for one am confident that he will be a massive improvement on what Pulis has available for team selection at the moment. It would just be a case of United letting him go. Saturday proved that miracles can happen!

Press Conference Roundup- Pulis and Mourinho

As we edge closer to the weekend, both managers gave their views in their weekly press conference. But how will everything said affect tomorrow’s game?

Let’s start with Tony Pulis. As always, the man was calm and composed in his presser, answering some questions even before the reporter had finished. It’s great to have someone like Tony answering the questions compared to some of the other previous managers in recent years (I won’t mention any names Mr Holloway…) Anyway, one subject that Tony talked a lot on was the need for some clinical finishing. The chances are being created; it’s just a matter of the ball ending in the back of the net at the end of them. Chelsea are going to be attacking for the majority of the game, so it will be extremely vital for us to take any opportunity which we get. Last week showed us how harsh it can be when the score is still kept at 0-0, even up to the last moment.

Then it moved onto referees. Lots of big mistakes in recent weeks have left the men in black looking over their shoulders as the Referee’s association comes under a lot of scrutiny. The big decisions can ruin games, and some consistency is needed from the refs as the season. That being said, it’s vital that the fans get on Lee Mason’s back all game. Referees often get bullied by the larger clubs, but the home crowd at Selhurst is more than capable of earning the team a few decisions during the game.

It was interesting to see Tony’s reaction about the West Ham fans booing their team off after the win against Hull in midweek. He turned the attention towards the Palace fans, calling them fantastic once again. Palace have hardly played brilliant football this season, so Pulis is trying to encourage the fans to stick with him until the end of the season, even if it may be ugly. It’s always nice to hear that there is still a good level of morale within the club. At the moment, Palace are still above the red dotted line, and now it’s just a case of staying there until the end of the season.

Onto Mourinho, a man who has perhaps become more famous for his press conferences than his actual footballing tactics. He speaks brilliantly, and does an excellent job of taking the pressure off of his team. His main emphasis was on how hard the Chelsea have been working this week. After the first few games of the season, Chelsea would have been laughing about a trip to Selhurst. Now the team have become so regimented that teams actually travel to South London expecting a game. It reflects brilliantly on the job that Pulis has done, but more importantly on the excellent effort that has been put in by the players over the last few months. There is a chance, albeit a very slim one, that Palace can get something out of this game. It’ll be tough, but as Pulis said, the fans have been fantastic. Hopefully the capacity crowd expected tomorrow can inspire the team onto a famous victory.

Up the Palace

 

Chelsea Preview- A big game for both sides

It’s a London derby in two days’ time, something I’m sure every Palace fan looks forward too. Chelsea, who some argue have the potential to win the league altogether, come to Selhurst for what will be only the fourth home game before the end of the season. This is a Chelsea side who will be turning up off the back of a 6-0 win over Arsenal, and who I’m sure will want to be targeting three points to add to their title hopes. In their way stands a Palace side who haven’t scored in 513 minutes of open play. However, we all know that statistics don’t tell the whole truth, and I’m sure I’m not the only one dreaming of a miracle come 3 o’clock on Saturday.

So, how do I think we should line up? Well, apart from the heartbreak at the end, last week’s game gave the team lots of positives to take forward to this week. The main struggle is scoring. Now, Pulis only really has two options to start up front this weekend, with both Gayle and Chamakh out of action through injury. Starting with Jerome mean that his role would be to chase down Chelsea’s defence, and then there would be the option to bring Murray on later in the game. Murray would provide a threat from the off, yet would most likely tire out and have to be brought off half way through the second half. Personally, I would go with option 2. In a game where Palace are only going to be limited to a few chances, someone with a clinical nature is needed from the off.

I said last week ahead of the game against Newcastle that Jerome Thomas should be starting. I stand by this claim, as I feel he is the best crosser in the team, and a combination of his quality balls into the box and Bolasie’s pace will be vital when counter attacking. Puncheon would be the man to be dropped, yet he would still provide a decent option to come off of the bench. Apart from that, the rest of the team should be kept the same. The defence did a good job, and I thought that Dann once again showed that he is a quality player.

The key man in Chelsea’s side at the moment is Hazard. Joel Ward is going to have a tough game coming up against the young Belgian. Chelsea mainly play through the middle, with the front three all interchanging in their roles. This could give Palace an advantage when it comes to the wide players having space, and hopefully the two wingers can exploit Chelsea’s defence. Luckily, Ramires is still banned. Chelsea will be extremely tough to overcome. One of the best defence’s in the league is coming up against the worst attack. Hopefully we will all be celebrating a fantastic win come Saturday evening. There could be an upset on the cards, but who really knows- that’s the joy of football isn’t it?

Up the Palace

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