Crystal Palace Fan View: Signs of improvement but West Brom could have been beaten

Plenty of excuses for Crystal Palace

A number of factors conspired against Crystal Palace in the build-up to their draw with West Brom. James Tomkins, who looked so impressive in tandem with Mamadou Sakho on Tuesday, was ruled out through injury, along with Yohan Cabaye. Scott Dann was taken ill overnight and Wayne Hennessey was injured in the warmup, meaning Speroni stepped in at the last minute.

Speroni’s presence was perhaps a blessing in disguise given his string of impressive stops but nevertheless, all that meant naming just 5 substitutes, one of which was Bakary Sako and none of which were another goalkeeper.

Then there was the train and hotel debacle. A train journey meant to last just over an hour turned into one that lasted five, and a wedding in the team hotel meant both the festivities and noise extended well into the early hours of the morning.

In the build up, not a lot more could have gone wrong. On the pitch, thankfully that wasn’t the case.

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Attacking struggles continue

Crystal Palace yesterday earned the questionable honour of being the first Premier League team to fail to score in 10 consecutive away games. Another unwanted record to add to the pile this season…

I am supportive of most of the work Roy Hodgson has done since he came in, but I cannot fully understand the idea of Zaha playing through the middle and Ruben Loftus-Cheek playing wide. It allows Hodgson to employ the 4-4-2 system that, to be fair, probably affords more protection to our full backs and has contributed to us conceding fewer goals.

However, is it worth sacrificing both Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Zaha to achieve? Wilfried is much more effective out wide, and I would love to see Loftus-Cheek employed as a driving force in behind Christian Benteke with Townsend and Zaha ready either side of him. The ineffectiveness of Ruben on the right hand side of midfield has also contributed to Christian Benteke’s struggles, which aren’t solely self inflicted.

Though Benteke again failed to put away a sitter, he’s not receiving an awful lot of service. Playing the duo of Townsend and Loftus-Cheek narrows our play as both have a tendency to drift inside, not an approach that plays into Benteke’s strengths.

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The bigger picture

West Brom were beatable on Saturday – they could very well have beaten us, but one chance and the reverse is true also. Once again we ‘respected the point’, ensured we took something from the game after a number of factors conspired against us in the build-up, but that point lifted us up to the dizzying heights of 18th and just three points from safety.

Next up are two tricky home games. First Bournemouth, who have recovered from their slow opening four games, and then a Watford side who have impressed under Marco Silva. Neither will be pushovers, but given both are at home we have to be looking at picking up three or four points from the two.

We have made enormous strides in the last half a dozen games, we’re just three points off safety, but everything ultimately comes down to perspective. If we pick up four points from the next six, these last two draws will look invaluable, a perfect foundation to go on and be succesful against Bournemouth and West Ham. Fail to pick up a win in the next two games and we may look back at this and the Brighton game and rue a missed opportunity.