Crystal Palace Season Preview: the Hodgson revolution

With the 2018-19 Premier League season coming up, The Football Lab spoke to Jay from excellent Crystal Palace blog The Eagles Beak (@TheEaglesBeak).

In four of your five Premier League seasons since promotion, you’ve gone into New Year 17th or lower, only to end up safely in midtable. Why do you think the club consistently finds itself in relegation battles, yet handles them so well?

In terms of the latter, probably the experience being involved in them sees us cope with them so well! Not too sure why our first half season are generally difficult but you could point towards the fact that more often than not there has been a change in each summer, particularly with the managerial position. You could also question our activity in the transfer market has often been left rather late. I guess if we knew the real answer, we wouldn’t be doing it!

Wilfried Zaha has always had pace and trickery, but over the last couple of years he seems to have improved his end product drastically. You must be proud of his development?

Wilf has really come of age and grown into a quite brilliant player. He revels in his role at Palace and while there is no doubt he will go on to bigger and better things, we believe we will enjoy him for one more season at Selhurst. Following the well publicised stint at United, he has just got his head down, trained hard, and we are now seeing the very best of him which is a delight to behold.

Zaha and Andros Townsend often started as false nines in the latter stages of the season. Does the fact Roy Hodgson changes things up when Christian Benteke wasn’t performing suggest he’s a more flexible manager than sometimes given credit for?

The biggest criticism of Roy last season was timing of substitutions in games but a lot of that was being down to the bare bones more often than not. He has proved in just one season back in club football that he is a very good manager and he just fits for Palace like he did at Fulham and West Bromwich Albion before. A lot of what we saw last season was getting the best out of the players available to him and while it took some time to get going, our strong finish to the season proved that we were always better than our position suggested.

Alexander Sorloth didn’t quite hit the ground running after signing in January. Do you wonder if his lack of defensive awareness can be a problem when he plays on the left of a front three?

It was always going to be difficult for Alexander in what was a big jump but he needs to be used as the main striker in the absence of Benteke rather than being played out wide as part of a front three. It is quite clear that he is striker that will need a run of games and most expect Connor Wickham to move ahead of him this season. However, it will be a pleasant change to have options up front for a change.

From the outside, Wayne Hennessey has always appeared a little suspect. Are you glad to have signed a new goalkeeper in Vicente Guaita?

Unfortunately, while Wayne had a good second half of the season, he rarely fills anyone with any confidence. With the return of Mamadou Sakho to the side alongside James Tomkins (who has yet to lose a game as a pairing), that helped him an awful lot. New signing Vicente Guaita has to be the number one from the start of the season. A very respected top class goalkeeper in La Liga and there is no question that it has been a problem position for us. Just hope we do not experience another Steve Mandanda situation as we have tried changing it before.

Right-back Aron Wan-Bissaka enjoyed a nice breakthrough campaign last year. Is it important to have hungry players in this team who perhaps have something to prove?

Yes, it is very important and the make up of the squad for this up and coming season may have an air of youth about it. We have lost the likes of Bakary Sako, Damien Delaney, Yohan Cabaye and Lee Chung-Yong over the close season due to contracts ending and while three of these were effectively squad players, there is a feeling that why not use young players to bolster the squad – unlikely they will be any worse and on lower wages of course. We still have Jonny Williams around who we are desperate to see succeed in a Palace shirt, as well as Sullay KaiKai, Nya Kirby, James Daly and Jason Lokilo who have all been highly rated.

James Tomkins looked good last season, making a lot of crucial last-ditch blocks. How much do you read into the fact you’re unbeaten in 15 when he and Mamadou Sakho start together?

It means that they are a terrific fit together and while both have had their injury problems, they were key to our excellent recovery in the second half of last season. Tomkins is one of those no nonsense centre backs who fights for the cause for the duration he is on the pitch.

Sakho is a little different as he likes to play the ball which puts fans on the edge of their nerves but they have a very good understanding whenever they play.

Your most-used left-backs last season were Patrick Van Aanholt or Jeffrey Schlupp; neither, you’d necessarily class as a defender. Do you welcome Pape Souare’s return to fitness?

From having no options at left back to three has been wonderful but there were times when it was not clear which was better, however, van Aanholt has made the position his own after making great strides last season and chipping in with a number of goals too.

Schlupp is one of those utility players who will always suffer from not having a true position unfortunately. Great for us of course as he can play in a number of different positions and his pace is unreal.

It is a shame for Pape that his horrific car accident came when it did and there is a question as to whether we will see him back to his old self but it was a very special moment to see him play again last season.

Sullay Kaikai has shown potential in the EFL. With Ruben Loftus-Cheek gone, do you reckon the 22-year-old could get a chance on the left side of midfield?

This is a real difficult one to answer. I like many other Palace fans will hope so and he is being given a chance this pre-season so far and he has responded with a couple of goals. It is likely that he may be a make-weight in a potential future deal but a lot depends on what plans there are on getting players in as we expect one or two to arrive.

There are still hopes of attracting Loftus-Cheek back what with the changes at Chelsea and the signings they have made in midfield.

Luka Milivojevic showed an impressive array of qualities last season. Is it fair to say he’ll offer you a lot more than your average ball-winner?

Luka has been just fantastic since he joined, and has fast become a fan favourite. A real tough tackling midfielder who can add his share to the goal tally throughout a season. A real leader in the middle of the park that can pick a pass. He was handed the captain’s armband for that reason when it was clear that Scott Dann and Jason Puncheon would not return from injury. He is a typically passionate midfield player who will put in everything he had in every game he plays and will no doubt be one of the first names on the team sheet each week.

Yohan Cabaye has left for Al-Nasr in the UAE. Can Jairo Riedwald grow into that deep-lying playmaker role? Or will you only play two central midfielders and go for energy with James McArthur?

If there is one think Frank de Boer did for us in his short tenure in South London, it was signing Jairo who was much touted across Europe by a number of top clubs. Now he has a season under his belt at the club but not having many opportunities to impress, the floor is his now to show what he can do. There is no reason why he cannot be a good fit in the middle for this side but again, whether his role will be behind Luka or another midfielder coming in remains to be seen. I hope he is given the chance to make a position his own.

Eagles aside, what are your thoughts ahead of the Premier League season as a whole? How do you assess your competitors?

There has been quite a change in personnel what with three formerly established Premier League clubs being relegated last season so that is a warning to sides like Palace. With three new teams added to the top division, adding to the three that are heading into their second season, it could be quite interesting in the bottom half of the table. That will not change the top six clubs fighting for those top six places though, although it would be a nice surprise for one team to upset the balance a little.

Where will you finish?

It is for Palace to prove we are a decent side and go for a top ten finish again. Amazingly, we finished 11th last season which looking back really does not tell the whole story. There is no doubt, that the majority of clubs will be aiming for that magic 40 barrier first and go from there and we will certainly be no different. It depends what stage of the season we get to that point, if indeed we do! With an element of stability under Hodgson, I’m going to go with a 12th place finish.

The Football Lab’s Verdict

Crystal Palace now have a range of options up top that will keep opponents guessing. Vicente Guaita’s arrival could solve the keeper conundrum and they have the basis of a strong spine in Mamadou Sakho, James Tomkins and Luka Milivojevic. A high-calibre partner for the latter – and perhaps one or two full-back upgrades – might be needed before they enter the top half, but a season away from the dogfight would be a step forward. 13th