Crystal Palace v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[supertom]

I thought Sanchez had a decent game yesterday and unless he was tiring, I was surprised he was taken off. He was probably one of our few players on that pitch used to playing in heat like that. I think he'll do well for us this season now he's settled in.

He didn't look particularly tired but it may have been pre-emptive on Timmy's part. Gana looked fucked by the end, as did a few of the other players.

[David_Nab]

Sanchez was offering something ,Gabby and Gestede were offering nothing so why he was removed I don't know...but it was same against United he took off Sinclair who looked bright and left Gabby (again) and Ayew  on who were poor.

[oldham_villa]

Carlos started playing a couple of those lazy passes, which he has in his locker when he's getting tired.

I really wanted to see Ayew yesterday to see how he would cope with the vision of Grealish. Sunderland is an important game. Get some goals, confidence and to see some smiles

[Chris Smith]

I thought Sanchez had a decent game yesterday and unless he was tiring, I was surprised he was taken off. He was probably one of our few players on that pitch used to playing in heat like that. I think he'll do well for us this season now he's settled in.

He didn't look particularly tired but it may have been pre-emptive on Timmy's part. Gana looked fucked by the end, as did a few of the other players.

Sanchez rarely lasts 90 minutes for us. Added to that he has had little rest this summer and it was over 30 degrees yesterday I can well understand why he went off.

[Monty]

Should he not have come off for Veretout, though, if was going to go off? Shouldn't Gabby have been sacrificed for Adama (and probably at half time)? Mitigating factors there may be, but I still don't think Sherwood had a good second half yesterday.

[brontebilly]

Terrible play by Amavi trying to do go past a player in that position with 3 mins to go.

I'm not sure if he had much of an option.  Equally did he call for it, or was it a brain fart on Guzan's part as it was an epic hospital pass.

I think Amavi has a reputation, as we'd heard from a few ITK's just prior to his signing, for taking risks around his own box. It's something that he'll get punished more severely for in this league and something he'll have to cut out.
Better to get it out of his system now, and not potentially in May when points could mean the difference between staying up or going down.

When Amavi received the ball he had two options. Hoof it with his left foot or go inside on his right. He choose the latter which proved to be a mistake. However he is blameless since guzan should not have thrown it out to him in the first place

How can he be blameless if he took the wrong option? Amavi had a very poor second half yesterday, not sure who was meant to be covering him on the left, seemed to be Grealish and Gabby at various stages, neither of which helped much.

Guzan, Richards or even Clark should have pushed the entire back four up ten yards when Guzan got the ball in his hands, forcing him to take his time and kick it long to Gestede. Don't think we deserved a point given how poor we were in the second half mind.

[passitsideways]

I don't think anyone's doubting that Sherwood came off poorly yesterday - Gabby staying on the pitch by itself sums it up. Just that taking off Sanchez, in a complete vacuum, was probably justified - just everything around it was rubbish.

[citizenDJ]

Should he not have come off for Veretout, though, if was going to go off? Shouldn't Gabby have been sacrificed for Adama (and probably at half time)? Mitigating factors there may be, but I still don't think Sherwood had a good second half yesterday.

My opinion too.

Adama for Agbonlahor and Veretout (who I think has been described as being perfectly capable of playing a defensive midfield role) for Sanchez, if he had to go off at all, seem so mind-boggling obvious to me that it makes Sherwood's decisions even more irritating.

I still think we will do OK this season, and at first look it seems to me that we have bought in good players, so as long as Sherwood is capable of learning from these mistakes then he could do well.

That said, I would have hoped that Wilkins on the bench with him would have helped to avoid some of these mistakes in the first place.

[Ian.]

But Wilkins is also learning about the players in the squad.

I'm not worried, it's early days with a very different team from last season. Lots of new faces in a new league. The ability is there to see with the new players, fitness will only get better with every match. Once we've settled the goals will come. Tim will drop Gabby, no doubt, he's not a stubborn type.
Although I think Gabby, Kozak and Ruddy have something to offer I'd like to see someone with a bit of class and technique on the ball and a good eye for space. Hopefully we're looking before the window shuts.

[Louzie0]

But Wilkins is also learning about the players in the squad.

I'm not worried, it's early days with a very different team from last season. Lots of new faces in a new league. The ability is there to see with the new players, fitness will only get better with every match. Once we've settled the goals will come. Tim will drop Gabby, no doubt, he's not a stubborn type.
Although I think Gabby, Kozak and Ruddy have something to offer I'd like to see someone with a bit of class and technique on the ball and a good eye for space. Hopefully we're looking before the window shuts.

That's very heartening to read, Ian J, I was feeling rather deflated after yesterday.
And Tim hasn't bought anybody for a couple of weeks, now, so bring on the new signing!

Thought that he might have got somebody on his travels to Spain etc, last week.  There's still time, though. 

[olaftab]

But Wilkins is also learning about the players in the squad.

I'm not worried, it's early days with a very different team from last season. Lots of new faces in a new league. The ability is there to see with the new players, fitness will only get better with every match. Once we've settled the goals will come. Tim will drop Gabby, no doubt, he's not a stubborn type.
Although I think Gabby, Kozak and Ruddy have something to offer I'd like to see someone with a bit of class and technique on the ball and a good eye for space. Hopefully we're looking before the window shuts.

May be however I am not convinced about Wilkins and fitness is an equal measure as all the team in the League will get fitter and those who were thoroughly professional to start off fit will get even better.

[CT Villan]

Amavi is only partly to blame for a bad decision to dribble with the ball, but the majority of the blame goes to Guzan. He has the ball in his hands and can see the entire pitch, how close defenders are to our boys, and should not have passed it to Amavi in the first place - he made him make a quick decision that didn't need to be made...and don't get me started on their first goal, Clark's defending was abominable and he should have done much, much better.

I think Tim played Bacuna because he was aware of their pace going forward but that didn't work either. I get the feeling that Bacuna now thinks he's made it to the big time, when in reality he's very mediocre. Give Hutton a run out against Sunderland.

Gabby should start every game on the bench or in the stands until he gets rid of the excess weight and shows some desire. He should have been subbed for Traore yesterday and I didn't think Sanchez looked tired at all. He was the best player on the pitch, he seemed to be two steps ahead of everyone else and read the game superbly. If he was tiring then Veretout should have come on for him anyway.

[olaftab]

Amavi is only partly to blame for a bad decision to dribble with the ball, but the majority of the blame goes to Guzan. He has the ball in his hands and can see the entire pitch, how close defenders are to our boys, and should not have passed it to Amavi in the first place - he made him make a quick decision that didn't need to be made...and don't get me started on their first goal,

No don't agree. Whilst I am not a fan of Guzan's distribution yesterday it was entirely Amavi's fault. He had time to receive the ball, control it and deal with it properly. He decided to beat a defender in that area.

[Ron Manager]

Amavi is only partly to blame for a bad decision to dribble with the ball, but the majority of the blame goes to Guzan. He has the ball in his hands and can see the entire pitch, how close defenders are to our boys, and should not have passed it to Amavi in the first place - he made him make a quick decision that didn't need to be made...and don't get me started on their first goal,

No don't agree. Whilst I am not a fan of Guzan's distribution yesterday it was entirely Amavi's fault. He had time to receive the ball, control it and deal with it properly. He decided to beat a defender in that area.

Aftab I completely agree with your summimg up of that situation. It was not Guzan's fault in any way. Amavi made a mistake as all players do
and we move on. Guzan yesterday played very well.

[KRS]

Personally I blame Guzan more than Amavi...the ball should have been sent long but he made the decision to put one of our defenders under unnecessary pressure with just a few minutes to go. Amavi should have put his foot through it but it was a bad decision by Guzan in the first place.

With regards to Amavi, he looked dead on his feet when he completely lost his marker towards the end of the game. The overall fitness and stamina of this team is still not there yet, but coincidentally is just another reason why Guzan should have cleared long.