Crystal Palace v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[Small Rodent]

Sanchez was close to dominate the midfield. Quite a ridiculous substitution.

Attack-wise I liked the 20% we played on the floor.

Hated the 80% to Gestede's head, though. If they continue doing that Id rather we hadn't bought him.

My stats obviously, but it felt that way.

[brontebilly]

Played really well in the first half I thought, but instead of a cutting edge up front we had the ambling frame of one Gabby Agbonlahor.

Pardew recognised his side were in big trouble at the break and brought on two. Took off their big signing Cabeye too who was useless.

Sherwood was Lambert esque in his response, their goal was coming for a while. Our equaliser was a fluke deflection and the winner was another comedy show.

Tactically we were a mess but more worryingly was how unfit we looked yet again and the spineless shell revealed itself during the second half.

Guzan 4 - better keeper would have stopped both goals imo, the second wouldnt have come about with a keeper with a brain either
Bacuna 2 - a disgrace to the shirt in the second half, gutless, brainless and Hutton may aswell hand in a transfer request if he doesnt start next week
Richards 7 - dont rate him but probably our best player
Clark 5 - very solid first half but went to pot in the second, another unnecessary dirty yellow card and beaten in the air by Dann for the goal
Amavi 4 - very good in the first half but took wrong options constantly in the second half including the one that cost us the game
Westwood 5 - very good first half but went missing in the second like most of the others
Sanchez 7 - outstanding first half, maybe wouldnt have lasted the full 90 but we capsized in midfield once he went off
Gueye 5 - bright in the first half without ever really threatening, badly struggling for last 20 mins or so
Grealish 7 - excellent first half, think he over indulges in non threatening areas. need him further forward
Gabby 2 - how he lasted past half time I'll never know, only Sherwood knows why he lasted for the full game
Gestede 5 - ran out of ideas a bit but to get the most out of him we simply cant have Gabby getting in his way

Traore 8 - added much needed directness and speed to our attack

Sherwood 3 - another nightmare effort from tactics Tim, crouched back in the dugout while we were all at sea on the pitch, was reminiscent of Lambert at the end.

[Marlon's Hairy Wood]

The main positive for me was that the players who looked the poorest were not the new signings (if that counts as a positive)

I'm looking at -

Clark - too weak in the air and his aimless hoofing really is woeful
Bacuna - not particularly a threat going forward and defensively a huge weak link. Guzan got him out of big trouble in the second half
Agbonlahor - Didn't do a thing

Positives

Traore - came on and looked frightening, you can see the end product needs work but still very good
Sanchez - looked very good winning back possession, distributing the ball and getting those 50/50s. Should be a regular starter
Grealish - I think i forgot just how good he is

[Rudy Can't Fail]

P.S. Grealish, who has all the talent to be a great player, needs to look at Traore and learn that you need to be more dynamic. Stop fucking about rolling your foot over the ball in front of your defender and try and take him on instead. Ivfear he'll be the new lee hendrie if someone doesn't coach him properly.

As wonderful as Jack can be, by the time he'd decided what to do, Palace had 11 men behind the ball. Wonderful ball to Gabby and great to watch but it rarely helps the team.

[Rudy65]

Well.

I haven't changed my opinion from the opening day win at Bournemouth. We ain't all that I'm afraid. I'm struggling to see an improvement over the Lambert years if I'm honest. Ignore the result, look at the chances created, look at the cohesion, look at the movement, the desire, the cutting edge, the creativity. It isn't there.

And yes, I know what the reply will be... mitigating circumstances - so many new players, we need time to gel etc etc.

Fair comment.

But I will say this. If you've spent over 20 million pounds on forwards and you are still starting (and playing 90 minutes for Christ's sake) with Gabriel Agbonlabollocks then you have fucked up. Big time.

As for today's game. Shame for amarvi who has been outstanding up to now, he'll learn from it. Traore Is ready yo start. We need Gil fit quickly. Richards is solid. Sanchez is solid, his distribution is utter wank, but I'd have kept him on and took Gabby off and took a point.

Finally, frustration apart. Add Charlie Austin, lescott and a real right back to that squad and we'll be ok. Without a goalscorer? We're gonna struggle fellas. Sorry.

Yep I agree. Above all else Sherwood needs to find a decent striker in the next week, I'd paid whatever QPR want for Austin tbh.

With Adama's cameo and Grealish back those are the two to play either side of the striker and rest of the team looks solid enough if no frills.

Spot on mr Woo. Ive seen nothing to make me think we will be anything other than bottom 6 this year.

[Risso]

Not good enough I'm afraid.  I'm not sure why we've started handing out new contracts to utterly mediocre players like Bacuna and Westwood either, they haven't been good enough for the last three years, and they aren't going to be in the future either.  Grealish is all fart and no shit, and Gabby must have pictures of Sherwood in a compromising position with Lisa Riley or something, as I can't fathom for the life of me how he continues to get a game.

We need a striker and a right back before all the positivity of the summer disappears.  That said, three winnable games up next, from which at least 4 points is an absolute must.

[Simmons]

Decent game. The kit looks great. We were pretty good in the first half, Palace were all over us in the second. I like what they're trying to do - attacking full backs, Sanchez dropping to cover when they're moving forward.

Gabby's got to be benched. He just doesn't offer anything any more. His chance in the first half summed up his last couple of seasons - still some pace to get there, feeble effort on goal. His finishing is poor, his crossing is poor, his heading doesn't seem what it once was and although still quick doesn't have the same pace to burn that he used to.

Great to see Grealish back, looked great. I quite liked the midfield three for this game - Sanchez was excellent and Westwood good in the first half. Amavi was good and unlucky to lose the ball for the second goal. Defence overall decent. Not convinced that Gestede is going to be able to carry things upfront. Traore = unit. All muscle and directness.

Take Gabby out and start Traore and/or Gil. There are promising signs and you get the feeling Sherwood is seeing what we see and will sort it.

[PaulWinch again]

Sinclair hard done by to be dropped whilst Gabby is getting 90 mins.

Neither deserve to be in the team. Gestede must miss the tactics at Blackburn. I doubt very much he appreciates the hoofs up field all afternoon.

Disagree, Sinclair has something about him and an eye for goal. Gabby has neither.

[andyh]

Sanchez was close to dominate the midfield. Quite a ridiculous substitution.

Attack-wise I liked the 20% we played on the floor.

Hated the 80% to Gestede's head, though. If they continue doing that Id rather we hadn't bought him.

My stats obviously, but it felt that way.

I quite agree, a crap substitution, much like the crap Sinclair substitution last Friday.
And we risk being very, very one dimensional if we continue to think that playing (crap) crosses into Gesteded, constantly,  is our best option.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Sinclair hard done by to be dropped whilst Gabby is getting 90 mins.

Neither deserve to be in the team. Gestede must miss the tactics at Blackburn. I doubt very much he appreciates the hoofs up field all afternoon.

Disagree, Sinclair has something about him and an eye for goal. Gabby has neither.

Sinclair is the new N'Zogbia. All fart, no shit.

[Des Little]

We need a striker and soon. The team looks, on the whole, a much more fluid outfit with lots of exciting attacking options apart from where it counts. Gestede is OK but isnt ready for 90 mins in the premier league right now. Why on earth is Gabby playing? He offers absolutely nothing...not even his nuisance value. He's a waste of a shirt.

[Ads]

Chucked a point away there.

Sherwood made a few errors for me; starting with Gabby, persisting with Gabby and taking off Samchez.

Palace huff and puff and look to hit you on the break, with by and large poor delivery. Taking off somebody as strong in the air as Sanchez and lo and behold we concede.

That we got back into it with Adama and his rocket powered boots should have seen us hold out, as we were never under any significant pressure at any point during the game. Obviously we cant let the absence of pressure get in the way of a Villa gift. I blame Guzan as well for bowling the pull out to put the full back under pressure, as he'd done the same to Bacuna earlier too.

I can't agree that we lack cutting edge. There were more than enough good kno I downs from Gestede, more than enough intelligent through and reverse balls from Jack and more than enough in Adama to suggest chances can and will be created. The problem is Gabby.

He has not got the intelligence to work with others. He should have scored in the first half and it cost us. He should have squared for a six yard tap in the first half and it cost us. You play with ten men and it makes life difficult. The fact we were the better side for the first half is a testament to the other ten.

Second half they came onto us more and Guzan made two decent saves, while we didn't have the same impetus. The equalising goal changed the game; their full back shat himself and the game was petering out. Typical Villa.

They're no better than us. They're the same lingering negatives, but enough positives to be hopeful of being better than the past five years.

[silhillvilla]

2 games running sherwood has made the wrong substitution.
Sinclair last Friday, today Sanchez .

At least our next game looks quite winnable.

[oldham_villa]

I think Tim will see it too Simmons. Let's face it, if he can spot a decent player for a transfer, he must be able to spot someone not delivering.

[passitsideways]

Sinclair hard done by to be dropped whilst Gabby is getting 90 mins.

Neither deserve to be in the team. Gestede must miss the tactics at Blackburn. I doubt very much he appreciates the hoofs up field all afternoon.

Disagree, Sinclair has something about him and an eye for goal. Gabby has neither.

Sinclair is the new N'Zogbia. All fart, no shit.

There's basically no basis for that comment. The last time he got a constant run of games in the PL, he had a decent goalscoring record for a winger. He scored 3 in 12 during his loan spell, and part of that was spent when we had little clue otherwise when it came to attacking. He had a good pre-season. He played at Bournemouth, where the gameplan was conservative, and he was unlucky to be substituted against United.