Crystal Palace v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[The Edge]

We knew that Palace were knackered and had a weak bench. We should have gone for the jugular from the first minute and taken advantage of our extra energy/quality on the bench. Instead, we fannied around at the back, moved at a snails pace and played right into their hands.

A missed opportunity. I don't give a shit about our history with Palace. On the night we had more than enough in our squad to win that game comfortably. Two points dropped.

Rant over.

We did go for the jugular from the off. Ollie missed two great chances and we totally bossed large parts of the game. Palace weren't knackered. They may have had a couple of big names missing but the replacements were very lively and uber competitive as Palace always are against us. I thought it was a good performance that with better finishing could have seen us win that one comfortably.

[Keeno]

We knew that Palace were knackered and had a weak bench. We should have gone for the jugular from the first minute and taken advantage of our extra energy/quality on the bench. Instead, we fannied around at the back, moved at a snails pace and played right into their hands.

A missed opportunity. I don't give a shit about our history with Palace. On the night we had more than enough in our squad to win that game comfortably. Two points dropped.

Rant over.

We did go for the jugular from the off. Ollie missed two great chances and we totally bossed large parts of the game. Palace weren't knackered. They may have had a couple of big names missing but the replacements were very lively and uber competitive as Palace always are against us. I thought it was a good performance that with better finishing could have seen us win that one comfortably.

Agreed, I thought we started really well actually. Watkins had those two chances that weren't 'sitters' but you'd have backed him to score 1 of them on current form.

Second half to be fair they upped the level and we had to defend well. And we were very unfortunate to not get a penalty.

Happy with a clean sheet at their place. If we continue to repeat this pattern of winning and home and picking up points away for the next month or two we'll hopefully have created a solid enough cushion within the UCL places to be able to go all in on Europe.

[Rigadon]

When they lose Wharton and (I hate) Guehi(s) they will struggle like they've historically struggled - they are both very good players.  When they leave, which they will very soon, they will be left with the likes of Will (can foul with total impunity) Hughes et al.  But we had more than enough chances to win that match and didn't take them, and that is our Achilles heel this year like conceding goals on the first attack was last season.

Watkins gonna Watkins and we have to accept that, as great his attributes are, he will often miss chances you need him to score.

[The Edge]

When they lose Wharton and (I hate) Guehi(s) they will struggle like they've historically struggled - they are both very good players.  When they leave, which they will very soon, they will be left with the likes of Will (can foul with total impunity) Hughes et al.  But we had more than enough chances to win that match and didn't take them, and that is our Achilles heel this year like conceding goals on the first attack was last season.

Watkins gonna Watkins and we have to accept that, as great his attributes are, he will often miss chances you need him to score.

I think the times come for us to get a striker in who puts those type of chances away. I really like the look of Thiago at Brentford and his stats are great. I'd be more than happy for us to raid Brentford yet again and sign him. It would probably be cheaper to poach whoever it is at Brentford who keeps unearthing great strikers that no one's heard of. Their record in that department is remarkable.

[Crown Hill]

Not sure we earned a clean sheet so I wouldn’t take solace from that!

I like our commitment and passion. We could do with a couple of additions in January to lift the place!

[eamonn]

Did you see the sitter Haaland missed last night? Worse than anything Watkins has hit recently. If you expect your striker to score with every shot he gets, you're gonna be disappointed forever.

[The Edge]

Did you see the sitter Haaland missed last night? Worse than anything Watkins has hit recently. If you expect your striker to score with every shot he gets, you're gonna be disappointed forever.

No one expects that though. It would be unreasonable to expect a striker to score every time but it's not unreasonable to want a better conversation rate than Ollie currently has. I love Ollie but you can't deny he's missed a lot of sitters this season. I don't think Unai would want to lose him but I bet if he would jump at the chance of javing a prolific goalscorer at his disposal.

[berneboy]

Not the worst tbh.

Arsenal lose to Liverpool tomorrow and we've gained a point.

If we can’t win the league then maybe we need Liverpool to lose and help ensure we qualify for Champions League spot.

[ChicagoLion]

But there is nothing more enjoyable than seeing those norf landan foreva wankers crying in their shandy.

[paul_e]

For now lets look up the table not down, the chances of us dropping enough points and 3 clubs below us picking up enough to catch us are pretty slim so Arsenal and Man City dropping points is the priority.

[RamboandBruno]

For now lets look up the table not down, the chances of us dropping enough points and 3 clubs below us picking up enough to catch us are pretty slim so Arsenal and Man City dropping points is the priority.

Completely agree.

Also in relation to other posts on our achilles heel and Watkins etc, we’ve just had one of best first half a seasons in our history. We are clear in third (joint second). Comparatively with what we have done with all but a handful of years in our history, we haven’t got much of an achilles heel really. 

[FatSam]

I think the times come for us to get a striker in who puts those type of chances away. I really like the look of Thiago at Brentford and his stats are great. I'd be more than happy for us to raid Brentford yet again and sign him. It would probably be cheaper to poach whoever it is at Brentford who keeps unearthing great strikers that no one's heard of. Their record in that department is remarkable.

I agree that it would be better to poach the scouting team rather than an individual player. Brentford sign 22- and 23-year olds for £20-30m, which bears all the hallmarks of a Moneyball approach. Igor Tiago is certainly looking like good business at the moment. I wonder what Brentford fans thought at the time about signing a 23-year old for £30m after one season in the Belgian league, having been previously been signed for £6m after one season in the Bulgarian league.

[Rigadon]

For now lets look up the table not down, the chances of us dropping enough points and 3 clubs below us picking up enough to catch us are pretty slim so Arsenal and Man City dropping points is the priority.

Completely agree.

Also in relation to other posts on our achilles heel and Watkins etc, we’ve just had one of best first half a seasons in our history. We are clear in third (joint second). Comparatively with what we have done with all but a handful of years in our history, we haven’t got much of an achilles heel really. 

Not wanting to be argumentative for the sake of it, but as much as I've enjoyed the amazing run we've been on (what a time to be a Villa fan as I keep telling my kids), you can always improve.  Certainly that is what Emery is clearly targeting.  We can actually win this league with a bit if injursy fortune and maybe an astute signing or two.  I do think our main (albeit 1st world) problem is that we aren't clinical enough.  That doesn't mean I expect Watkins, who has loads of lovable qualities and attributes, to score every chance either. But he misses a lot of chances and I'm not sure anybody can really disagree with that. 

Commentary on how things can improve after this last couple of months isn't being ungrateful for the run we've been on - it's just aiming high.
 

[colin69]

Dominated the first half without really creating much. Palace came on strong second half and looked like they might score but 0-0 isn’t the end of the world after our recent results against them.

[LeeS]

Anyone seeing a conspiracy is making the same mistake all conspiracy theorists make. Ignoring the bleeding obvious. If the powers that be wanted us to lose they could easily have given either of the two penalty shouts Palace had. That would have been easier than denying us a penalty shout later on that might never have come.