‘It’s Been A Rebuild’ – The Word On Palace
- Crystal Palace host Leicester City in the Premier League on Saturday (3pm BST kick-off)
- Both sides enter the fixture having collected one point from a possible nine
- South London Press journalist Edmund Brack gave his take on the Eagles’ form this term
- He also assessed the summer incomings and outgoings at Selhurst Park
Beaten 2-1 by Brentford on the opening day, before losing out to West Ham United, the Eagles head into Saturday’s encounter with Leicester City on the same number of points as their opponents, following a credible 1-1 draw away to Chelsea.
Despite their position at this early stage of the campaign, Brack doesn’t believes there are many worries at Selhurst Park surroundings their form of late.
“I don’t think Palace have deserved to lose any of their opening games," the journalist began. “The performance against Brentford wasn’t too bad but they were done by some quick counter attacks. Against West Ham, they had a flurry of chances in the first half. The Chelsea second half performance definitely merited a point.
“The squad hasn’t been complete so, although Palace only have one point on the board after three games, I don’t think anyone is panicking or thinking that they will be involved in a relegation scrap.
“They are lacking a bit flair in the killer areas and that’s something that may hamstring them a little bit until January. It’s going to be really interesting to see how they get on. It’s probably been a bigger rebuild than many imagined it would be heading into the summer.”
Having to adapt to the loss of star man Michael Olise to Bayern Munich has not been easy, but smart signings went some way to softening the blow of being without a player who managed 16 goal contributions in 19 Premier League fixtures across 2023/24.
“Joachim Andersen going to Fulham, I can understand why,” Brack explained. “He has been replaced with Trevoh Chalobah on a season-long loan and Maxence Lacroix, who is only 24, two signings on the face of it that made good sense for the football club.
“The problem is that they have failed to replace Michael Olise this window. He’s probably the best player I’ve seen in a Crystal Palace shirt; his talent, conviction and the unpredictability of what he was going to do every single time he got the ball onto his left foot. Nine times out of 10 it was going to end up in a goal or a goalscoring opportunity.
“He is irreplaceable. It’s hard to find someone of his age and ability and transfer fee. They brought in Eddie Nketiah to bolster the attacking ranks but there is still a little bit of magic missing from this team and that could be a problem for them heading into this season.
“[Odsonne] Édouard and [Jordan] Ayew have both gone to Leicester and they are really good Premier League squad players. I think Leicester fans have already seen what Ayew can do and his ability to win fouls is probably going to be worth the transfer fee alone.
“He will create opportunities with the work that he does, the work rate, the relentless nature to win the ball back and his defensive diligence is really impressive, I can see why Leicester were so keen to have him.
“They’ve kept Eberechi Eze and Marc Guéhi, so there is a strong core, but I would probably suggest the squad is weaker than in the second half of last season, certainly in attacking positions.”
Oliver Glasner’s side produced some excellent performances towards the back end of last season, reaping the rewards of a clear blueprint that the Austrian manager laid down over the course of his first three months in charge.
Now tasked with maintaining that level of consistency, the likes of Jean-Philippe Mateta, Daniel Muñoz and January recruit Adam Wharton could be increasingly important.
He explained: “Palace were turning up to games for the first time in their Premier League history expecting to win, putting four or five past teams without breaking into second gear. It’s some of the best football I’ve watched with really attacking, dangerous play.
“[Mateta] is a phenomenal striker who has completed changed his career trajectory. You wondered if it would ever work but the work that he’s put in off the pitch to get to where he is today, he’s a credit to himself.
“It clicked that he was the main man and he’s really thrived off that. He’s been immense. He is one of the key players and his goals are vital to everything that Glasner is doing at Palace. It's just about making sure he’s got the creative firepower behind him.
“Daniel Muñoz is a real threat down the right-hand side and Adam Wharton was a revelation after his arrival from Blackburn. Things were looking really good, but it might be a bit more of a slog to get there this time.”