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Great Expectations – Crystal Palace

While writing up my recent post on last season’s manager impact, the transformation that Crystal Palace went through caught my eye. From changing managers from Neil Warnock to Alan Pardew, the team moved from 18th to a respectable 10th in 20 games. Also notable were some surprise results such as the 2-1 victories over Tottenham and Man City as well as the 3-1 away win over Liverpool.

Warnock v Pardew

Under Neil Warnock [18 games]
Shots: 196

Shots to Goal Ratio: 9.8
Goals: 20

Average Goals Scored per Game: 1.1
Goals Conceded: 30

Average Goals Conceded per Game: 1.6
Clean Sheets: 3

Games to Clean sheet ratio: 6.3

Under Alan Pardew [20 games]
Shots: 246

Shots to Goal Ratio: 9.1
Goals: 27

Average Goals Scored per Game: 1.35
Goals Conceded: 21

Average Goals Conceded per Game: 1.05
Clean Sheets: 4

Games to Clean sheet ratio: 5

Pardew’s Key Players

The improvement in attack was one of the most eye catching differences, even though under Pardew Palace’s defence was still porous. A key factor in the improvement in front of goal was the stellar set piece threat Pardew installed at Palace. From GW19, when Pardew took over, until the end of the season, Crystal Palace topped the table for most set-piece attempts. Likewise they led the way with the most goals from set-pieces during this time, tallying 12 goals alongside Arsenal and West Brom. This accounts for 44 per cent of their 27 goals under Pardew in the latter half of the season.

The players that helped achieve this strong set piece threat include Jason Puncheon, the skilled winger who was given a Fantasy Premier League (FPL) 0.5 price rise this season to 6.0 but dropped to 5.5 by the end of the campaign. His penchant for free kicks and strong points return over the last three seasons is quite appealing going into the new term. He delivered three points less than his 2013/14 season with just over 300 extra minutes. So hopefully we may see another 6.0 starting price next season, giving Puncheon the opportunity to become a mid-priced bargain similar to Swansea’s Gylfi Sigurdsson last season.

Considering the threat that the team carries from corners and free kicks, it is hard to overlook centre-backs as an option, even if Palace still struggled to find clean sheets under Pardew. At this stage, it is difficult to know whether Pardew plans to bring in another centre-back, but there remains a few choices available currently. Joel Ward has been fielded at right back in recent seasons but can play well at centreback, so perhaps Pardew plans to strengthen in this area and return Ward to his natural position. The safest pick in my opinion is Scott Dann, who notched two goals last season. Damien Delaney was also heavily involved since Pardew’s arrival but lacked the goal threat of his fellow defenders. However, an interesting one could be Brede Hangeland should he nail down the other defensive spot. The veteran Norwegian signed a  one year contract extension recently and played the final game of the season against Swansea. A potential cheap defender, yet at this stage, it seems likely he will be used as cover. Should the 34-year-old win a starting place though, his presence in the box combined with Palace’s set-piece threat might see a similar goals return to that of his 2010/11 season. Food for thought at least…

Lastly, other notable mentions are Yannick Bolasie, who saw himself given a more advanced role near the end of the season, and Miles Jedinak the club captain. The latter has had his share of set-piece duties over last season and has been a key player for Palace, yet investment in the Australian may be low in comparison to his other teammates.

Bøwstring The Carp Active since 2011 on FFS. Occasional poster and community article writer. Twitter: @MattKearney92 Follow them on Twitter

9 Comments Post a Comment
  1. J0E
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • Has Moderation Rights
    • 14 Years
    8 years, 8 months ago

    Great stuff. I have a love hate relationship with Puncheon...too often I left him on the bench. Advice for anyone getting him is play him every week. If you rotate him you will be disappointed.

    1. Jaws
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 9 Years
      8 years, 8 months ago

      Since Pardew took over, Puncheon's stats went sky high. His PPG at a 6.0-6.5 value is simply amazing.

  2. Cthulhu @ Left Back
    • 9 Years
    8 years, 8 months ago

    I love watching Bolasie - with most players you've got a reasonable idea of what they're going to try to do next but with him I've absolutely no idea. Given that too many games are more like chess it's great to have a bit of unpredictability.

  3. Exdeo
    • 9 Years
    8 years, 8 months ago

    I see Palace continue their nice form from last season's second half, so will include a midfielder, but the big question is Puncheon or Bolasie? I guess Puncheon will give the regular points return, but Bolasie is more of a punt...

  4. Bojan Horsemack
    • 10 Years
    8 years, 8 months ago

    A good read. Have to say that despite Dann's major goal threat I still wouldn't go near the Palace DEF with a thirty foot pole, unless Pardew tones down his gung-ho approach.

  5. Tasty Jerk
    • 11 Years
    8 years, 8 months ago

    Interesting read, thanks for that. Only mistake in your report is regarding Ward.
    His best natural position (and the one he has reported being his favourite) is actually right back not centreback. He was played at left back lots at the beginning of last season under Warnock as LB had been a problem for us then, but both Kelly and more recently Souare have remedied the LB situation under Pardew who realised Wards best/natural position is as RB. He has filled in and can play very well as DMC so not sure if that confused the issue?

    Kelly is the player who could be most likely to switch to CB as seen when we beat Liverpool. Your right about Dann though and Brede to a lesser extent as being the best first choice options for points returns from our defence.

  6. dribbler
    • 14 Years
    8 years, 8 months ago

    i think the defence improved a lot as your stats show

  7. internal error
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 11 Years
    8 years, 8 months ago

    Whats the best premier league club, Bolasie could play for/get into the side?

    1. Tasty Jerk
      • 11 Years
      8 years, 8 months ago

      He is a beast, but far from the finished article, so still not sure a top 6 club would go for him yet. But the potential is there, he started training early a couple of weeks back to get to peak fitness for start of season, he really could fly out the blocks for us, just hope he doesn't do to well to quickly or January could see us loosing him. Either way watching him and Zaha tear up the wings (Now Punch has gone central) is a thing of beauty, long may it continue! 🙂