A new manager plays a player in a different position and then doesn't select him for a couple games. Scandalous!

I like Riedewald as a midfilder. Hes able to move the ball forward at pace. Very promising player. Against chelsea id be looking to play him alongside luka with cabaye performing a high press.

EFA :p

His age and coming to a new league/country will take some adjustment, but he clearly has a footballing brain and shows great promise

The unacceptable hinted at it quite strongly. The issue is most of our players give less than acceptable effort or are just inept. But we will blame FDB and pick on a kid he signed

No one's 'picking on him', get a grip. His lack of tracking back wasn't acceptable, and needs to be drummed out of him ASAP. What on earth is wrong with pointing that out.

It would seem he played him in a different position because he didn't rate the other CBs available at time. When he dropped him for the Burnley game it was after 3 poor performances in midfield. It's only Puncheon that can be crap for months and not get dropped

So what part of Mr Palace's post is wrong? And a couple of games that have at the moment set the tone for our season:(.

Agree with this:p

Agree with this but what’s the odds Puncheon plays instead....

He didn't at city so there's a chance:p

Come on, it was awful management. Something FDB excels in by all accounts.

Thought he looked like he actually gave a shit about playing when he came on, unlike some in our last game. MOTD highlighted him as being lazy in one clip but even then he has identified the danger as was pointing the other guy to cover it.

The only questionable thing was trying him at RCB while we were waiting for Timbo to arrive. So the 'hanging him out to dry' comment seems an exaggeration to me. There are differences between playing DM in front of a 3CB vs a 2 CB but not big enough to explain his poor form. Even now I don't think he is playing that well. Improving but still not good enough (he isn't alone but that's not the point here). He isn't winning the ball like he was last year and certainly has forgotten how to win the ball in the air altogether which has been a big problem this year (again at OT). Certainly lost his edge in a situation where he should be able to shine. Hopefully he will keep improving and we will get the 'Luka' bacjbthat we had last year.

Re the tone being set. I would say the state of the squad (balance) following the window and the injuries to key players have had a huge impact that we are still struggling with.

I am just really hoping Roy/Ray will use these 2 weeks to nail down things down because we have to hit the games following Chelsea in some sort of shape. Right now we just seem to have lost our way across the board. I have faith, I am sh******* myself but will hang in there.

Keep the faith Martin :) I still believe we will get ourselves out of this mess, although I am sh***ing myself too. Would just like to get a point on the board asap to settle the nerves. Morata is out. TFM can take Hazard. Chelsea might struggle to score if we can defend properly. That should be the emphasis, especially if Wilf doesn't make it.

Against Man Utd, Riedewald replaced Schlupp. I thought he played left midfield, and I think that's not a bad position for him. He can tuck in to help Luka and Cabaye, and he is very good in possession. But if he plays there then it could allow the left back to get forward, as he should be able to cover at left back also. The thing about Schlupp is he is not as good at defending as Jairo, or as good in possession. Sure, JR doesn't have the same pace to go forward, but we should be concentrating on defending first and foremost.

As for Milivojevic, I have never felt he is as good at winning the ball or heading as some people think. Sure, he is 6'1" but he is nowhere near Jedinak in the air for example. And on the ground he is is not as explosive as someone like Kante. But his strengths are positioning and covering. He is normally in the right place at the right time. And he can play. His passing for a defensive mid is very good, and he is comfortable in possession. Personally, I saw signs of a return to form for him vs Man Utd. I like his passing - quick, first time, along the ground and, crucially, in a forward direction. He's integral. Alongside Cabaye and Riedewald they should keep the team solid.

So I'd go (just midfield and attack):

Townsend----Cabaye----Milivojevic-----Riedewald
-------------------X1-------------X2--------------------

Which can become:

---------------------Milivojevic------------------------
Townsend----Cabaye---------Riedewald-------X2
-------------------------X1----------------------------

I think Riedewald could be very decent for the team in those positions. Another guy who can actually put his put in and win tackles as well as solid passing. A much better option than Schlupp, Puncheon or McArthur in my opinion.

Agree with much of this. I think our lack of striker options makes Chelsea a tough challenge, all but impossible unless we get luck at a corner. I would think our only option is to make the choices around a solid defence and a defensively strong midfield that can retain the ball when we do have it rather than punt it back to them. Jairo seems a good option and I would be tempted to play 2 DMs if Luka and Jairo. The dilemma will be do we give Ladapo a run because he can win it in the air or do we play Sako who will be do better with holding and playing it to a man. I suspect both play but probably would start Sako again. What is clear is that we need to get a workable solution because we have months of this. Likely Ruben, who I would prefer to see in the middle but....

Back to Jairo. I do think he has the composure and intelligence with the ball and I am a big fan of how quickly he moves the ball. It's a bit early to know for sure but the signs are very encouraging.

I love the optimism! You never know of course but our problems are much bigger than not being able to score. We seem to have regressed defensively. That must in part be down to FDB messing up the formation/system but more importantly all the chopping and changing. We need a settled back four and defensive midfield screen.

The defence (imo) has to be:

TFM------Tomkins-----Sakho-----Schlupp

With Luka, Cabaye and RLC in the midfield three, but for the Chelsea game I would bring in Riedewald for the ineligible RLC.


Going back to Luka, there are a few people with short memories. He was absolutely superb last season. I think FDB knocked his confidence, as he did to many other players. He will be back on form before long and is already showing signs of improving.

I thought Luka was looking his old self against both Manchester clubs.

Let him sit in front of that back four in front of Sakho and Tomkins and that's a rock solid spine. It all stems from there.

As for Riedewald I think as long as he can settle here and not want to go back to Holland he can become a popular figure here. People forget how young he is, his technique, intelligence and movement is a class above. It's still a big deal for a 20 year old moving to another country where he's been so settled at the same club all his life.

I really struggle with this FDB messing with their heads thing being a problem now. I don't see how you can play that many years of professional football and be screwed up so badly by a pre-season and playing two and a half matches with 3 CBs. I don't think it stops you jumping for headers, winning tackles or encourages you to make the super dumb mistakes we have seen. I do agree the late arrival Sakho has been an impact (and TBH playing him on the right won't help either).

Re Luka, I desperately want last season's Luka back but we really don't have that yet. Saturday was easily his best game this season and yet he still made sloppy errors. He did have the odd poor game last year too but in between he was a real force. We need that player right now. He has to stamp out the errors though because at DM it really hurts.

The problem - I think - is partly down to FDB constantly chopping and changing the team, playing a certain way in pre-season and then suddenly ditching that for the opening game - e.g. Ward played at RWB when he hadn't all pre-season, Townsend moving from RWB to further forward, and Luka not playing in defence once the season started. On top of that he threw a very inexperienced back three together for the Huddersfield game that wouldn't have barely had any time to even train together. FDB's approach was a car crash. But it's all history I guess...

As for Luka, I'm confident he will come back to being the supber player he is - i.e. as Hodgson will know how to get the best out of him. He was brilliant against the Republic for Serbia a few weeks ago. I just think he was temporarily discombobulated by de Boer!

A long way from getting it on a pitch, and we probably wont see it this season but arguably our best starting line up with the current squad is
------------------Speroni---------------
---TFM----Tomkins---Sakho----Souare---
-------------------Luka---------------------
------------RLC----------Ridewald--------
---Wilf----------------------------Townsend-----
-----------------Benteke------------------------

Bench: Hennessey, PVA, Dann, Cabaye, McArthur, Schlupp, Wickham, McArthur/Sako

Mr Palace will clearly clutch at any straw to show FDB is to blame for everything!

Luka was great last season but he also had a very poor spell towards the back end of last season, I suppose that was down to FDB as well. I can remember a few goals this season and last season where he has given the ball away and the opposition have scored.

Lets not also forget that Big Sam played Townends at RWB, sometimes you try players in new positions. Look at Moses for Chelsea, the Spanish defender who's name I cannot spell now playing CB. Monreal has been Arsenals best player and has changed position.
Shlupp was a winger before being moved to LB.

We need to stop giving players excuses and just accept players sometimes go through poor patches of form. That is football.

When did Big Sam play Townsend at rwb?

I think Cabaye probably has an argument at starting in our best XI, but other than that I would agree with this. Sadly it is a good couple of months away from happening or, in Speroni's case, never happening.

Agree Cabaye is probably the hardest done by. However looks like RLC can only ever play 45 mins well. So half and half may be the way forward...

Away at Man City. Townends started that game rwb.

I'd be playing Sako up front again, for sure. If Man Utd hadn't scored so early on it's a totally different game. And then have space to counter which will suit Sako more. Plus I do think Zaha will be fit so he can play wide left, join in and potentially even switch positions with Sako. Townsend on the right up and down, and deeper.

Main point I wanted to make though is that if we play Riedewald with Cabaye and Luka it will make us less likely to concede, and therefore more likely to get a point. And on top of that it will free up the 2 attackers to concentrate on what they do best. For me it's 2 from 3 out of Sako, Zaha and RLC. So:

Sako + Zaha vs Chelsea
RLC + Zaha vs Newcastle and beyond


Sure, they can press from the front, and come back to help the midfield/receive the ball under less pressure. But playing Jairo will free them up from their rigid defensive responsibilities. it's actually quite exciting to think we might have two mobile forwards! 4-4-2 or 4-6-0.

It's funny how Souare has gone up in appreciation by NOT playing! When he was in the team, I was regularly reading comments (not yours) that we still needed to get a better left back.

Now we've brought in not one but two left backs to replace him, and people have seen they are both pretty naff, suddenly people are counting the days until Souare's return

The fickleness of fans!

I'm not sure I agree with that midfield. That's hugely inexperienced. I like Riedewald & think we'll probably live to regret it should he not work out with us. But Cabaye still has to start for us. Vs Burnley & Man Utd, he was our best player. He still has a lot to offer.

It happens with most players that get injured. They improve their reputation by being absent but notably only if team is struggling. It happened when punch got injured in 2016. I thought he was poor even during our good spell.

Is it fickleness, or is it just that both the left-backs brought in have been massively disappointing? Everyone wanted a better left back than Souare, but we may be coming to terms with the fact that he's still our best one. Unfortunately.

All the evidence is there my friend if you choose to see it :D

Anyway, we move on - FDB is thankfully gone and we have a manager in charge who will get the best out of the players we have. Hopefully by going back to making us hard to beat.

If there's one thing our last few opponents are saying, it's "Wow, that Crystal Palace side under Hodgson were hard to beat!" :D

Until we tried to replace him with better and failed?

Same with Jules, tried to replace him for better and got worse. Sometimes it’s not as bad as you think.

Cabaye still has a part to play!

Give it time sir - it's all part of Roy's masterplan! Lull our closer rivals into a false sense of security before we hit them with the sucker-punch...

These aren't the wisest of comments from Jairo: http://www.croydonadvertiser.co.uk/s...aks-out-574230

Should have kept his mouth shut.

Can't see anything wrong with them to be honest

Said what most people were thinking after that game and not surprising he'll have some affection for the manager who gave him his start at Ajax and then brought him here.

The club paid his transfer fee and still pay his wages, you don't sign for a manager you sign for the club.

He is an employee of the club and making comments like this is a criticism of it. I'm pretty sure if I did something like this publicly about my company I would be lucky to still have a job...

Many a palace player have become great when not playing. Then they come back and nothing really changes.

Nothing very critical in those comments for me. The manager who brought him in has been sacked so of course he's disappointed.

Not sure we've really seen enough to make a definitive judgment on Jairo yet.
Didn't get off to the best of starts, but i'll hold fire until he's had a chance to prove how good he is (or not)!

Schlupp and PVA both look terrible at full back. Maybe his passing in tight areas and technical ability would help at left back where he has played before. He's clearly a much better footballer than PVA and Schlupp.

Maybe the players are not as good as a lot of fans think? Maybe that is the problem

This chap is a proper baller. He has pedigree just like players like Campana, they are passing and moving, forever looking to make options for teammates but unfortunately, we just do not have the movement or pedigree to make a player such as this look good.

He'll be degraded to long % balls down the channels for whatever blunt force we have in attack at present. Although, the prospect of an accurate diagonal on top of our strikers heads would be excellent (When we have a striker that is) - Ahhh to be a palace fan ay!

Nothing at all wrong with what he says

Why? They are 100% accurate. How else would anyone describe sacking a manager after four games

LOL. Is this serious? So you cannot tell the truth when asked? Crikey, time to find a decent company I feel. So, you would get sacked for telling truth..?

Not sure they are too bad are they? He doesn't say anything out of turn.

I haven't heard him say the words on video or anything but as written they are just seem reasonable to me. Re your point re the manager, they get asked in every initial interview - how important has it been that the manager us here. He makes it clear enough that he is happy here in the Premier League. The other players have said things - Punch and Ward was it?

TBH why it even gets reported I don't know but I guess that there are posts on here shows people are interested enough to read it so....

Not sure he should be saying the decision was crazy. He shouldn't be saying anything but I agree that it's not a big deal.

Just seen the other post above - I don't think what he said was a big deal be probably not a good idea to comment on management decisions as crazy. Anyway, I don't think it's a big deal.

Correcting an honest mistake?

needs to be in midfield with loftus, luka and cabaye, in fact a midfield 4 with tim whilst benetekd is out.

Zaha said exactly the same thing at the FIFA show... bet you don't say that about him. Grow up.

Why, he was lured to the club on the back of FdB's appointment, of course he would be disappointed

Sakho was very public in his backing for FdB shortly after he signed, saying he was sure he would get things right and players had to buy in to what he was trying to do. So potentially at odds with the owners? (not really)

Will be a decent player for us. I've seen enough to think he could do a job in midfield. Superior to Schlupp, McArthur and Puncheon.

yep get him into our tired aging midfield. need box to box players

he didn't say any decision was crazy, but that it was the crazy nature of football these days

He must have been demoralised by the shambles at the club over the past few weeks. It depends if Roy and the coaches can convince him he has a future here.

Or it depends on him to convince us if he has a future here. JAT

...

I was quite vocal on this thread about how awful his debut performance was against Huddersfield. But I was also willing to say it was just one match and his first competitive game for us.

Tonight he just looks like yet another physically and mentally weak player and an utter waste of £9m. Pathetic attempt at the clearance and then a pathetic 'attempt' to clear up his own mistake. Turns his back and doesn't do enough to block the shot.

Tonight obviously wasn't solely down to him. The likes of PVA, Punch, Kelly, Henneseey and Lee all deserve plenty of criticism too (in fact bar Sako I think they all do). So I am no trying to scapegoat here but to assess one of 2 summer signings. So far, he looks like an awful buy to me.

he was going to turn us into the new ajax

Wouldn't be surprised if he heads back to Holland in Jan, possibly on loan

Absolute garbage

Waste of money. Hopefully Parish chipped in to buy him but I doubt it.

expect him to carve out a career like Valerian Ismael in time :supergrin:

Sako put the effort in, he is just a useless barrel of shite, should be a wrestler rather than a football player. His goal was poor goalkeeping rather than a great strike, the rest of the game he would mess up every forward move.

So many shocking wastes of money over the past 5 years.

I thought he had an excellent first half TBH and was really enjoying the way he played. The mistake for the goal was a dumb one for sure but you seem again to be writing him off again. For me, at least he knows how to play football and there is hope for him. Some of the others look done.

That useless barrel of shite has scored 2 goals this season. P!ss poor having a dig at one of the only players prepared to have a go.

We've a bad history of spending large amounts of money on players.

Absolute bollox. He played well first half. Our best player.

Agreed. He'd be on my 'keep' list in January.

Thats not saying much, once he is fit he could be a decent back up player thats as far as he goes for me. JR looks far to weak/soft to play for us.

Why can’t fans just admit when players aren’t good enough? This guy is pony but he’s not the only one that’s why we’re in this shit!

His mentally once we were struggling is what worries me the most. As you say he is still young and does have some good attributes, so he could well improve. In that sense I am not writing him off.

But so far, and particularly considering the dire need we had (and still have) in other areas of the squad he looks like an awful signing to me. We were desperate for some more characters and leaders in this squad. To blow £9m on a player who will make our bench at best in the PL while we have 2 keepers (neither really PL standard) and play 6 weeks without a centre forward, just seems like a huge mistake.

He's talking about Sako, and I can't see anyway we will sell Sako in January, mainly as he is out of contract in the summer anyway.

No way should we give him a new contract unless he takes a massive pay cut and we are in the championship.

Surely all of the players have a relegation pay cut clause (I know this can't be the official terminology). He's one I'd actually want in the Championship tbh.

I doubt we will as he is on fairly high wages, will be 30 and is often injured. BUt who knows what is ahead.

He's technically very good but the club need to work him hard in training to improve him physically. He's way too weak to play in defence or midfield at the moment and that's obviously a major problem. But I wouldn't write him off - he's clearly got talent but is not good enough just yet.

It really was a luxury signing though that we didn't need when you look at the glaring gaps in the squad. That £10m could have funded a decent striker or keeper.

That's the real issue. If we had the funds to sign a squad player/ one for the future then fine. But to make this signing while we leave the squad with such glaring gaps in goal and up front is just ridiculous.

Yep, unfortunately so.

Time for him to be relieved of his duties and go collect his giro.

Yeah you are right reading it back. Sako did play well and looks to have been on the slim fast or something. Worry about RLC's stamina but those two deserve to play on Saturday. Riedewald is still very young but I don't think he is as bad as some are making out. Far worse than him patently stealing a wage at the club at present.

Edit: you were wrong. He was talking about Jairo.

In a way, knowing he is technically able makes his lacklustre performance all the more annoying.

I noticed he was sauntering about in the first half, second half he tried even less.

Played like he considers playing for the B team to be beneath him or is sulking that FdB has gone. Either that, or he simply doesn’t think/move quickly enough for English footie.

If he doesn’t show more passion by Xmas, transfer out if possible.

I was talking about Jairo

He is ******* shit.
A complete waste of money and a clear a symbol of our pathetic summer transfer dealings as you could (not) wish to see

He's very young and he's looked half decent at times in midfield. Let's not forget the shit he was playing with today. Luka, cabaye, sakho, will give him a lot of guidance. You can make him stronger and toughen him up. That ability with the ball you can't teach that.

As a match day bench player I think he's fine and he's young enough that he'll improve with the right coaching.

We spent 10m on him.
He looks to have no real strengths.
And looks like a softcock bottle job.

Apologies. I was obviously muddling up two different posts/ thought you were replying to a different one than you were :D

'No real strengths'. His passing and vision is excellent. And if you can't see that then you're just choosing what you see.

What's concerning is his not jumping for headers/general toughness. But that can come with age. People need to remember he's still very young. I don't see people saying the same about Kaikai

Passing and vision??
Jeez he's shown nothing of the sort.
Literally nothing . Name one pass of note ??
If that's what 10m buys you we really should give up.

I hope we keep hold of him.

I bet you hated garvan as well...

Not remotely
I don't hate riedewald either, but think he's plainly out of his depth and has a heart of a pea. Not his fault that we signed him when we shouldn't.

Erm.

I'm afraid he was a ridiculous signing. Not strong or tall enough to play at the back, way down the pecking order of central midfielders or a 4th choice left back and cost 8M when we have no number 10 and only one number 9 and a desperate need for a quality keeper. It was a ludicrous waste of money when we so needed to strengthen in other areas, it really does defy belief.