It has certainly always been an uphill climb for Crystal Palace both in London and the Premier League, but they have done well enough for long enough to have a reasonable expectation for them as a mid-tier team in England’s top flight. They improved their overall point total by three points from a year ago and while that may be only an incremental growth, they have to be happy about finishing ahead of four teams that spent double the amount of money that they did.
Pardew Is The Right Manager For This Club
The season seemed like a nightmare for Crystal Palace fans as they reached the Christmas break with just three wins to their name. However, Alan Pardew was appointed to the manager position at that point and shortly after, they went on a run of eight wins in 12 matches. Even in the losses they were quite competitive as Everton, Arsenal and Southampton barely edged them out during that stretch. It was just a great run that renewed the overall sense of confidence in the team. Palace rallied the remainder of the way to finish with 48 points and narrowly edge out Everton and West Bromwhich Albion for 10th in the table. The 10th-place result was actually Crystal Palalce’s best ever since the formation of the Premier League. Pardew certainly had his fair share of critics when he took the job but he has earned the respect of his peers ever since and there is no doubt now that he is the right man for the job.
Road Sweet Home
One of the most interesting aspects about Crystal Palace’s season was the way the team performed away from home as they posted a 7-6-6 record as the visiting team compared to a 6-3-10 record as the host side. According to the numbers, Palace would have placed fifth in the table based on their road record alone. The main difference was the goal differential as they scored 26 and allowed 24 on the road compared to scoring 21 and allowing 27 at home.
Crystal Palace lost just once as the away team to a team outside of the top seven and they scored more away goals than both Liverpool and Manchester United while conceding less away goals than Chelsea and the same as Manchester City. Crystal Palace was excellent away from home all season and if they can match those numbers while improving at home next year, they will undoubtedly move up in the Premier League standings.
The Midfield Strength
There is no doubt that the strength of this Palace team is in the midfield, which is why Pardew’s 4-5-1 formation was absolutely perfect for this club. Jason Puncheon nearly matched Glenn Murray for the team lead in goals with six while Mike Jedinak, Wilfried Zaha and Yannick Bolasie all played at a very high level. They would definitely benefit from some better finishing, though, as Palace only converted 47 goals on the season, which was 10th-most in the EPL. The midfield is strong but for them to compete with the big boys, they’ll need someone a little more capable at the end of those midfield runs.
The Striker Need Is Obvious
Speaking of which, Murray’s seven goals paced the club up front but that is a very low total for a Premier League side that will want to climb the standings next season. While they only have so much money to go around, there should be an emphasis on the striker position. Experience and depth aren’t really the type of luxury that Palace can expect up front but if they can find one or two key young players that can provide a boost up front, they will finish higher than 10th in the standings.
The latest rumor has Crystal Palace eyeing Chelsea striker Remy. He’s making 10 million pounds but Chelsea seems to be looking bigger than him as they’ve been linked to Falcao and Christian Benteke. If he’s available, Crystal Palace would do well to scoop him up.
