Crystal Palace 2-3 West Ham Utd (1/1/22)

[Mullhull]

Diop stats....

24 touches of the ball – 13 fewer than Lukasz Fabianski
Completed just 13 of his 18 attempted passes and lost possession of the ball on five separate occasions.

Won just two of his six duels – a failure rate of 66% – conceded two fouls.. one being the freekick that lead to the goal.

Match rating of just 6.4 – the worst of any West Ham starter on the day.

Needs to be replaced.

[sendô]

^ The other thing the stats dont show is how bad he is passing out at the back, and how often he will simply hoof it long to the opposition and set them up for a counter.

[Mullhull]

^ The other thing the stats dont show is how bad he is passing out at the back, and how often he will simply hoof it long to the opposition and set them up for a counter.

There was one about his long passes out of the back reaching their target once out of four attempts.

He just looks like a lost sheep out there.

[Doc H Ball]

Reminds me of Tony Mowbray at West Brom, but with better players.

I reckon if someone walks into your house with a new album, you go to the cupboard and dig out some obscure act from the 70s and tell them to put it on instead.

[Hammer Laffers]

Well. We were rubbish. I can’t believe we win that game.

Oh well.

[Thor]

Great away day. Noisy in our corner and credit to the Palace fans keep behind their team even at 0-3. I far prefer these old school grounds to the rarified "Match day experience" of the Emirates, Etihad or indeed the LS!

[e17]

I reckon if someone walks into your house with a new album, you go to the cupboard and dig out some obscure act from the 70s and tell them to put it on instead.

I reckon he digs out “Raintown” by Deacon Blue or “Sparkle in the rain” by Simple Minds. Something a bit Scottish

[HammerAl]

I reckon he digs out “Raintown” by Deacon Blue or “Sparkle in the rain” by Simple Minds. Something a bit Scottish

Texas if he’s feeling a bit modern.

Or, anything that Moyes likes.

[richneal]

Am delighted with the result.

Palace did more than enough to score a couple more - woodwork and some poor finishing on their part are probably the reason we got 3 instead of one point.
Thought Guiata did really, really well with the double/triple save at 15 minutes. Thought Edourd looked really good, and Ayew had a great first half turning young Ben Johnson inside out. One bit of luck today that definitely did us a favour - thank god Gallagher was out sick. If he was on the pitch with Edourd and Maeta (sp?) we'd be running round in circles.

Where Palace are poor is defending - no different from us with the back four we currently have. We can't defend to save our lives at the moment. All we can do is try and outscore the opposition.

FWIW, I'd have no problems slotting Rice in at CB if it helped: a ball-playing CB is exactly what we need to develop our attacks. The issue is that I haven't got a scooby if he'd actually improve the back four defensively or not.

What struck me today was our defending for the last 10 minutes or so, specifically retaining the ball. Panic doesn't describe it. We regained possession from Palace loads of times and had possession without being pressured. We still repeatedly decided to hoof the ball away - straight to Palace everytime.

Yet another wonder-goal from Lanzini - maybe a poor first touch but he certainly more than made up for it with his second and third touches. Outstanding finish.

[Ironing Board]

I reckon he digs out “Raintown” by Deacon Blue or “Sparkle in the rain” by Simple Minds. Something a bit Scottish

You’re warm. Sensational Alex Harvey Band.

[Ironing Board]

Texas if he’s feeling a bit modern.

Or, anything that Moyes likes.

Preferred Travis and Primal Scream.

So does David….

[kitthehammer]

You could certainly see why diop is fourth choice centreback.
Terrible positional sense, terrible passing and masuaku isn’t much better. I think moyes only withdrew johnson as a precaution because he was on a yellow. It was probably the right call but we were lucky palace didn’t score more.

[Paolopaul]

Based on xG we actually deserved to be in the lead at half time, albeit only 2-1. Palace have always had an issue with scoring so an open game suited us.

Thought we were seeing out the second half relatively well until it went to 3-1, at which point major panic set in.

Ultimately we got the three points, during this festive period we’ve played loads of games and so it’s no surprise to see a slightly sketchy performance.

[pezza20]

To be honest I think once again our issues second half was one of tactics, and a trap that Moyes has fallen into all too often.

First half we were pressing high, on the front foot, making it hard for Palace's defenders to get out, turning over possession in good positions and punishing them. Our first goal came that way.

Second half we fell into the trap of sitting deep and trying to frustrate them. It was the same issue as against Arsenal - both teams are suspect defensively but very good at attacking, with good players that like to run at defenders with the ball. So what do we do? Why give them the ball and let them run at our defenders.

We're all questioning Diop's ability as a high level PL footballer (and rightly so), but the reality is with the amount of possession, territory, touches in the opposition box and shots that Palace had, they should have got something out of that, and it was only their profligacy that really saved us.

Did we even offer anything on the counter? I think we had one good turnover of possession in the second half which Antonio squandered.

The deep, tight, low block has worked well for us in the past, no doubt, but when we did it before we either had better defenders or else three of them there.

Sendo that is true in a way, but we have to take into consideration our players are running on fumes, the team selection has been almost the same every game bar injuries/COVID, and to press high up takes a lot of energy. So it's natural for players to drop off and protect a lead rather than continue what is a higher risk strategy where teams can play through the press and attack you with the pace Palace had.

Viera had them set up well, pace left and right with Schlupp playing a 10 role finding space between Rice and our centre backs, no full well neither CB would come out and get exposed, he created quite a bit first half.

On the balance of play and chances we robbed them of three points however I have lost count of how many times the roles have been reversed and we have come out of a similar game on the other end of a defeat not deserved. The game is not about how many chances you create, it's about how many you stick in the inion bag - we had Antonio and they had Benteke ...

[funky chicken]

We were robbed taking all 3 points, or 1 point against Brentford, Man Utd, Brighton and even Southampton with that stinker of a penalty.

If any team deserved some luck, or to win ugly, it was us.

[Bucksexile]

Let's be honest, we were extremely lucky to win but WE DID WIN! So, who cares.

We get the 3 points. How we did it is irrelevant. Other teams won dirty this weekend.

We know that our back 4 is not first choice but they are doing their best to keep us at the top of the table. What more can we ask of them.

We have to view it as a squad game and the squad are pulling together to get us through this very busy period.

[Long Shot]

World's most competive league, not many easy games for any team especially away from home. Credit to the Palace team and Vera, they give a lot to their fans and play how you should at home.

Competition is a good thing, despite what PGMOL and Sky think. Defenders make mistakes and forwards miss sitters, teams have off days or can't handle an up for it opponent for every club that has and will ever exist. We are not entitled to be be better than any team we come up against.

Small detail is not as important as the big picture. Away win, we move on to the next battle

[Turtlecharityracer]

Lucky to get a result but happy as well needed.
Moyes cautious nature nearly blew it in the second half. Quite a hard watch that half.
Lanzini superb. Rice OK by his standards. Benrhama good moments. Fabianski decent. Not much else to shout about.

[Aceface]

Preferred Travis and Primal Scream.

So does David….

Everyone knows Moyes owns only one record: The Proclaimers, Sunshine on Leith.

[Hamburger]

Johnson got caught out of position badly several times but did play well enough going forward. I don't think wing back will be his forte but he did an ok job filling in.

I still think while we are weak at the back we should be playing 3 across the middle to offer some protection and allow both Rice and Soucek to get forward on occasions. A good old fashioned centre half?