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What is likely to go well?
Roy Hodgson’s arrival sparked a change in Crystal Palace last season, and not just because he improved the defence. There was new-found cohesion with midfielders running from deep and flooding the box, a team playing at pace in transition without losing stability at the back. That can continue, given the wonderful defensive spine. Joachim Andersen, Marc Guehi and Cheick Doucoure are the most underrated defensive axis in Europe and I will take no further questions.
Also, for those panicking, ask yourself this: where do Palace always finish? Exactly. They have had 10 straight seasons in the Premier League and have finished between 11th and 15th in all of them. If that could become a bit dispiriting – unexpectedness is sexy – supporters would probably take a season of stability after a difficult summer that hasn’t finished yet.
That stability is aided by a solid core (assuming no more players leave). The five outfield players who started the most league games for Palace last season – Guehi, Andersen, Doucoure, Michael Olise and Tyrick Mitchell – are all young. Andersen is the oldest, having just turned 27; the rest are 23 and under.
What is going to be a challenge?
Look back to those brackets: “assuming no more players leave”. Hodgson has hardly sounded upbeat when discussing the possibility of Olise leaving for Manchester City or Chelsea. Now there is talk of interest in Guehi and Andersen.
The departure of Wilfried Zaha is not quite as monumental as it once was thanks to the way Palace have reduced the onus on him over the last 18 months. But his exit still leaves a symbolic hole in the squad, a part of what makes Palace, Palace. Losing him for free also left no extra budget to reinvest.
But, as ever, the biggest problem is going to be goalscoring. Even with the improvement post-Hodgson’s return, Palace failed to score in 16 league games last season, second only to Bournemouth. They have strikers who don’t score and then nobody wants to buy them so they can’t really afford to buy new ones. Who wants to guess the last Palace player to score 15 non-penalty goals in all competitions during a top-flight Palace season? (Answer at the bottom).
How has the transfer window gone so far?
Zaha’s departure is the headline news, but Palace have at least moved to sign 19-year-old Matheus Franca from Flamengo. His transfer fee, up to £26m if all add-ons are reached, suggests that Palace are mightily impressed by the potential.
The free transfer signing of Jefferson Lerma could well be a masterstroke, but Palace are still a little short. Lerma roughly replaces Luka Milivojevic, Albert Sambi Lokonga and James McArthur, all of whom have left and combined for 31 league appearances last season. But the one-for-three deal means that any injury to a central midfielder would leave Palace short.
The more pressing concern is what happens next, given the obvious interest in Olise, Guehi and Anderson. One of those three leaving would be a cause of severe headaches; two would be potentially disastrous for the season ahead.
Key player
It’s Eberechi Eze, not just for the way in which he transformed a dreary season after Hodgson arrived. Eze wasn’t even a guaranteed first-team starter under Patrick Vieira, a sackable offence in itself. But Eze was given a role that started him in central midfield but with licence to constantly make darting runs forward with or without the ball. He ended the season as Palace’s top goalscorer and their second highest chance creator.
Eze, now 25 and a senior England international, therefore enters the second age of his career. With Zaha gone, he must become a leader. If Olise goes too, he might have to do the whole lot himself.
The manager
Hodgson’s transformation of Palace’s style and results in the space of three months earned him the right to keep the job for another season, but only time will tell if the safe call was the right one. You can fully understand why Palace’s owners wanted stability, and nobody in the club’s history provides more of that than Hodgson. But there were other, exciting names on the market and Palace must have been tempted.
One way to make good on the faith shown in Hodgson is for him to ensure that he maintains Palace’s attacking intent. Supporters, even those who love Hodgson, remember the 2019-20 season when Palace scored 31 league goals and wince. With Zaha leaving, this needs to feel like the start of a new era rather than the last, forlorn knockings of one. An attacking team helps to create that mood.
Prediction
Solidly in the middle of the mini-table they are forever destined to finish in. Oh, and the answer was Chris Armstrong in 1994-95. 13th
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