Are we boring and does it matter?

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Are we boring and does it matter?

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palaceexile hastings 06 Dec 23 2.08pm
Don't think there can be much argument about this - we are a well-drilled, dour side that can grind out a result (nobody likes playing against us), but we show very little excitement or attacking intent, and we can't score goals (which is why nobody else likes watching us). We have taken over Stoke City's old mantle. End of last season, when we were more-or-less safe and we had Eze, Olise and Zaha to throw at defenders while Andersen sprayed pinpoint long passes to the wings, it looked like a new chapter was being written under Roy 2.0. I felt proud when commentators started raving about how good our football was to watch. But it was a false dawn. This season has been back to hands-to-the-pump dull. It's partly because of injuries and departures, but it's also down to Roy's innate cautious conservatism. Can you imagine us putting 3 past Arsenal like Luton just did? I'm one of the few on here who lamented Pardew's leaving. I still do. He had an impishness about him. He knew we'd never win the league, so he had a real go at the cup competitions (and nearly won the FA Cup, had it not been for Clattenberg). But nowadays, we all know at the start of the season we're never going to win anything. Just hang on and survive. Does it matter? I think so. Last week, thanks to BT, we lost our broadband for 7 days, which meant I couldn't get Sky to watch our game at West Ham. I decided to go to the pub to watch, but when it came to it, I couldn't be bothered, and did a spot of gardening instead, which was much more enjoyable. I never thought the day would dawn when the Palace would be live on TV and I couldn't be bothered to watch it. Does it matter that we are so boring to watch? You betcha it does.
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palaceexile

hastings 06 Dec 23 2.08pm

Don't think there can be much argument about this - we are a well-drilled, dour side that can grind out a result (nobody likes playing against us), but we show very little excitement or attacking intent, and we can't score goals (which is why nobody else likes watching us).
We have taken over Stoke City's old mantle.
End of last season, when we were more-or-less safe and we had Eze, Olise and Zaha to throw at defenders while Andersen sprayed pinpoint long passes to the wings, it looked like a new chapter was being written under Roy 2.0. I felt proud when commentators started raving about how good our football was to watch. But it was a false dawn.
This season has been back to hands-to-the-pump dull. It's partly because of injuries and departures, but it's also down to Roy's innate cautious conservatism. Can you imagine us putting 3 past Arsenal like Luton just did?
I'm one of the few on here who lamented Pardew's leaving. I still do. He had an impishness about him. He knew we'd never win the league, so he had a real go at the cup competitions (and nearly won the FA Cup, had it not been for Clattenberg). But nowadays, we all know at the start of the season we're never going to win anything. Just hang on and survive.
Does it matter? I think so. Last week, thanks to BT, we lost our broadband for 7 days, which meant I couldn't get Sky to watch our game at West Ham. I decided to go to the pub to watch, but when it came to it, I couldn't be bothered, and did a spot of gardening instead, which was much more enjoyable. I never thought the day would dawn when the Palace would be live on TV and I couldn't be bothered to watch it.
Does it matter that we are so boring to watch? You betcha it does.

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Goal Machine The Cronx 06 Dec 23 2.42pm
Haven't read the thread and can't read the full article, but it seems harsh. Unnecessary dig at Palace. When we have a full squad, I would argue we are probably one of the more exciting teams to watch. We've been without our two stars (Eze & Olise) for almost the entire season. Many of us were optimistic of a strong season but the back to back defeats to Everton and Luton, now followed by the latest Eze injury, has really knocked the wind out of us. Mid table it will be again. I think the boredom - which I feel too - is that we are never in the mix for either relegation or Europe. Unless we have a cup run it's a dull existence. The game against Leicester last season felt like our biggest game in about 7 years. For a club of our size, without key players, all we can do is be organised and hard to beat which we're generally good at. Hodgson isn't the problem. He'll play to the strengths of our squad. At the moment with injuries our strength is defending. If we're truly honest, we're not relegation candidates and haven't been for years. In my opinion we should sacrifice a few meaningless league points and go full throttle in both cups. Who honestly cares if we finish 9th or 15th?
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The Cronx 06 Dec 23 2.42pm

Haven't read the thread and can't read the full article, but it seems harsh. Unnecessary dig at Palace.

When we have a full squad, I would argue we are probably one of the more exciting teams to watch. We've been without our two stars (Eze & Olise) for almost the entire season. Many of us were optimistic of a strong season but the back to back defeats to Everton and Luton, now followed by the latest Eze injury, has really knocked the wind out of us. Mid table it will be again.

I think the boredom - which I feel too - is that we are never in the mix for either relegation or Europe. Unless we have a cup run it's a dull existence. The game against Leicester last season felt like our biggest game in about 7 years.

For a club of our size, without key players, all we can do is be organised and hard to beat which we're generally good at.

Hodgson isn't the problem. He'll play to the strengths of our squad. At the moment with injuries our strength is defending.

If we're truly honest, we're not relegation candidates and haven't been for years. In my opinion we should sacrifice a few meaningless league points and go full throttle in both cups. Who honestly cares if we finish 9th or 15th?

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leejaneagles 06 Dec 23 3.12pm
Originally posted by Goal Machine Haven't read the thread and can't read the full article, but it seems harsh. Unnecessary dig at Palace. When we have a full squad, I would argue we are probably one of the more exciting teams to watch. We've been without our two stars (Eze & Olise) for almost the entire season. Many of us were optimistic of a strong season but the back to back defeats to Everton and Luton, now followed by the latest Eze injury, has really knocked the wind out of us. Mid table it will be again. I think the boredom - which I feel too - is that we are never in the mix for either relegation or Europe. Unless we have a cup run it's a dull existence. The game against Leicester last season felt like our biggest game in about 7 years. For a club of our size, without key players, all we can do is be organised and hard to beat which we're generally good at. Hodgson isn't the problem. He'll play to the strengths of our squad. At the moment with injuries our strength is defending. If we're truly honest, we're not relegation candidates and haven't been for years. In my opinion we should sacrifice a few meaningless league points and go full throttle in both cups. Who honestly cares if we finish 9th or 15th? I agree to an extent but it is the huge under-investment that makes it not a straight choice of cup run or 9th-15th. We have so many injuries to our key players no backup options (1 left footed left back in the whole squad is a joke), that it gets to Cup Game time on a Tuesday and the players are absolutely shattered from the Saturday. Generally, this leads to a second string team and our second string is the worst thing about us due to the under investment. If a First Team should finish 10th in the league then you'd hope a second string would finish 15th in the league. But our true second team would finish 20th with record low points they're that garbage. You could flip it and say well, put the starting 11 in the cup and the second string in the Premier League games either side but that's not a guarantee of moving from 9th to 15th. It's not as straightfoward as that. If the 2 games either side of the Cup games are Sheffield and Burnley, we need to play our starting 11 because if we lose those, we're going to go down.
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leejaneagles

06 Dec 23 3.12pm

Originally posted by Goal Machine

Haven't read the thread and can't read the full article, but it seems harsh. Unnecessary dig at Palace.

For a club of our size, without key players, all we can do is be organised and hard to beat which we're generally good at.

Hodgson isn't the problem. He'll play to the strengths of our squad. At the moment with injuries our strength is defending.

I agree to an extent but it is the huge under-investment that makes it not a straight choice of cup run or 9th-15th. We have so many injuries to our key players no backup options (1 left footed left back in the whole squad is a joke), that it gets to Cup Game time on a Tuesday and the players are absolutely shattered from the Saturday. Generally, this leads to a second string team and our second string is the worst thing about us due to the under investment. If a First Team should finish 10th in the league then you'd hope a second string would finish 15th in the league. But our true second team would finish 20th with record low points they're that garbage.

You could flip it and say well, put the starting 11 in the cup and the second string in the Premier League games either side but that's not a guarantee of moving from 9th to 15th. It's not as straightfoward as that. If the 2 games either side of the Cup games are Sheffield and Burnley, we need to play our starting 11 because if we lose those, we're going to go down.

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Goal Machine The Cronx 06 Dec 23 4.10pm
I'm certainly not suggesting we rest all 11 players for an important Prem fixture, because you're right that our next 11 is pony. I also don't buy into our players being 'shattered' with our schedule. We have no European commitment, a handful of internationals, we get byes in the early cup rounds. We only have 38 league fixtures compared with 46 in the football league. December is the month of exception. Man City played 65 games last season, plus most of them played a World Cup. There's no reason why their players should be fitter than ours. Technically better yes, but not fitter. In cups we've lost to the likes of Southampton, Derby, Bournemouth, Colchester, Middlesborough in recent years. We should be resting only players who need a rest and getting the job done early against these 'lesser' teams. If we're 3 up after 60 mins, you take your key players off then. If the big guns are resting key players, our strongest 11 should be good enough to compete and we can realistically push for some silverware. I also believe that winning breads confidence which you can take into your league form. If we accept we're a mid table Prem team at best - which as things stand, we are - we're going to continue with a dull existence unless we take the cups more seriously. I think that would help keep the fans engaged.
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Goal Machine

The Cronx 06 Dec 23 4.10pm

I'm certainly not suggesting we rest all 11 players for an important Prem fixture, because you're right that our next 11 is pony.

I also don't buy into our players being 'shattered' with our schedule. We have no European commitment, a handful of internationals, we get byes in the early cup rounds. We only have 38 league fixtures compared with 46 in the football league. December is the month of exception. Man City played 65 games last season, plus most of them played a World Cup. There's no reason why their players should be fitter than ours. Technically better yes, but not fitter.

In cups we've lost to the likes of Southampton, Derby, Bournemouth, Colchester, Middlesborough in recent years. We should be resting only players who need a rest and getting the job done early against these 'lesser' teams. If we're 3 up after 60 mins, you take your key players off then. If the big guns are resting key players, our strongest 11 should be good enough to compete and we can realistically push for some silverware. I also believe that winning breads confidence which you can take into your league form.

If we accept we're a mid table Prem team at best - which as things stand, we are - we're going to continue with a dull existence unless we take the cups more seriously. I think that would help keep the fans engaged.

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