No doubt SP will claim it’s all part of the plan

Basically the whole club has had a year off. Until now. Pretty crap really.

Modern day football on a fitness/ stamina,'lasting the distance' level is comparable to horse racing.
No matter how hard you train quite a few of our players, they are going to run out of steam after 70 minutes. Yesterday was a classic example.
When Ayew and Wharton had to go off, Mateta, Ward, Mitchell, Andersen heads had dropped and legs were gone.
Some of our players are like 8 furlong runners on the flat as opposed to 2 and 1/4 mile runners.
If you look at the picture at the top of this website today, not one Spurs players foot is on the ground, such is their athleticism.
Im sure Glasner has clocked this and there will be significant adjustments this summer.
All the modern top teams are packed full of distance runner style players. Fast,strong, athletic and capable of lasting 100 minutes comfortably.
The top half of the premier clubs are packed out with this style of player. I reckon its where we will be heading next season.

We certainly cannot afford to drop him with Guehi being unavailable for a while.
Should Andersen/Richards/Ward become injured, then either Tomkins is introduced (God forbid) or there might be a consideration to revert back to a traditional back four with full-backs.

Edited by Willo (03 Mar 2024 12.13pm)

Everything I post in Palace Talk is based on a deep understanding of football tactics and vast experience with sporting failures.

My take:

Munoz is super fast, but when he ended up forward on the left side it scared me and left a gaping hole down the right. Which Tottenham exploited. Ayew was there, but they were able to get so far down the pitch uncovered.

Every time the ball was headed away it was Ward (mostly) or Richard’s. I thought Ward played a good game, the headed goal was a tough one to defend (see below). Richard’s played very well. It’s taken a while, but he’s developing into a very good player.

Andersen made a mistake. Lerma also ran right past the player. Silly by both. The commentator said Andersen should have fouled Son before the 3rd goal. He’s an idiot, would have gotten a straight red card and been out for 3 important games. Sheesh!

Wharton was really good. He belongs at this level. I thought Lerma should have come off instead, he was on a yellow and doesn’t play the same with a card. Hughes was disappointing.

Mateta had an alright game against probably the best CB in the premier league right now.

Edwards and Fraca were invisible. I only remember them losing possession.

Maddison should have never been unmarked and had the time to turn and lob the ball in. I’m not sure who should have been there, but that was the root cause of goal #2.

Goal #3 was just a result of us pushing for the equalizer.

Eze’s goal was magnificent. I was upset when substituted, but understood. Ayew fell on the ball and was holding his ribs afterwards. Hope it was just sore.

Edited by Daddyorc (03 Mar 2024 12.57pm)