Ayew should have done better with his chance, but I thought he had a pretty good game. He works hard, wins some free kicks, travels well with the ball and has a positive contribution to the game. Especially in the first half, and playing the way we do we need good footballers on the pitch.

Maybe in time Olise will replace him, but IMO Olise has to earn that place. Ayew isn’t bad, and definitely not bad enough to be dropped.

Benteke is an embarrassment. I thought he was the right sub, fresh legs to help press, some extra height for when they started throwing bodies in the box etc. His lack of effort and seaming inability to sprint is just unforgivable. You can (kind of) excuse him not scoring, but effort is free. And he saw how much joy we had with the high press …he just couldn’t be bothered.

Fair point re Ayew. I don't dislike Ayew but he is not a right sided player. Works hard and helps Ward but lacks pace and can't cross the ball.

Part of the problem is that PV seems a very cautious manager. He rarely changes the starting X1 and his subs are pretty predictable.

Last night Tekkers and Kouyate one for Edouard and Luka after c70 minutes were so predictable.

Ayew run himself into the ground. With 10 left i thought would he maybe go to 442 and push Macca on the right and bring on Olise to give us some pace upfront. Instead he goes for the predictable Jeff S option.

Wouldn't be surprised to see Ayew start this weekend although his confidence is getting lower by the game

For Ayew to not actually hit the target or get the keeper to make a save was unbelievable. I was 20 rows back from the goal and it looked bad. Watched it this morning on Sky and it doesn’t look any better.

Tekkers what can you say that hasn’t been said before. That short corner bollocks sums it up really…

In my post match post just now I said I thought it unfair to pick out individuals for criticism after last night's 3rdperformance.

However, Benteke has always appeared to me to be slow and ponderous both on and off the ball. He fails to anticipate where there might be space or opportunity. His redeeming strength is his ability to head the ball, but too often wide of target. Was never keen to see him come to Palace and certainly not keen now to see him stay. Although Edouard needs a little more time to adapt he already looks keener, sharper and faster.

The other subject of this thread, Ayew, is OK. He at least makes a contribution although I yelled profanities when he missed that sitter.

Dad and I watched games standing on the muddy slope of the Holmesdale Road end. He cheered and I rattled.

Do many managers often change their starting 11's when doing well. Over the last couple of games PV has transitioned Luka and Eduard in, and I'm sure Olise will also come in when ready. Out of interest what changes to the starting 11 did you want?

For what its worth I think the subs were right (on paper). The game was starting to swing, and we couldn't really get the ball to stick up top. Plus they are a big side. So bring on some height and some fresh legs. Unfortunately Benteke didn't put a shift in, so we were basically down to 10 men.

Viera isn't stupid and would have seen what we saw. Will he trust that he can bring Benteke on for the last 15 to continue the good pressing work and help lead from the front? I doubt it.

(In the same way that after Jairo's shocker I doubt he'll get a look in for a while.)

You don’t seem to realise that Vieira sees the players in training everyday, has played the game at the highest level and a proven winner. It’s pretty obvious that some on here are far more qualified and a better judge of players than him.