Palace...ruining weekends since 1861. Yet I still can't wait for our next game.

Doucoure had shown very little IMO when asked the question in the final third under Vieira and had lost his way by the time PV was sacked.

He's played 45 games and not managed a single goal. Lerma's obviously has had fewer games but his stats around attacking / team play aren't exactly inspiring.

Don't get me wrong they're solid defensively but it's rather like just having two more defenders.

The goals and guile have to come from somewhere and it feels a bit like we have another situation where we have a huge over reliance on a bit of magic from one or two players.

Ayew had a long and arduous journey returning from International Duty. Therefore he started on the bench.

Old, Ungifted and White

Still no excuse to play Schlupp ahead of him. Schlupp is diabolical.

I'm normally the last person to defend Roy, but what options does he have as the side virtually picks itself?
For example,I would contend that a choice between Ward and Clyne or Mateta and Edouard or Hughes/Schlupp/Lerma is unlikely to be game changing.
The centre backs, keeper and left back pick themselves (in the absence of competition for Mitchell).
Roy has already given an indication that he doesn't believe the young players are ready, and I trust his judgement on this.
That being said, if Eze and Doucoure are out I hope Ahamada gets a chance to offer something different from midfield.

We finished last season well, even without Zaha, and this has possibly led to some complacency from the board around the need for strengthening.
This has come back to bite us.

Coaching, watching them day in day out. Thinking about how Luton might play against us. Thinking we have weaknesses at FB and how to mitigate that (against Luton FFS). Analysing what went wrong against Everton. Fixing it. Having a plan B.