Make it a two goal lead!

What I don't think works is sitting back. The team simply isn't set up to do that. The whole game plan and formation is based on winning the ball in midfield and pressing the opposition back into their own half. The 6 and two 8s system isn't made to soak up pressure.

Don't think long balls to Tekkers are the way forward either - at least in and of themselves. Better is maintain possession and push further upfield. The moment you resort to long balls you are inviting pressure and in danger of ceding possession.

Beat me to it. We have to keep moving forward - the Arsenal game was proof positive that parking the bus for the last 10 mins or so doesn't work.

Also, instead of bringing on defenders for strikers near the end, we should be refreshing midfield so as to maintain the higher press with fresh legs.

This is an ongoing issue and one that has vexed me since we gave away our one goal lead at Wembley in 1990. The conversation with dad in my car on the way home was grumpy and kept coming back to the same solution.

It seems obvious but we need to improve our ability to keep possession. That day at Wembley we were on the verge of winning the Cup however we allowed Man U the opportunity to take control. Dad and I were convinced that we were just not good enough at the simple task of passing the ball to each other to keep the other lot away from it.

It's the Brentford time wasting answer, but if applied expertly it has to be an effective way to hang on to a hard earned but slender lead.

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

His name's not Mort is it?

A stairway to Heaven and a Highway to Hell give some indication of expected traffic numbers

This. Getting cagey and attempting to protect a one goal lead, almost always ends in disaster. When we're ahead we've clearly done something right, so should keep forging on.

1) Waste time better. Against Arsenal, we didn't do a good job of wasting time when we had the chance. Newcastle wasted so much time against us, and only got one yellow card at the very end for it.

2) Have players who can maintain possession. Against Arsenal we had too many defensive players who couldn't break out or keep the ball away from Arsenal. I would start Ayew on the bench, and sub him in at the end to keep the ball away from the other team. Wilf is also good at this.

3) Don't concede cheap corners. We stink at defending set pieces. Rather than cheaply heading the ball behind, we need to try harder to avoid giving up corners at the end of matches. Newcastle had 25% possession, and 7 corners to our 3 corners. That's a problem.

Basically, we need to be able to park the bus, not concede cheap corners, and occasionally break out with players who are able to move the ball upfield to waste time and take pressure off the defense.

2017 Feb. (Van Aanholt) Palace 1 - 0 Middlesboro
2018 Jan. (Sako) Palace 1 - 0 Burnley
2019 May (Batshuayi, Batshuayi, OG, Van Aanholt, Townsend) Palace 5 - 3 Bournemouth
2020 Feb. (Van Aanholt) Palace 1 - 0 Newcastle