During commentary today the following little nuggets of information were revealed:

1. Palace, as a team, have covered the least distance in the league this season...

[Link]

2. Zaha is the most fouled player in the league, followed by Ayew (the link shows grealish in second place, but Ayew would have moved 'ahead' of him today).

What to make of this?

Regarding mileage, the stats show that there isn't a big difference between the highest and lowest distances, and certainly no correlation between distances run and league position, so perhaps the only significance is whether we are running less this year than last, and whether that is deliberate.

I think the commentator said we were running far more last season (our number of sprints is also down apparently), and attributed the change to the loss of Gallagher. No doubt such an energetic player will be missed of course, but even he can't cover enough ground to significantly alter our total number of miles all by himself.

Regarding how often Zaha and Ayew are 'fouled', they both clearly aim to win free kicks rather than beat the opponent, which is a big part of why our attacking play is so stodgy and dull. I certainly doubt players are going out of their way to stop Ayew in the way they did Eden Hazard or whoever.

As the often-excellent Efan Ekoku said in his role as summariser, Gallagher would often instigate the press, thereby compelling his team mates to join him, which in turn results in more ground covered, and being most fouled is nothing to be proud of as it usually means you're holding the ball too long and/or can't find a teammate with it.

Still though, it all fits with what we have seen I think. We ain't running very hard, and instead of crosses and through balls, our forwards are providing us with an endless string of free kicks on the half way line.

During commentary today the following little nuggets of information were revealed:

1. Palace, as a team, have covered the least distance in the league this season...

[Link]

2. Zaha is the most fouled player in the league, followed by Ayew (the link shows grealish in second place, but Ayew would have moved 'ahead' of him today).

What to make of this?

Regarding mileage, the stats show that there isn't a big difference between the highest and lowest distances, and certainly no correlation between distances run and league position, so perhaps the only significance is whether we are running less this year than last, and whether that is deliberate.

I think the commentator said we were running far more last season (our number of sprints is also down apparently), and attributed the change to the loss of Gallagher. No doubt such an energetic player will be missed of course, but even he can't cover enough ground to significantly alter our total number of miles all by himself.

Regarding how often Zaha and Ayew are 'fouled', they both clearly aim to win free kicks rather than beat the opponent, which is a big part of why our attacking play is so stodgy and dull. I certainly doubt players are going out of their way to stop Ayew in the way they did Eden Hazard or whoever.

As the often-excellent Efan Ekoku said in his role as summariser, Gallagher would often instigate the press, thereby compelling his team mates to join him, which in turn results in more ground covered, and being most fouled is nothing to be proud of as it usually means you're holding the ball too long and/or can't find a teammate with it.

Still though, it all fits with what we have seen I think. We ain't running very hard, and instead of crosses and through balls, our forwards are providing us with an endless string of free kicks on the half way line.

Been saying for a good while that Zaha is a big part of the problem why we don't create many chances - he holds onto the ball too long when there are better options with the pass. Either to be channelled down the line into no mans land or cut inside and selfishly hit a scuff shot for the keeper to collect, this when there are a couple of Palace players lined up for the simple pass. Happens all the time. Quick ball is what we need, but we have too many hands on hips strollers for it to become truly effective.

During commentary today the following little nuggets of information were revealed:

1. Palace, as a team, have covered the least distance in the league this season...

[Link]

2. Zaha is the most fouled player in the league, followed by Ayew (the link shows grealish in second place, but Ayew would have moved 'ahead' of him today).

What to make of this?

Regarding mileage, the stats show that there isn't a big difference between the highest and lowest distances, and certainly no correlation between distances run and league position, so perhaps the only significance is whether we are running less this year than last, and whether that is deliberate.

I think the commentator said we were running far more last season (our number of sprints is also down apparently), and attributed the change to the loss of Gallagher. No doubt such an energetic player will be missed of course, but even he can't cover enough ground to significantly alter our total number of miles all by himself.

Regarding how often Zaha and Ayew are 'fouled', they both clearly aim to win free kicks rather than beat the opponent, which is a big part of why our attacking play is so stodgy and dull. I certainly doubt players are going out of their way to stop Ayew in the way they did Eden Hazard or whoever.

As the often-excellent Efan Ekoku said in his role as summariser, Gallagher would often instigate the press, thereby compelling his team mates to join him, which in turn results in more ground covered, and being most fouled is nothing to be proud of as it usually means you're holding the ball too long and/or can't find a teammate with it.

Still though, it all fits with what we have seen I think. We ain't running very hard, and instead of crosses and through balls, our forwards are providing us with an endless string of free kicks on the half way line.