Crystal Palace began the season aiming to improve on a previous 10th place finish and to become a contender for the top six.
A poor second-half of 2015-16 prevented those plans from materialising and saw then instead fighting in the last month to ensure that they avoided the drop. A strong run to reach the FA Cup Final, where Pardew’s men were defeated in extra time, is perhaps the only slightly redeeming factor for Eagles supporters.
The story
The season started on the right foot with a win that at the time was considered an upset, defeating Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and overall securing five wins from the first nine games to be sitting in sixth position on the table. A good run into the New Year saw them go undefeated in six showings.
This was the peak for Palace and after Yannick Bolasie went down injured just before Christmas and missed two months of football, they were unable to find any momentum and only picked up 11 out of a possible 57 points in 2016 to finish five points above the relegation zone in 15th position.
POPULAR ARTICLES
FA Cup – What We Learned – Crystal Palace 1 Manchester United 2 (AET)
FA Cup Final – Worst three performers – Crystal Palace 1 Manchester United 2 (AET)
Key Player – Yannick Bolasie
It was apparent in his absence for the start of 2016 how much of an impact that Bolasie had on the team. His role on the field was to use his speed and strength to get in-behind the fullbacks and provide for the strikers. He was one of the top scorers for the team with five goals and also supplied three assists.
Although those numbers do not really standout, it was the influence he had on those around him that does. When absent through injury it put more pressure of Wilfried Zaha to perform and at times this got the better of him. With Bolasie on the field they had multiple options going forward, but without him their play was too predictable.
Manager
Alan Pardew looked to have the team playing really well in the first-half of the season when they were challenging for high positions on the table. There seemed to be a lack of leadership coming from the sideline and some interesting tactical decisions were made trying to find the illusive win when the times got tough, however.
A great example of this is against Newcastle on Pardew’s return to St. James Park, where his strategy to waste as much time as possible went against the strengths of the Eagles. By the time they fell behind, they were unable to go back and lost the game 1-0.
Offseason recruitment
The area of concern that needs to be addressed is the front-third of the field. Their top goal scorers in the league all scored just five times, with Connor Wickham being the only recognised striker on the list. The next natural hitman in the team was Dwight Gayle, who scored three.
In the league as a whole they were joint third worst in scoring terms, along with Norwich only netting 39. They tried to rectify the issue in the summer with the purchase of Emmanuel Adebayor, who only managed one goal in the limited time he was given.
Grade – D
The Eagles did not come close to meeting their expectations at the start of the season so there will need to be changes made during the break if they want to challenge for a top 10 position next year. The FA Cup final presented an opportunity to give the fans something to celebrate about, although after an agonisingly narrow defeat, the difficult end to the season is all that remains.
What are your thoughts? Let us know by dropping a comment below via our Facebook comment box. Make sure you follow us on Twitter @Outside90 and like us on Facebook.
