Crystal Palace in peril of being dragged right into Premier League survival fight as challenging fixture schedule not relenting yet

BY EDMUND BRACK
edmund@slpmedia.co.uk

A general malaise has set in for Crystal Palace since the turn of the year, with Patrick Vieira’s Eagles the only top-flight club yet to pick up three points in 2023.

The South Londoners had an eight-point gap and a game in hand over the Premier League bottom three before the January transfer window opened.

Fast forward two months later and Palace are heading into a three-game run – hosting Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, heading to arch-rivals Brighton and finishing the week off with a trip to Premier League leaders Arsenal – just five points above the relegation zone.

By the time the next international break rolls around, it’s quite conceivable that their only win from their last 17 games in all competitions could be the 2-0 victory on New Year’s Eve at Bournemouth.

It is no secret that Vieira wanted more forward options and experience in his squad, but the style of play has regressed this season.

This is mainly down to two transfer windows lacking investment and which have forced the manager to ditch an adventurous pressing approach and turn his side into a more compact and reserved outfit.

Palace have only scored three goals in a game once this season and have bagged the fewest goals, nine, from open play in the 2022-23 Premier League campaign.

They would need to register 50 shots in their remaining 13 games to equal the number of efforts that Roy Hodgson’s side – which by no means had the attacking talent of this team – managed to record in the former England chief’s final season in charge.

Palace also need to find the back of the net 29 more times this season to equal their 50-goal tally from Vieira’s first season at the helm.

“The problem is that I never win,” said Vieira before the draw at Brentford, when asked whether there could be a shift in style once the Eagles emerge through their tough set of upcoming fixtures.

“The manager is always in a difficult situation. Because we lost a couple of games, I changed the system, and we get a couple of points here and there.

“If I don’t change the system and we keep losing games, the question will be: ‘Why didn’t you change the system because you didn’t get the result that you wanted?’.

“When you analyse our game and not just base it on the result, it’s about, did we create enough chances to score more goals?”

There was a bright 10-minute spell at the start of last Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa.

But once Unai Emery’s side opened the scoring through Joachim Andersen’s own goal, Palace failed to register any shots on target and never looked like getting back into the contest – touching the ball just five times inside Emiliano Martinez’s penalty area.

There is no arguing the Eagles have had a tough fixture schedule, only playing sides above them in the table since the start of the year.

But doubts about the French World Cup winner’s Crystal Palace future have crept in amongst the fanbase.

Vieira will enter the final 12 months of his deal at Selhurst Park at the end of the season and there has yet to have been any noise or clamour over an extension.

When Palace do emerge through the other side of the international break, they only play one team – Tottenham – who are in the top half of the table.

But the danger is that the chasing pack will have closed in and dragged the faltering South Londoners into a relegation battle by the time the Eagles face Leicester at home on April 1.

With the team longing for a win, and the attacking talent at Vieira’s disposal unable to flourish, there are calls in some quarters to replace the manager – but who is out there?

Leeds United were unable to appoint their first choice once they fired Jesse Marsch, and Southampton are already on their third permanent boss of the season.

The managerial merry-go-round is so broken that bottom-of-the-table Southampton wanted to bring in Marsch just a week after he was sacked by Leeds due to their poor run of form and position in the bottom three.

Gone are the days of plumping for the traditional firefighters – Sam Allardyce, Tony Pulis and Steve Bruce.

Sean Dyche, linked with Palace in the past, was employed by Everton at the end of January.

There are no clear options who the Eagles could bring to SE25 at this very moment and unlock an attacking verve that ensured they would keep the club up in style.

Vieira knows he has to find a way of getting goals out of this squad.

But by the time he finds the answer, Palace could be immersed alongside sides scrapping to stay in the Premier League.

With the Palace boss repeating that his squad are still relatively youthful compared to your average top-flight side, it’s whether there is the nous to pick up three points when your league status depends on it.

The pressure is beginning to mount on the former Arsenal midfielder – Palace are slipping into danger.