Unfinished business – lack of forward-thinking in last transfer window could make it a bumpy ride for Crystal Palace

Adam Sells is the managing director of Sells Goalkeeper Products. He has followed the fortunes of Crystal Palace since 1976, working within the club’s academy for more than 15 years until 2013. He is a licensed intermediary, representing a number of goalkeepers. Here he assesses the Eagles’ activity in the January transfer window.

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Listening to Patrick Vieira in the post-match press conference at Old Trafford last weekend it was easy to empathise with him.

“We need to score more goals” said the charismatic Crystal Palace boss.

While it may seem that he was stating the obvious, the 2-1 loss at Manchester United was another Premier League game that had just got away from Vieira’s team.

It has become a common theme since the World Cup break.

When Jeffrey Schlupp diverted Cheick Doucoure’s miscued strike past a static David de Gea in the 67th minute at Old Trafford, it represented the Eagles’ first goal in open play in the Premier League since Michael Olise’s 94th-minute winner against West Ham three months ago.

Since then Palace have won only once in 10 matches in all competitions, all of which have been against Premier League opposition.

In five of those eight matches Palace have drawn a blank.

The EFL Cup tie at Newcastle saw Palace knocked out on penalties, after failing to score in the regulation 90 minutes. Though they managed to score in open play during the FA Cup clash with Southampton at Selhurst Park, they were beaten by the team who are bottom of the Premier League.

Palace have, for the most part, been competitive, with the exception of the Fulham and Tottenham home fixtures.

The United game, just like the encounter at Chelsea in mid-January, should have ended with Vieira’s men earning a deserved point. Again, the lack of a ruthless streak at the top end of the pitch was the biggest factor in dropping points. It’s a recurring problem.

While they added much-needed depth in midfield in the shape of Naouirou Ahamada and Albert Sambi Lokonga, it seems incomprehensible, given the downward trajectory and the lack of goals, that the club allowed the transfer window to close last week without strengthening the forward areas.

In fact the Eagles were left with even fewer options than they began January with, having allowed Malcolm Ebiowei, Luke Plange and John-Kymani Gordon to join Jesurun Rak-Sakyi in gaining further experience away from SE25.

There is absolutely no doubt that the long-term plan of loaning the young forwards benefits all parties, but not if it leaves the club short of options as they seek to ensure Premier League football is played at Selhurst Park in the 2023-24 season.

Allowing Ebiowei out, in particular, without adding to the squad seemed more than a little risky.

Ebiowei headed for Hull and sure enough the situation was compounded after Wilfried Zaha’s hamstring injury. Together with four other absentees it meant last Saturday’s teamsheet included just one recognised forward among the substitutes and two goalkeepers. As everybody knows, I love a goalkeeper, but…

The club were linked with a loan deal for Arnaut Danjuma of Villarreal, who first chose Everton and then ultimately Tottenham after Frank Lampard was dismissed.

The agent of Antoine Semenyo, the exciting young Bristol City forward, was another that was frequently featured within Dougie Freedman’s call log. The 22-year-old Ghanaian seemed a very good fit, with his ability to play across the front three.

The £9million transfer fee, and relatively low wages in Premier League terms, would surely have been worth taking a chance on, particularly if the club does not have a huge warchest.

Semenyo, who subsequently joined Bournemouth after Palace dropped out of the race, could have been moved on again had it not worked out and represented little risk versus the reward, particularly given the urgent need.

Had these two talents been added into the mix, the squad would have taken on a wholly different look, providing much-needed depth and leaving Vieira with a plethora of options.

Most importantly they would have had at least a couple of bodies sat in the dugout in every fixture that could come on and make a real difference.

A balanced Premier League squad should have seven or eight forwards amongst it, considering form and fitness, six or seven will always be required for a matchday selection. Currently, any injury or suspension leaves a group already struggling for goals short, with the next best young options elsewhere.

With the mesmeric Zaha’s future uncertain as he enters the final months of his current contract, some strengthening of the attacking department during this past window would have made real sense.

Zaha is one of eight players whose contracts expires in June and a rebuild will be required similar to that undertaken in the summer of 2021.

It is understood that was done with a £100m cash injection via John Textor, who purchased a 40 per cent stake in the club. Reports suggested that the ambitious American had provided further funding this time around, though only Ahamada has been added permanently.

So what of the options that remain at Vieira’s disposal?

It is essential the aforementioned Zaha and Olise remain fit and able. Eberechi Eze’s unquestionable talent must come to the fore to ensure that opportunities are created.

Schlupp’s performance, in a more advanced role last week, suggests that he can be a decent option. But Palace need more goals from all of them. Zaha has six, Eze three and Olise two so far.

It’s pretty much the central role among the frontline that provides the most concern.

Odsonne Edouard really seemed to be hitting form prior to his hamstring injury last November. There is undoubted ability, but the former Celtic striker seems to be very much a confidence player.

Last Saturday, there was a situation just after half-time when Edouard faced up to Lisandro Martinez one on one. An opportunity that looked really for the taking. The silky forward though seemed to completely lack self-belief as he saw the whites of the Argentine defender’s eyes and the chance was easily snuffed out. He has three goals in 1,076 Premier League minutes (roughly one in four matches) and is capable of posting double figures.

Jean-Philippe Mateta has just one Premier League goal to his name this term in 430 minutes (closer to one in five matches) and hasn’t hit the back of the net since August.

The 25-year-old has really struggled to make an impact during this campaign. Last season the powerful frontman was closer to a goal every two-and-a-half games.

Mateta has not used his physical prowess aerially and also failed to convince on the deck.

His awkward style made him a tricky opponent, but that hasn’t been particularly prevalent this time around. Mateta got his chance last season after Covid struck, when it seemed he was set for Saint-Etienne, but the purple patch enjoyed in the second half of last season seems to have been just that.

Roy Hodgson used Mateta for only 218 minutes following his arrival from Mainz two years ago, preferring Christian Benteke. Benteke certainly had an up and down time of it and was clearly not fancied by Vieira. Having hit four goals in six starts during October and November last season, the former Liverpool and Aston Villa player was never selected to start another Premier League game thereafter.

Despite the similarity in size, the Belgian’s ability to win aerial duels and hold up play has not been replicated by Mateta since he departed for Washington DC.

There were rumours that the likes of Everton and Galatasaray were keen to sign Mateta on deadline day, but Palace’s lack of options would have made it impossible. If true, the club may have potentially missed out on moving the forward on with a reasonable profit.

Jordan Ayew, who wears the number nine and prefers to play as a number nine, may be Palace’s best hope in the role right now.

He played there and scored in the only recent victory, at Bournemouth. Ayew was given the starting berth again four days later when Tottenham came to SE25 and many would argue was Palace’s best performer on a hugely underwhelming night.

The Ghanian has not featured there since and has been deployed in a number of roles, scoring just once in 1,412 minutes (which is almost one in 16 matches).

None of the central strikers are scoring freely, but it can be argued that Ayew perhaps can secure the ball best, allowing more final third entries and others to flourish.

His best season in a Palace shirt, which saw him earn the Player Of The Year award, was when he was used predominately as a centre-forward in the 2019-20 season.

It is essential Vieira finds the right formula – and quickly.

His team have scored 11 fewer goals in the same number of fixtures compared to this time last year, averaging 0.9 goals compared to 1.3 across the season in 2021-22. Expected goals have dropped from 1.23 to 0.95 per game.

As I wrote back in November, this is without doubt the toughest and most competitive Premier League campaign ever. Nobody is adrift. All of the teams below Palace have spent big in January – Everton being the only exception. The Toffees didn’t spend and sold Anthony Gordon, but crucially brought in Sean Dyche, who will certainly instil a discipline and make them much harder to play against.

Quite why the Palace ownership didn’t sense the urgency to add to the squad is unknown.

January spending has mainly been a focus in years when the club has been in or around the bottom three, which suggests that some tend to be more reactive than progressive in the approach to doing business.

Speculation in respect of the four main shareholders desired direction for the club continues. Textor has many club projects. Josh Harris and David Blitzer remain silent but are frequently linked with an interest in other clubs.

Steve Parish is pretty much the best thing ever to happen to Crystal Palace but given the level of financial clout now needed to take the club forward, must navigate the course carefully.

Over the past decade in the top-flight, Palace have a net spend on average of about £20-25m per season, which buys generally one player if you look at the club’s more recent business. What makes the task especially difficult, is that so many wealthy owners amongst their rivals are throwing cash at the survival cause.

Let’s hope that as Parish ponders the best way forward, an 11th consecutive Premier League season awaits. The forecasts all appear to give Palace just a small chance of relegation. Sixteen points from their remaining 17 games is required.

Five points from the past 24 and just four goals make grim reading. If the slump is not arrested and the form of the past eight games continues, then the Eagles would be five points short of the traditional 40-point safety mark.

The run of fixtures from January to March is especially tough but a couple of victories would do wonders to soothe the nerves right now.

Let’s hope that Palace can glean another 16 points and the lack of a forward-thinking approach in January doesn’t result in a huge backward step in May.