The Same Goal but a Different Ball Game

Article by Dave Graham - Follow on Twitter @DaveG_blog

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It really is back to square one for Crystal Palace. The Arsenal and West Ham games, particularly the latter, have shown the size of the task that will lay before our new manager.

The fight is still in the players – it would be ridiculous and insulting to suggest otherwise. But the direction may not be. The direction that Pulis instilled and that guided us to safety comfortably.

It’s about clean sheets for me. It’s about grinding out narrow victories. We are not going to score many goals, so we must be tight at the back. That is what seems to have been lost over the last week or so.

In terms of tactics, there are many types of manager out there. Managers that like to play entertaining football, that invariably would prefer to win 4-3 than 1-0. Managers like Ian Holloway. This type of manager will get us relegated.

Then there managers like Tony Pulis. Managers who get off on a 1-0 victory. Who arrive at a club and “sort out the defence first”. Whilst Pulis is a genius, please don’t think him an anomaly. He is not. There are others out there.

The players need another. For one, I don’t think they would buy into another way of playing. But also, ask yourselves whether the current crop are capable of anything else? Retaining the ball for long spells? Dominating a game?

To have any chance of staying up I think we must play on the counter. Soak up possession, then hit teams with blistering pace. To achieve success playing like this requires incredible discipline. And that’s where the manager comes in.

This is why I am still a Freedman advokate. He drills his teams to play this waya. He is of the Pulis mould.

CPFC2010’s job – to find the right man, is mammoth. Increased too, by it’s urgency. There are so many managers out there to sift through and the transfer deadline looms. The club is also haemorrhaging morale.

While I’m sure they are aware that we need a defensive minded manager, I believe they also want to see attractive football. Their interest in Sherwood and Hoddle would suggest so.

An attractive brand of defensive football is possible and after a brief think, two managers spring to mind – Oscar Garcia (ex-Brighton) and Roberto Di Matteo. The latter has more experience obviously.

I’ll be honest, Mackay was my first choice. How little we knew.

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