Talking points: Liverpool defeat the latest to expose Eagles leaving Sage on the brink
Crystal Palace find themselves at the bottom of the Premier League table following a dismal 3-1 home defeat to Liverpool. The loss at Selhurst Park marks a fourth consecutive league defeat for manager Pierre Sage, whose brief five-month tenure is now hanging by a thread.
Having taken just seven points from their opening ten matches, the South London club is facing an existential crisis heading into the November international break. The club hierarchy may decide that this is the time for a change in the dug out.
Capital Football looks at a few issues which have contributed to the Eagles' slide.
Rearguard regression
Palace currently hold the worst defensive record in the Premier League, having conceded a staggering 24 goals in just 10 matches.
The high-tempo, possession-dominant blueprint Sage successfully utilized at Lens has completely broken down in the face of English football's intense physical and transitional demands. That in itself raises questions over the differences between the respective leagues and the manager’s inflexibility.
The Eagles’ structural fragility has left the squad completely exposed out of possession, and heavy defeats - most notably a humiliating 5-0 hammering by fierce rivals Brighton - have stripped the players of their confidence. Alexander Isak’s goal which capped Liverpool’s win at Selhurst Park yesterday was a simple process which left the defence all at sea.
The problem is not the likes of Tyrick Mitchell who was excellent yesterday, against Sage’s apparent tactical remit. Palace are a side who simply do not defend as a team when out of possession - and at this level they are being found out for this lack of rigidity. Critics of Sage insist that a potential replacement, Sean Dyche, would have the team better organised in their own half of the pitch while leaving goalscoring to solve itself.
Distractions
In Sage’s defence he has had to oversee a summer of difficulty regarding personnel. The coach has had to navigate a toxic cocktail of heavy summer turnover and unsettled key players. The high-profile sale of club icon Marc Guéhi to Manchester City and Max LLacroix to Chelsea left a massive, unaddressed vacuum in central defence. In particular, Guehi’s protracted departure left Palace unsettled and it appears the club is still coming to terms with its attempts to solve the vacuum.
Then there is the issue of Jean-Philippe Mateta. Currently injured, the striker’s absence was cited as a reason for the slump against Liverpool. Yet Mateta, via his agitation to seek a future away from South London, is not necessarily the answer to current problems. The same could apply to Ismaila Sarr as well. Sage has been diplomatic in his media briefings but privately he must be frustrated at a a backdrop of fire fighting. Nevertheless, positive results in the filed ensure such distractions seldom feature in the discussion of Palace’s season.
The shadow of success and Glasner
Irrespective of how fans feel on the manner of Oliver Glasner’s departure, which saw the Austrian end up at Nottingham Forest, he will always be symbolic of fine times and unprecedented success at Crystal Palace.
The rapid regression under Sage is made even harder to swallow for the Palace faithful because of how high the benchmark was set. Glasner’s extraordinary period of success, securing an FA Cup victory and a UEFA Conference League trophy before moving to Forest is unprecedented at Selhurst.
To fall from such glory to rock bottom of the Premier League in a matter of months may well have exhausted chairman Steve Parish and the board’s patience. Sage has been constantly compared to Glasner's tactical sophistication, and his inability to replicate that competitive edge has left him firmly on the brink.
Exposed Eagles
Ironically, Place had bright moments in the first half against Andoni Iraola’s side, including Yeremi smashing the ball against the bar during a decent spell. However, Liverpool taught the Eagles that taking chances is what it is all about.
During Sunday’s loss, the fundamental flaws of Sage’s tactical setup were laid bare by the ruthless Reds. Despite starting the match with plenty of energy, Palace once again proved completely incapable of defending basic set pieces. A major flaw which, if not addressed, could see Palace really struggle despite good individuals such as Mitchell and Adam Wharton.
That Liverpool midfielder Alexis MacAllister was allowed to drift into the box entirely unmarked, meeting a Dominik Szoboszlai free-kick with a soft header to break the deadlock was something Eagles fans are struggling to digest as an ongoing trend.
This recurring systematic flaw has plagued Palace all season. Does this point to a severe lack of detailed defensive drilling on the training ground? Is Sage reluctant to spend hours on these basic repetitions during the week? If so, it is costing the team massively both in terms of points and morale.
Such basics would likely be implemented by the likes of Dyche if Parish opts to make a change. In any case, such defensive dithering cannot go on. Over the international break the Eagles’ executives have a crucial in-tray to administer – and it may well call time on Sage in South London.
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