Last night, I watched a team that has struggled to produce under the pressures of relegation all season destroy one of the biggest clubs in Europe in one of the most convincing and comprehensive 3-0 performances you’re ever going to see. Just nine days prior, I watched that exact same side achieve an equally unlikely victory (on paper anyway) against the Premier League’s champions in waiting, Chelsea, who’d previously failed to win across all competitions just three times since October.
But rather than focusing on the mini-revolution Sam Allardyce is leading at Selhurst Park, winning six of their last nine compared to just four of their first 22 games in the Premier League this season, the whole footballing world has been blindsided by firstly, the potential implications the shock win at Stamford Bridge could have on the Premier League title race and secondly, whether last night’s thumping 3-0 will serve as the final nail in the coffin for Arsene Wenger’s generation-spanning Arsenal tenure.
Perhaps that’s largely inevitable, but the sheer scale is somewhat surprising. Take a look at Mail Football’s homepage this morning; the top five stories are all Arsenal-centric reaction, with their Monday night nemeses getting little more than a polite mention. Big club bias to the extreme but to be honest, we’re probably all starting to get a little bored of whether Arsenal fans do or don’t want their under-fire manager to sign a new contract. The debate’s been raging on for the best part of five years.
Don’t mistake this as a rant from a fan with a chip on his shoulder; I’m a Charlton supporter and was one of the 20-odd thousand who sung ‘We sent the Palace down’ at The Valley as Jonathan Fortune’s late equaliser returned our local rivals to the Championship in 2005.
Nonetheless, Allardyce has lead a side in complete disarray when he took over in December 2016 to six points clear of safety, the joint-second best form streak in the Premier League and wins over two of the division’s former champions, one of which will finish in the top six at a minimum this season and the other with a strong chance of winning a league and cup double. So, here’s what the media is failing to produce – several hundred words on how brilliant Crystal Palace are at the moment, and why the Premier League should fear them going forward.
Claudio Ranieri’s presence in the Sky Sports studio was fitting, because Palace produced a real Leicester-City-esque performance against the Gunners last night. The centre-backs were protected, the defence and midfield were organised, the wingers were given room to jet up the pitch on the counter-attack and the forward play was direct and clinical, Andros Townsend netting Palace’s first real opportunity of the match. It’s exactly the kind of football Arsenal hate to play against and exactly the kind of football that turned the Premier League on its head last season.
Forget about the Gunners’ misgivings, Palace were nothing short of excellent in every area of the pitch. Allardyce’s game-plan was bang on the money and not for the first time in recent weeks – 15 points from the last possible 18 speaks for itself.
Of course, we’ve seen Allardyce produce similar feats with relegation-threatened sides before; in fact, it’s what the one-time England manager has largely based his career on. But this Palace team doesn’t feel like it’s simply being patched together just in time to spare themselves from spending 2017/18 in the Championship; it feels like the perfect Allardyce side, the one he’s been waiting for to break his own stereotype of a survival specialist, the one who can go on to match his greatest achievement to date – qualifying for European football with a Bolton Wanderers side he brought up from the second tier.
That may seem hyperbolic – about as hyperbolic as some of the Arsenal coverage – but the difference between Allardyce’s more recent tenures and his current one is that he inherited a clearly talented side that wasn’t adequately converting quality into results. The January signings have made a massive difference, particularly Mamadou Sakho and Luka Milivojevic, but even those already at Selhurst Park previously are talented players who fit perfectly into Allardyce’s philosophy, yet arguably upgrade on what he’s had at his disposal before.
Take Christian Benteke, perhaps the most obvious example. Excepting his short spell as England manager, Allardyce has never been privy to such a well-suited goalscorer. Kevin Davies and Andy Carroll lead the line for Bolton and West Ham and Benteke is of a similar style, capable of flicking on the ball in the air or holding it up to bring others into the game. But whilst Davies scored just 68 times in nine Premier League campaigns with Bolton and Carroll’s best haul under Allardyce was seven during his first West Ham season, Benteke’s Premier League total stands at 62 already – including three in his last nine with the 62-year-old at the helm. Imagine what Bolton or West Ham could have achieved with a 15-goal per season target man. Well, that’s exactly what Benteke is.
Likewise, Wilfried Zaha and Andros Townsend are a fearful double-act for any defence of any standard. Sheer speed and power makes a difference at every level in football and Palace’s two wingers have that in abundance. They’re also in red hot form and particularly Zaha, who has now produced one goal and five assists in eight appearances against the Premier League’s top six this season – including two over the Gunners last night. It remains to be seen if the Eagles can hold onto the Ivory Coast international this summer, but Allardyce has never been privy to such a dynamic, dangerous winger about to hit his peak years.
Yohan Cabaye is a real class act in midfield – the kind who can rival Ivan Campo’s cult-hero passing range or Jay Jay Okocha’s quality from dead ball situations – and for all his misgivings at Liverpool, it’s often forgotten Mamadou Sakho was once an integral member of PSG’s starting XI, to the extent he was the youngest ever player to captain in Ligue 1 in 2007. Patrick van Aanholt, Scott Dann, Jason Puncheon and James McArthur are all solid Premier League players as well.
That’s not to say Palace are perfect, and the biggest challenge for Allardyce now comes in the summer, acquiring the kind of signings who can take the team to the next level – never an easy task when practically half of the Premier League start every season half-fearing a relegation battle. A new goalkeeper and a new right-back are a must; Wayne Hennessey has been heroic in recent weeks but is still probably one of the weakest glovesmen in the division, whilst full-backs are becoming fundamental around world football in helping define how their teams play.
There is a misconception that Allardyce’s sides eventually hit a glass ceiling due to the style of football and his occasional struggles to attract top names, which some might assume of Palace going forward as well. But that has as much been a consequence of board room decisions as anything Allardyce has done. Bolton reached their financial limitations and slowly started to move backwards; Newcastle and Blackburn’s transfer policies were dictated by off-field problems and West Ham’s confidence in their manager waned over his tenure. All in all, Allardyce spent £82million taking the Hammers from the Championship to the Premier League’s top 13. Bilic has spent £14million more in just two seasons and will probably finish lower than Allardyce’s worst finish, 13th place, this time around.
And in stark contrast, Steve Parish has already shown a real willingness to back his managers in the transfer market and bring the club forward. Alan Pardew regularly discussed the club’s ambitions to become a regular top-ten side throughout his tenure and Parish allowed the former Charlton and Newcastle gaffer to set a new club-record transfer fee on Benteke last summer. Likewise, Allardyce spent nearly £40million in January alone, so for the first time in his career, he might finally be allowed the kind of money in the summer to produce a truly stellar team rather than having to rely on his nous in the transfer market.
With that kind of financial support, a talented team already in place and Allardyce’s philosophy already taking effect, Palace could be a real force in the Premier League next season. We may be just a matter of months in, but it’s already feeling like the perfect marriage at Selhurst Park – one that not only makes Palace the club they’re capable of being, but also dispels the myth of Allardyce being little more than a survival specialist. A word of warning to the rest of the Premier League from a Charlton fan: watch this space – Palace are on the up.