Why Crystal Palace Could Finish in the Premier League Top 4 This Season

At the start of September, I sat opposite Alan Pardew in his office at Crystal Palace’s training ground as he reflected on how he had radically transformed the club over the previous nine months as manager. 

At the time, Palace were second in the table, and while that has since proved to be unsustainable, there was still a confidence about Pardew and a glint in his eye that suggested he knew Palace could be on the brink of enjoying their best season in the Premier League.

“Look, I know I can set up a team that survives, but grinding out 1-0 wins doesn’t really enthrall me if I am honest,” he told me. “I want more than that…I want us to be recognised for playing exciting football.

 “I am more comfortable with the team this year, they understand what I want…I would like to think we could get closer to the Europa League places this year.”

When Pardew took over in January this year, Palace were in the bottom three with no thoughts of Europe, but by the end of the season, he had guided them to 10th.

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He has quickly overhauled the entire culture of the club, from one that was content to survive and avoid defeat to one that now sets out to win every game, both home and away.

Along with Leicester City, who are at the very summit of the table, Palace are exponents of this new approach from the league’s less fashionable clubs that now sees them playing without any fear.

And already this season, this has helped Palace secure seven wins, including against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in August and last month at Anfield against a Liverpool side rejuvenated by Jurgen Klopp.

It might seem outlandish—silly, even—but could this approach take Palace all the way into the top four by the end of the season?

A win against Everton at Goodison Park on Monday night would take Palace to sixth in the table, just four points from fourth place.

Palace should allow themselves to dream just a little because they are set up to take risks, and more often than not, this delivers wins.

“In the Premier League, you see a lot of good, technical players, but they never put the ball at risk,” Pardew told me. “I told the players I didn’t mind [doing it] because ultimately it will help us.”

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The greatest risk-takers in this Palace side are Wilfried Zaha and Yannick Bolasie, who have come to symbolise the excitement and attacking freedom of Pardew’s football.

When they are in the mood, few defences can live with their movement, pace and blurring array of tricks.

Their ability to break with pace has been one of the main factors in Palace amassing 30 points away from home in 2015, the second-best away record in the entire Premier League behind Arsenal.

The surprise arrival of Yohan Cabaye from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer has also given this Palace side a greater attacking threat; with him in the centre of midfield, the Eagles increasingly look for a forward pass rather than a sideways pass.

For a team set up to take risks and attack with such zeal, it is essential Palace are well-protected at the back.

In Joel Ward, Damien Delaney, Scott Dann—who has so far been strangely overlooked by England—and Pape Souare, Palace boast an unheralded collection of defenders who are doing just that.

After 14 games this season, Palace can claim the fourth-best defensive record in the Premier League behind only Tottenham, Arsenal and the risk-averse Manchester United.

Palace should comfortably finish around 10th again this season, but Pardew wants more than that, and there is a way he could make it happen: Invest in a new striker next month.

It is a curiosity that for all their attacking intent and success this season, Palace don’t have a prolific or established striker.

In fact, the situation is so chronic that Palace’s stable of four strikers—Connor Wickham, Dwight Gayle, Frazier Campbell and the on-loan Patrick Bamford—have not scored a single league goal between them so far this season.

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A summer signing from Sunderland, Wickham has obvious potential but needs to show it more, while Gayle and Campbell are too lightweight and erratic, and Bamford is just passing through.

It means the decision to release Glenn Murray, the club’s leading scorer in the league last season with seven goals from only nine starts, increasingly looks to be a costly mistake.

And his poacher’s finish to secure victory for Bournemouth over Chelsea on Saturday evening was yet another painful reminder of their mistake.

But it is a mistake that can begin to be rectified in January if Palace are bold and ambitious in the transfer window.

They have a glaringly obvious vacancy to be filled up front, and it should be the wish of every striker to play in front of such creative talents as Zaha, Bolasie and Cabaye, as well as Jason Puncheon and Bakary Sako.

These players have proved they will create chances; Palace now need a striker to finish them and, in turn, help fuel an unlikely—but still possible—pursuit of a top-four finish.