Crystal Palace pre-match thread

[RedSoxUK]

Not only is he leaving out Vardy, he's leaving out Cambiasso too! Hilarious

 

Everyone's entitled to his or her opinion of course - but leaving out THE game changers is suicidal.

[Xen]

I feel a change of formation may be necessary, but no idea how to accommodate all of our players in to that.

 

Palace will have seen the game on Sunday (seriously, who hasn't?!) and as a result will be a LOT tighter at the back. we're not going to be able to get at their full backs and have as much space in behind as we managed against Man Utd. And then Palace have some really good attacking options, particularly on the wings, so we need to ensure we don't get caught out by pacey counter attacks. I wouldn't be surprised to see Mahrez come in to support Konchesky on the left, for example. However, saying that United's wide men are certainly no slouches either, and Konchesky seemed to cope fine.

 

Up front is where I'm struggling. Vardy is simply undroppable after that performance, and Ulloa is our goal machine right now. Nugent works perfectly in that role linking the midfield and attack, and I can't see him being dropped either - but then we only have 3 midfield spaces left. If we go for a formation with wingers, then we can only pick one of Cambiasso/Drinky/James/King/Hammond to sit in the middle, and that's ridiculous. If we play the same formation as we did against United, then we're exposing our full backs and risk being caught on the counter. Not to mention, it'll be damn predictable for us to set up the same way, so Palace will have had all week to prepare for it and counter it.

 

I wouldn't be surprised to see us stick with the 4-3-3, but I can see it being modified slightly, to one of these front 6's:

 

4-3-2-1:

Hammond
Cambiasso     Drinkwater
Vardy                         Nugent

Ulloa

 

4-2-3-1:

Cambiasso     Drinkwater

Vardy     Nugent     Mahrez

Ulloa

 

 

My choice would be the latter, as it's fluid enough to become a 4-4-2 if we need to without swapping any personnel, and the 3 are all capable of rotating around as needs be. Gives us plenty of pace on the wings, too, which should keep their full backs pinned back a bit.

[separator]

Need palace and Newcastle to go to extra time and kick the living daylights out of each other.

Newcastle now leading in extra time, 12 minutes to go. Plenty more time to knacker the Palace players

[Carl the Llama]

Newcastle now leading in extra time, 12 minutes to go. Plenty more time to knacker the Palace players

It won't make a difference to our match - they fielded a reserve team tonight.

[steveherbe]

Just watching their highlights. Their announcer does that really annoying and cringeworthy thing when announcing the goalscorer, "Wilfred Zaha, Wilfred...", then leaves the crowd to repeat the last name. How crap is that? Makes our Poznan look positively middle class. Hopefully he wont get chance on satdeh, unless he does "Leicesters 5th goal scored by Jamie Vardy, Jamie....." Vardy's havin a party.

I wanted to say how tinpot, but my tablet kept changing tinpot to nigel. Look, its done it again, twice???? T I n p o t please

[Hack]

bit surprised mahrez is out of the picture done very little wrong..

Formation change with 4-3-3 and no wingers is why.  Not a reflection of his play.  NP has shown himself and the team adaptable in playing different to suit the team we are playing.

 

I would also play the same team and formation we did against Man U.

[benpicko]

Trying not to get carried away, but 12-0 to us

[Finnaldo]

Trying not to get carried away, but 12-0 to us

Anything less than 7-0 by half time I want the board sacked by dusk.

[Vardinhio]

1-3 to us

[Raw Dykes]

Think 4-3-3 against Palace is a bit too risky, at times yesterday in the first half both United full-backs were bombing forward, as well as Di Maria who was causing problems down both flanks, De Laet & Konchesky at times were crying out for support. We seen in the Championship what the likes of Bolasie & Zaha can do to us, they terrorised us a couple of season's back. We can't leave De Laet & Konchesky up against them two, without playing wingers in front of them, who will track back & defend as well as help on the counter. 

 

4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1 again for me, has worked so far. Vardy back to the bench, bit mad but Nugent behind Ulloa has worked in games so far, and away from home Nugent I think is a better option when it comes to dropping back & helping out the midfield. Hammond for me is a more physical presence, we need someone in midfield who can compete with Jedinak's physicality. While for me Mahrez & Schlupp back on the wings makes sense, just to help out De Laet & Konchesky, who could become vulnerable against Bolasie & Zaha, Schlupp against Everton, Chelsea & Arsenal really helped Konchesky out & they work well together.  

 

Schmeichel

 

De Laet - Morgan - Moore - Konchesky

 

Mahrez - Drinkwater - Hammond - Schlupp

 

Nugent

 

Ulloa

 

Subs - Hamer, Simpson, Cambiasso, James, Albrighton, Powell, Vardy

 

My jaw's touching the floor. How are you going to drop Vardy and Cambiasso straight after that match?

[Mark_w]

My jaw's touching the floor. How are you going to drop Vardy and Cambiasso straight after that match?

 

That's what we in the business like to call 'banter' and word on the street is, he's the king of it.

[Lestoh]

Wasyl on first half to break their wingers' legs, might get away with a yellow on each occasion if Clattenburg's reffing. Ulloa jumping around in the box to distract their keeper while Schlupp tries to score from the halfway line. Give Bakayogo a run out for a laugh, and have Knocky in the middle of the pitch at halftime telling jokes.

Keep Vardy in the team too to stop people complaining.

[ithuriel]

Not going to tempt fate, hoping for a win .

[EnglishOxide]

My jaw's touching the floor. How are you going to drop Vardy and Cambiasso straight after that match?

By picking a formation that gives us a best chance of a win?

4-3-3 is not guaranteed to work all the time (as we seen in our winless run a couple of years ago).

If we go 4-4-1-1 then Nugent plays behind Ulloa. If we go 4-4-2 then I think Vardy will start over Nuge.

As far as the midfield goes. Hammond doesn't deserve to be dropped no matter how impressive Cambiasso has been. Does Cambiasso have the legs for a 4-4-2? As for James, he has got to wait his turn.

What a strong position we are in. Players are chomping at the bit to win the shirt in each position.

[Wakeyfox]

Win

[st albans fox]

Surely to play the same formation we did against utd is exactly the mistake they made by keeping the qpr diamond when they came to our place?

Nigel doesn't strike me as the type to say ' let's all attack and see who wins at the end'. I expect he will assess the opposition and pick a formation to counter that, which doesn't lessen our chances of winning. will be interesting to see what that it is but he won't put a square peg into a round hole so someone you expect not to be dropped will probably have to be. of course, he may decide to go for it, but away from home, I'm not sure that's the best policy.

[Carlos88LCFC]

Surely to play the same formation we did against utd is exactly the mistake they made by keeping the qpr diamond when they came to our place?

Nigel doesn't strike me as the type to say ' let's all attack and see who wins at the end'. I expect he will assess the opposition and pick a formation to counter that, which doesn't lessen our chances of winning. will be interesting to see what that it is but he won't put a square peg into a round hole so someone you expect not to be dropped will probably have to be. of course, he may decide to go for it, but away from home, I'm not sure that's the best policy.

 

 

Not really. I think the same formation with exploit palaces weaknesses what ever they do.

 

If they opt for Zaha out wide in a 442 he doesn't track back which would mean konch/de laet will be free to roam. If the opt for a 433 it does exactly the same.

 

The problem we will face is Hangeland coming forward for corners/free kicks... Hes a beast!

 

I expect exactly the same as we played against Utd

 

I can also see Campbell and McArthur playing at 110% because of what happened this summer.

 

Personally think a 2-0 Leicester win would be about right with another MOTM performance from Vardy.

[st albans fox]

I fear this thread could begin to look like red cafe last week in the aftermath of their false dawn. we are LCFC. We win/lose/draw as a team, not as a collection of individuals. The players and the management understand that. We might go for it on Saturday. I still think the pragmatic approach will be where NP goes.

[Freesolo]

I think this is going to be a tough game for obvious reasons we are playing away, Palace seem to be playing well and there scoring goals they beat Everton away 3-2 . We have just come off a good win but im sure NP will srttled the team down have them focused and fully prepared for the game, Palace seem to concede alot of goals and we have dangerous attacking options ourselves, Away games are away going to be harder but i would like to think we can come away with at least a draw

[Guest ttfn]

Think 4-3-3 against Palace is a bit too risky, at times yesterday in the first half both United full-backs were bombing forward, as well as Di Maria who was causing problems down both flanks, De Laet & Konchesky at times were crying out for support. We seen in the Championship what the likes of Bolasie & Zaha can do to us, they terrorised us a couple of season's back. We can't leave De Laet & Konchesky up against them two, without playing wingers in front of them, who will track back & defend as well as help on the counter. 

 

4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1 again for me, has worked so far. Vardy back to the bench, bit mad but Nugent behind Ulloa has worked in games so far, and away from home Nugent I think is a better option when it comes to dropping back & helping out the midfield. Hammond for me is a more physical presence, we need someone in midfield who can compete with Jedinak's physicality. While for me Mahrez & Schlupp back on the wings makes sense, just to help out De Laet & Konchesky, who could become vulnerable against Bolasie & Zaha, Schlupp against Everton, Chelsea & Arsenal really helped Konchesky out & they work well together.  

 

Schmeichel

 

De Laet - Morgan - Moore - Konchesky

 

Mahrez - Drinkwater - Hammond - Schlupp

 

Nugent

 

Ulloa

 

Subs - Hamer, Simpson, Cambiasso, James, Albrighton, Powell, Vardy

I never thought I'd see the day when I'm standing up for kingfox but the XI above is not really that outrageous is it?

 

The team selected on Saturday was clearly a case of "horses for courses". We set up in a diamond, having played that formation only once before - for 45 minutes in the first half at Stoke - in all of NP's 200+ games here. 

 

We've all seen Nugent play on the wing for us - the plain fact is that he struggles there and is certainly not as good an option from a wide position as Mahrez. Where Nugent is undisputably no. 1 is in the role behind the main striker, primarily because of his tactical discipline and defensive work.

 

Furthermore, as good a game as Cambiasso had on Saturday, he's not going to be starting in a 2 man midfield very often, at least not in the next few weeks. 

 

So where does that leave us? It would seem that the only way to get all of Vardy, Ulloa (because we're not going to drop him), Cambiasso and Drinkwater into the side at the moment is to play with a diamond - a formation that it seems like we used on a one-off basis to combat a specific set of problems. Playing against a Palace side whose main attacking strength is its pace in wide areas (as we well know from the absolute beasting Zaha and to a greater extent Bolasie handed out to us 2 years ago, along with any other footage I've seen of them recently), playing a diamond would be absolutely mental and would put a lot of extra work on an already physically demanding role for the "wide" men in the midfield - Drinkwater and Hammond.

 

So if you ditch the diamond, what are you left with? A 4-3-3 with Nugent on the wing, where he is not our best option, a 4-2-3-1 with Cambiasso and Drinkwater as a 2 behind Nugent (dangerous) or a 4-4-2 with Cambiasso and Drinkwater in midfield and probably only room for 2 of Nugent, Vardy and Ulloa. 

 

It's a complete nightmare, but given the options, the side posted by kingfox actually seems to be one of the more balanced and appropriate for this game.

[Nick]

The reason we have looked so effective in differing formations so far is because Pearson is weighing up the system and style the opposing side play in and picking a side and a formation accordingly.

 

It wouldn't surprise me if we came out how we finished against Man U with five in midfield stopping them playing using the zonal marking system rather than the diamond - I don't know enough about what Palace will play to hedge any real bet on what Nige might do except to say the back four will remain the same and that whatever happens two of EC DD DH must be on the field in the first XI and Ulloa will definitely be up front. After that the other striker(s) and midfield positions will be whatever will irritate Warnock the most and depend on fitness.

[Dickov22]

I never thought I'd see the day when I'm standing up for kingfox but the XI above is not really that outrageous is it?

The team selected on Saturday was clearly a case of "horses for courses". We set up in a diamond, having played that formation only once before - for 45 minutes in the first half at Stoke - in all of NP's 200+ games here.

We've all seen Nugent play on the wing for us - the plain fact is that he struggles there and is certainly not as good an option from a wide position as Mahrez. Where Nugent is undisputably no. 1 is in the role behind the main striker, primarily because of his tactical discipline and defensive work.

Furthermore, as good a game as Cambiasso had on Saturday, he's not going to be starting in a 2 man midfield very often, at least not in the next few weeks.

So where does that leave us? It would seem that the only way to get all of Vardy, Ulloa (because we're not going to drop him), Cambiasso and Drinkwater into the side at the moment is to play with a diamond - a formation that it seems like we used on a one-off basis to combat a specific set of problems. Playing against a Palace side whose main attacking strength is its pace in wide areas (as we well know from the absolute beasting Zaha and to a greater extent Bolasie handed out to us 2 years ago, along with any other footage I've seen of them recently), playing a diamond would be absolutely mental and would put a lot of extra work on an already physically demanding role for the "wide" men in the midfield - Drinkwater and Hammond.

So if you ditch the diamond, what are you left with? A 4-3-3 with Nugent on the wing, where he is not our best option, a 4-2-3-1 with Cambiasso and Drinkwater as a 2 behind Nugent (dangerous) or a 4-4-2 with Cambiasso and Drinkwater in midfield and probably only room for 2 of Nugent, Vardy and Ulloa.

It's a complete nightmare, but given the options, the side posted by kingfox actually seems to be one of the more balanced and appropriate for this game.

Jamie Vardy just put in arguably the best single performance I've ever seen from a Leicester player in 30 years watching them. Jamie Vardy (unless injured) is starting on Saturday. To suggest otherwise is absurd

[Guest ttfn]

Jamie Vardy just put in arguably the best single performance I've ever seen from a Leicester player in 30 years watching them. Jamie Vardy (unless injured) is starting on Saturday. To suggest otherwise is absurd

So what formation are you playing and who are you leaving out and why?

I'm not suggesting otherwise but we saw on Sunday the dangers of trying to squeeze all of your best players into a system.

[johnny the fox]

Jamie Vardy just put in arguably the best single performance I've ever seen from a Leicester player in 30 years watching them. Jamie Vardy (unless injured) is starting on Saturday. To suggest otherwise is absurd

I think nigel should drop vardy,  and make an example of him, that this club will not tolerate bad sportsmanship..

[Dickov22]

So what formation are you playing and who are you leaving out and why?

I'm not suggesting otherwise but we saw on Sunday the dangers of trying to squeeze all of your best players into a system.

I'd probably go with the same side as we started with on Sunday, with Hammond sitting deep. Vardy plays regardless of the formation for me.