Premier League Club With The Highest Number Of Losses In 2016 Calendar Year; Why Sam Allardyce And Crystal Palace Are A Perfect Match.

The sacking of Alan Pardew by Crystal Palace was always inevitable given the 2016 (calendar year) poor points per game record of Palace having recorded the worst points per game record in England’s four tier league (0.72) losing 22 games in the league which is also the highest amount of losses suffered by any team in the Premier League.
Steve Parish (Palace Chairman) had released funds for Pardew in the summer despite this poor run with the hope things will even out by the beginning of the season, yet with 17 games already played Palace are 17th in the table two points ahead of 18th placed Sunderland. Pardew had signed the likes of Christian Benteke (£27 million from Liverpool), James Tomkins (£10 million from West Ham) and Andros Townsend (£13 million from Newcastle United) although creative winger Yannick Bolasie was sold to Everton for £25 million.
A day after the sacking of Pardew, the (one-game Three Lions manager) Sam Allardyce was announced as his successor after his disgraceful exit from the national team following claims he disclosed to undercover journalists he could help clubs and agents escape the FA’s 3rd party ownership rule if offered the right money.
Bolton, Blackburn and Sunderland are three clubs who struggled defensively before the appointment of Allardyce with these clubs stabilising after his appointment only for them to become worse and be relegated after his departure with the exception of Sunderland (in terms of relegation) who are presently 19th in the table this season. The appointment of Allardyce has been hailed by the fans and analysts as the right move although Allardyce’s philosophy and style is entirely different from Pardew as Allardyce prefers his side to play defensively, rarely taking the initiative in attack, playing deep, relying on their physical attributes to frustrate and disrupt their opponents and scoring with set-pieces.
One area Palace will benefit from the appointment of the former Bolton boss is his ability to sign quality players for little fee in the transfer market. Examples abound with the likes of Jayjay Okocha, Ivan Campo, Youri Djorkaeff who were in the twilight of their careers yet going on to become club legends in Bolton. In Sunderland this was also the case as Lamine Kone and Jan Kirchoff were all signed in 2015 winter with both playing all but one league game from February 2, as Sunderland escaped relegation despite being bottom on Christmas Day.
The second reason Allardyce will succeed in Palace is due to his ability to organise his defence making it difficult for his side to be beaten. A closer look at Sunderland makes it clearer as Sunderland conceded 18 goals in eight league games under Dick Advocaat and 44 goals in 30 league games under Allardyce which represents 2.25 goals conceded per game for Advocaat and 1.47 goals conceded per game for Allardyce. Under Allardyce, Sunderland also kept seven clean sheets in 30 league games compared to none in eight games under Advocaat. Though Allardyce is accused of playing negative football focusing on his defence rather than attack, they focus of Palace at this moment is mainly to maintain their Premier League status and not on style of football under Allardyce. To buttress further, Palace are the worst team defensively in the Premier League with the exception of Bob Bradley’s Swansea and Mike Phelean’s Hull City which illustrates their defensive fragilities under Pardew although the sacked manager must take credit for his attacking style which ensured Palace are the sixth (6th) highest scoring side in the Premier League this season.
The final reason the appointment of the former Bolton manager will bode well for the South London club is due to the type of players in Palace as most of them will suit his long ball and direct style . A look at Christian Benteke (eight goals this season) will show a striker that thrives on his clinical finishing, aerial duels and physical games a trait which did not fit in with Jurgen Klopp’s high energetic fluid pressing style. Also worthy of mention is the fact that Palace have quick and direct wingers in Wilfried Zaha and Andros Townsend who will easily blend with Allardyce’s system. At present only Southampton in the league have attempted and completed more crosses than Palace while Palace is topping the league in area of headed shots and goals. This is a stat that will gladden the former Bolton manager yet it remains the sort of stat and style that made him so unpopular in both Newcastle United and West Ham despite his impressive points per game record during his time at the clubs.
Though it is still too early, Crystal Palace will be tipped to remain in the Premier League by the end of May if funds are made available in the winter for the newly appointed manager.
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