Vieira absence key factor in Spurs loss – Palace assistant Roberts
Crystal Palace assistant manager Osian Roberts said the absence of Patrick Vieira was a big factor in the 3-0 loss at Tottenham.
Vieirawasnotinthedugout in north London after testing positiveforcoronavirus,oneof anumberofcasesinthePalace campwhichsawthemtrytoget theBoxingDaygamecalledoff.
The Premier League refused their request and Spurs piled on the misery as goals fromHarryKane,LucasMoura andSonHeung-minmadeitan easy afternoon for the hosts.
Palace, who saw Wilfried Zaha needlessly sent off in the first half, only made one change to their starting lineup but fielded a weakened bench with a number of players absent.
Roberts said that preparations were not overly affected, despite not meeting up at a team hotel on Christmas Day, but Vieira’s absence was felt.
TheWelshmansaid:“Itwas late yesterday evening that the resultscamethrough.Wewere alltested.Thegoodthingabout the way we prepare is that we do that as a collective.
“There was no stone unturned. It would be true to say everythingranlikenormal,except Patrick not being there as ourleaderleadingthingsonthe day will always be something that we miss because we need him there.
“But we got on with it the best we could. We didn’t want to make any excuses and I thought we started well. The game turned after about half an hour.
“I don’t know how many we had with Covid, some returning from Covid, close contacts, injuries,butultimatelyyousaw that we were short of options on the bench.
“We have been focusing football-wise throughout the week. Preparations have gone very well in a football sense.
“The last 24 hours we have been in our bubble just focusing on the game, leaving the other aspects to others at the club. We have tried to get on with it the best we can, but unfortunately we didn’t get what we wanted out of the match.
“We met at the hotel to prepare for the match, most times we would do that on the previous evening. It’s difficult to do thatasabubblethesedayswith some uncertainty. As a coaching staff and players we do as we are told.
“Wepreparethebestwecan andwemanagedtodothatthis morningaswewouldnormally before coming to the stadium. Weareprofessional,everybody hastoadapt.Itissomethingwe had to live with and I am sure there will be other rollercoaster weeks.”