Big Pat can get Eagles flying
FORGET what you think this result tells you and remember Palace were coming up against Chelsea here.
Resist the temptation to fall into those lazy traps of believing it could be a long, hard season for new man Patrick Vieira simply because his impressive preseason with the Eagles was derailed here at Stamford Bridge.
The scars from the Frank de Boer experience understandably still run deep in the Selhurst Park boardroom.
Four defeats in his first four Premier League games in charge, and no goals, saw the Dutchman handed his P45 in less time than it normally takes even Roman Abramovich to wield the axe.
The plan to install a style of football akin to stockings and suspenders was quickly thrown overboard in favour of Roy Hodgson’s granny pants and bloomers.
What Vieira needs, however, is support in the transfer market.
Competition for Vicente Guaita – rooted to the spot for Marcos Alonso’s opener and hopeless as Christian Pulisic rammed in the second – would be a good start.
We also cannot really start to judge Vieira’s Palace until Marc Guehi, his £13million signing from Chelsea, starts alongside £15m Joachim Andersen.
For all the justified plaudits for
Hodgson’s work last season, Palace’s defence shipped 66 goals – the most since they returned to the top flight eight years ago.
In pre-season, Palace were beaten just once in their six games, winning the other four and conceding in only three of them.
That was never going to be enough to keep out a hungry Chelsea forward line, fresh from winning the Champions League and playing for their places following the arrival of £97.5m Romelu Lukaku.
In midfield, new recruit Michael Olise is out with a lower back problem, while Conor Gallagher was ineligible to face his parent club.
It meant Vieira was forced to start with Jairo Riedewald, James McArthur and Jeffrey Schlupp in the centre of the park. Come on.
After an initial resistance of 20 or so minutes, Chelsea ran rings around them. Schlupp did not last the match, replaced by Andersen after 57 minutes.
Palace need more legs, more quality, more investment rather than more panic after this initial, fully expected, defeat.
The board needs to fund a link man between defence and attack.
Palace need to be in the market for more firepower up front.
How can it be the case that Wilfried Zaha is forced to lead the line for yet another season in the Premier League?
Palace host Brentford next weekend before travelling to West Ham after their League Cup tie at Watford.
All three games will give us a chance to make a more considered assessment of the Eagles against more comparable opposition.
But do not get suckered into thinking this comprehensive defeat is the end of the world for Palace or Vieira this early. It really is not.
Palace’s chairman and co-owner Steve Parish deserves credit for trying to develop a more sustainable model for the club after an unprecedented eight seasons in the Premier League.
If they really do want a younger, more vibrant side to grow in confidence and belief, then now is the time for the fans – and the club – to back big Pat.