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Yikes, blessing in disguise this guy leaving. Clearly a brilliant guy, but this man's character is seriously lacking. Very very revealing this whole thing. Between this guy and what we've seen from Ratcliffe, I am very interested to see how things transpire at Man Utd. I don't think things are going to go smoothly.

There was one that covered the contacts world wide that he has, but can't find it. But this one from the Athletic was a good read regarding his approach and mentality. The bit about player's mindset and character will be familiar as it ties in with our current approach. https://theathletic.com/4758636/2023/08/10/dougie-freedman-crystal-palace-transfers-profile/

I read something about Freedman a while back, and I remember being surprised by how highly rated he is. Will have to try and find the article.

Tuchel to Manchester United has all kinds of potential for disaster. Lovely.

Ship has sailed on the pair of them unfortunately. They can command anything from £60 million upwards for them. Another two that made their name in the Championship. We need to start paying more attention to that league. Eze cost just under £20 million and Oliseh just under £10 million. Great business from Palace.

Judging by his comments after the game he was clearly not impressed by the way our play was executed today. Just because we lined up the same way, doesn't necessarily mean the instructions and approach was supposed to be exactly the same. Howe has previously talked about having specific plans for every game, and we can never really know what tactics were discussed beforehand if the players fail to execute.

Had all the Arsenal defenders this week and Pickford ... nice.

I actually think he would be a big nuisance coming on late in games when players are tiring, as his energetic play and harrying would cause problems. However, if we are offered that kind of money in the summer, I think we probably have to take it.

Again a glaring lack of self belief. This again led to him taking the easy option and looking for the referee to bail him out, as is typically the case with him. Instead of doing everything he could to try and get a shot off from a great position, as soon as he feels the slightest touch, he chooses to go to ground, rather than take responsibility. Incredibly disappointing stuff.

Think the word at the time was Almiron wasn't keen to leave mid season. Could see that happening in the summer tbh.

Didn't a Saudi team offer £20 million in January?

It's a hybrid system not a fixed one. Didn't work tonight as it needed some changes based on the Palace team we went against. Worked a treat against Spurs though, so not as straight forward as player A and player B being better in a certain position.

It was the same setup as against Spurs. Out of possession Krafth, Schar and Burn as a back three, Murphy and Anderson at wing back and Longstaff and Bruno in midfield. Barnes, Isak and Gordon forward three. In possession more of a 4-3-3, with the front three staying the same, Anderson coming into midfield with Longstaff and Bruno and a back back four of Murphy, Krafth, Schar and Burn. We were switching between the two depending on whether we were in or out of possession.

Kudos to the new Palace manager. Seems they got a good one. His 3-4-2-1 works well, and they are getting more and more comfortable playing it. He's getting the best out of their better players already too, and Mateta, who has always had some great physical tools, is now being unlocked in a better setup. Eddie sticking with the Spurs setup to match their 3 at the back system was probably the right shout, however, we shouldn't have done so without actual wing backs. Murphy and Anderson dropping into those positions defensively didn't work going against a proper 3-4-2-1 and a manager who uses this tactic all the time and specializes in it.

Always worried anytime we play a team that presses well this season and has a lot of energy in midfield. Only Bruno can deal with it really. Longstaff is so depressingly poor in those situations and so we struggle to then really get going. Anderson is still going to have his ups and downs as a younger guy, so can't be too upset with him. We miss having Joelinton's strength to hold off players and carry the ball in there so much. Willock's ball carrying also has been missed in there. Just been a lot of managing through this issue so much of this season. It has sucked.