The most challenging decision for Crystal Palace this summer was how to replace Michael Olise. Or whether to replace him.
In the end, they made the decision to sign different profiles of forwards rather than attempting to directly replace the Frenchman.
That decision is not yet bearing fruit. Palace are the Premier League’s joint second-lowest scorers with eight, alongside Manchester United, having scored only one more than Southampton. A significant reason for that is the failings of their No 10s.
Eberechi Eze was missing against Wolverhampton Wanderers after sustaining a hamstring injury in the 2-1 Carabao Cup victory over Aston Villa on Wednesday night. He will be absent for at least another game, potentially more. While Eze’s performances have been underwhelming this season, he remains an important, creative part of Palace’s side and showed as much in the 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur last weekend.
Eze, though, has been involved in 53 shots in the Premier League this season (he has taken 37 shots and created 16 chances) — only Bukayo Saka and Cole Palmer (54) have more shots and chances created combined. From those contributions, he has scored just once. Despite that record, the 26-year-old is not the main problem; it is who has been chosen to partner him in the No 10 role that has caused issues.
In his place, Eddie Nketiah and Ismaila Sarr started together against Wolverhampton Wanderers either side of Jean-Philippe Mateta. Both have toiled this season. Nketiah was sharp in the opening two games but has significantly tailed off since. Sarr has also offered little to convince anyone that he was the answer to Palace’s goalscoring problems.
Mitigation may be offered for Sarr as he has spent time travelling for international duty with Senegal, which is clearly disruptive. But that does not excuse his dreadful finishing against Wolves. Palace’s expected goals total of 2.89 was their highest away from home since the 5-1 thrashing of Leeds United under Roy Hodgson in April 2023 (3.15 xG) and their highest since Oliver Glasner was appointed in February.
But against Wolves, Sarr had the opportunity to effectively win the game for Palace with two inviting chances. With 61 minutes played and Palace leading 1-0 at Molineux, Tyrick Mitchell played in Nketiah, who cut it back. Sarr, though, leant back and shot over the crossbar. Throughout the first half he was bullied by the Wolves defence, losing out time after time.
Four minutes after that miss Sarr wasted another good opportunity after Nelson Semedo’s poor pass. From the edge of the box, he curled a shot wide.
But it was the poor decision-making that caused further problems. Nketiah, who has also shown little ability to beat a defender, gave the ball away deep in Wolves’ half with a weak pass, having chosen the more complicated option. Wolves countered and equalised.
Palace have consistently struggled in the final moments this season. Against teams better than Wolves they will not enjoy so many opportunities — taking them when they arrive is critical. But that is not happening this season. Defender Trevoh Chalobah’s opening goal from a difficult position showed up the two No 10s for their appalling finishing.
Glasner did not seem unduly concerned by the failings. He may not be expected to criticise his players publicly, but his comments seemed to absolve his players of any responsibility at all.
“We didn’t decide the game when we could have,” he said in his post-match press conference. “We had the momentum and the crowd was booing after our chances. This is what we could and should have done better. Nobody did it on purpose — it happens in football; people miss chances. It’s important we play our way with confidence.”
The question for Glasner is whether to persist with one of Sarr, Nketiah and Daichi Kamada to complement Eze when he is fit, to change his system as he did against Forest — albeit to little avail — or to continue rotating his No 10s. His problem is that none have demonstrated so far that they are capable of making a difference. Sarr was more of a threat in the 1-0 win against Tottenham with his direct running but has been inconsistent. He has shown more promise in the role than Nketiah though and would seem to be the best option for now.
Dropping Nketiah is difficult. He was the statement signing of the summer, costing £25million from Arsenal. That is not something Palace can easily afford to give up, but he has been ineffective and seems more suited to being an out-and-out striker.
Glasner appears not to have settled on a preferred XI but often speaks of a need for his players to become more familiar with each other. If he continues to change his front line then the chances of finding a successful formula is limited. There is no obvious solution, but at least for now there appears to have been a recruitment failure from all involved.
There is no issue with having different profiles of forwards — it provides alternative options and the ability to change a system. But Glasner has shown little appetite to do anything other than tinker around the edges.
Unless Palace resolve their attacking failures, their games will continue to be unnecessarily close and the pressure on their defence greater than it needs to be.
(Header photo: Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images)
