Premier League winners and losers: Lethal Liverpool, Hammers get hammered
By Ty Finch
Loser: Crystal Palace
Palace brought in Frank de Boer this season after a surprise retirement from Sam Allardyce. His plan was to build through young, talented players in the transfer market and re-think the way that Palace play the game. Suffice to say the plan is not working.
Palace haven’t scored a single goal in the season thus far. They have a minus six goal differential through three games, and haven’t picked up a point either. All could be understandable if they were playing the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea or Tottenham to open the season. Instead, the Eagles have faced Huddersfield, Liverpool and Swansea City, only one of which is likely to battle for a top half finish, let alone a Champions League place. Things are looking dire for Frank de Boer and his squad.
There have been moments here or there where the Eagles have looked promising, or at least competent. Considering their competition thus far though, that fact is not very comforting. Palace have the talent to safely avoid relegation, yet hasn’t been realized yet.
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De Boer is the odds on favorite alongside Slaven Bilic to be the first manager sacked.
Unlike West Ham, Palace’s schedule does not get any easier. Their next four matches include Burnley, Southampton, Manchester City and Manchester United, only one of which is in the comfort of Selhurst Park. De Boer needs at least a few favorable results in those matches to take some of the heat off.
It’s still too early in the season to think about relegation, but it’s a very real possibility considering how inadequate they have looked thus far. De Boer needs to re-shuffle his player selections and re-think his tactics to protect his job.