After a woeful 2016, Crystal Palace finally relieved Alan Pardew of his duties and placed the experienced Sam Allardyce in the hotseat. The former Sunderland manager has never been relegated with a Premier League side and considering his record, Palace fans will be hopeful their team avoid the drop. Allardyce’s football philosophy might not be pleasing on the eye, but it sure is effective and is a proven way to bring stability.
With the transfer window open, Crystal Palace are likely to add more balance to their team. Alan Pardew brought in some exciting players but he could never build a balanced squad. Allardyce knows how to identify the weaknesses of a team and his spell with Sunderland last season, where he managed to bring in some good players who went on to have a massive say in the team’s survival, shows he knows what to do in the transfer window.
Palace have some real flair players in the attack and a good striker in Christian Benteke. Their midfield isn’t all that bad either although a few fresh faces could make them better. It’s their defence that’s the most concerning of all.
In Damien Delaney and Scot Dann, they have two decent defenders but the former is at the wrong side of his 30s and Tomkins hasn’t been able to replace him well. Palace are also short in the full-back areas as they won’t be able to call upon Pape Souare’s services as he suffered a horrific thighbone injury in a nasty car crash. The club is likely to add another left-back and quite a few names have been put forward. The recent player to be linked with the Eagles is Jerome Roussillon.
Roussillon is a left-back by trade and is plying his trade for French club Montpellier. The 24-year old had a youth career at Saint-Denis, INF Clairefontaine and Sochaux. His breakthrough happened at Sochaux and his performances at the back were good enough for Montpellier to sign him in the summer of 2015. Since his arrival, he’s been a consistent player for the side.
A pretty attacking full-back, Roussillon can be a good outlet on the left and deliver good crosses for Benteke who is supreme in the air. Roussillon’s passing stats are pretty impressive this season as he’s recorded a passing accuracy of 80.4%. He’s a pretty well-built full-back and has a good recovery pace on him, so he won’t be easily outmuscled on the pitch. (stats via whoscored)
