Four defeats in a row was enough to see Frank De Boer lose his job. Times are exceptionally tough for Crystal Palace at the moment and new manager Roy Hodgson had a lot on his hands. His first stern test, though inevitably, were Southampton and the Eagles failed it. An early goal from Davis was enough to sink the London club and with three massive games against the Manchester Clubs and Chelsea coming up, future looks absolutely horrible for Palace. Here’s how they’ve been rated after this defeat to Southampton:-
GK: Wayne Hennessey – 5.5/10
Saved initial effort from Tadic and the ball fell straight for Davis to finish sadly. Mediocre overall.
RB: Joel Ward – 6/10
Decent on the right and kept Redmond and Bertrand both in check. Should have done a little better to help Townsend in the attack.
CB: Timothy Fosu-Mensah – 5/10
Looked a bit rusty on occasions and was bang average.
CB: Scott Dann – 5.5/10
Was a tad better than Fosu Mensah but he had a rough day of his own with Long and Tadic testing them.
LB: Jeffrey Schlupp – 4/10
Partly at fault as he completely failed to neutralize Tadic and the winger got away a shot which eventually led to a goal. Suffered throughout against Tadic and contributed nothing to the attack.
CM: Yohan Cabaye – 6/10
At fault heavily as he didn’t track Davis and the team paid the price. Some positives were noticeable as well like his work rate and the supporting play forward.
CM: James McArthur – 4/10
Untidy and got booked in the second half. A sorry showing.
CAM: Ruben Loftus-Cheek – 7.5/10
Looked excellent throughout as he dazzled past Southampton for fun. A little more work on his end-product and the lad will surely flourish. He does have a promising future!
RM: Andros Townsend – 6.5/10
Troubled Bertrand and looked sharp again. Good show overall but just not the results to show for it.
LM: Jason Puncheon – 3/10
Underwhelming, slow and gave the ball away several times much to the groans and moans of Palace fans. Not a captain’s display.
ST: Christian Benteke – 5/10
Held the ball sweetly at times but the team failed him with really bad deliveries.
Substitutions:-
CM: Luka Milivojevic – 6/10
Added to the passing and sharpness but it was too little too late and he didn’t have the desired impact with 20 minutes left.
FW: Bakary Sako – 5.5/10
Came on late and didn’t do much except for tracking back and stopping a Southampton attempt.
