The omens say: fortune favours the brave…

…and each dog has his day.

A certain team from south London had their day on live Sunday afternoon TV at Plough Lane in 1988, beating us 3-1.

It happened again yesterday.

For "It", read "be first out of the traps". It happened a month ago against West Ham; a very well coached and mature team performance that did everything right by design bar scoring - only to have in the back of their players' minds that a weakness at set-pieces could yet be exploited, should plans a.1, a.2 etc. fail to materialise a goal.

Crystal Palace have some talented young players, but they are placed lower in the table than the Hammers because their overall game is slightly weaker in certain aspects.

Both defeats, however, owed much to one specific aspect of competing.

It doesn't involve reckless challenges.
It doesn't necessarily involve running, running, running 'til the tank's empty.

It does however owe much to one part of the game that has vastly increased in prominence since pitches have become higher in condition-quality, players more balanced and muscular, as well as being better prepared mentally in coaching and player-preparation. Oh, and far, far more strict officiating to boot.


The ability to control a game through passing.


It's not a black & white function. It's a art; a collective team art that is difficult to statistically-define (other than in sheer possession percentages), but when a team controls a game with passing, the following can invisibly materialise: 

1. Enjoyment and positive excitement of the game for everyone on a team who has the ball consistently in their opponents' half of the pitch for consistent spells of a fixture, 
2. The nervous tension it inflicts on opposing players chasing shadows, and 
3. The infliction of collective inferiority it can leave on high quality individuals playing in a team not functioning well in a significant-passing contest.

Simple enough to understand. So why do we have such an issue in deploying such passing performance against teams that have either been newly-promoted to the Premier League or clubs whose biggest goal when promoted is to remain a Premier League club for beyond 5-10 seasons?

The answers are pretty obvious enough too - or are they?


Not learning from that West Ham defeat by being 2nd off the marks on the shrill of the referee's whistle; a concern of coaching practice?  Of player ability/abilities?  Of player physique/balance/muscular presence?  Of medium and long-term planning?  Or just no money, and therefore virtually no European midweek football for just about the entire Premier League-era (in comparison to the trend)?

You could make strong cases upon all the above.

Yet yesterday's defeat, though offering much hope from one specific talent and character playing out of position for his team, highlighted a massive problem that other clubs' faster progress rate that is only becoming more-and-more glaring - take a key player out of the team: who exactly replaces him?


Well, THREE very key players were not on the pitch at the full-time whistle at Selhurst Park.

What we may make of the decision to take arguably the most gifted player ever to play for our club of the pitch is very debateable.  Managing playing time long-term, not only because of zero rest between the 5-1 defeat at The ETIHAD and the 3-1 win 2021-22 season opener vs Southampton, but the lack of a Summer rest in the Covid-19 shortened 2020 offseason as well - one explanation.

Another is the lack of target presence too. Rondon may not exactly be the most fleet of foot, nor is he the most statistically-productive of strikers (and I'm certainly not trying to be first to tell you that this may change sooner rather than much, much later into the universe). Yet his goal yesterday only highlights further how much we missed Romelu Lukaku's goals after 2017 as much as we do Calvert-Lewin's tangible contribution to the club since a former manager decided to use the Summer of 2020 to vastly strengthen player physique - with immediate short-term success.

But there was another glaring absentee from yesterday's excruciating anticlimax, post-defeating the third-most successful English domestic club team seven evenings ago. A player whose individual contribution has had to be tempered with a change of formation (from Ancelotti's 4-3-3 that focused on far higher individual work-rate and greater 90-minute pitch occupation areas, to a more defined full-back defensive role with Everton's return to 4-2-3-1 under Benitez).  And to-date, Lucas Digne, despite in lacking the fantasy FPL points hauls, has stuck to the philosophy well.  But is yesterday's non-appearance a measure of disciplinary authority needing to be dished out as 'tough love', or something more permanent in communication?  Let's hope it's merely the former, for Digne is one of the Top 3 left-backs in the world game and his departure will make Max Aarons' signature a lot harder for the player to be secured - in his ow mind, at least.

The absence of Digne threw the balance of our team's passing ability big-time, just as not ever fully-replacing Kevin Sheedy has done to our future has been one factor in accounting for so many managers' departures in the [yawn, you-know-what]-era.


This barely scratches the surface of why Everton's constant inability to outpass (perceptually) weaker opposition has remained an issue unearthed, let alone unresolved, for so long. And yes, several relegation-avoidance clear-outs have required quick-fix signings, Cenk Tosun an obvious one (got 5 crucial goals under Allardyce, but little else since) have had little effect in pushing the accelerator button on passing skills progress.


There are, of course, two factors that can help change this vicious circle, invisibly spinning out of control: a bigger stadium and the pending UEFA review of the highly unfortunate FFP protocol.

Above all though, we - the fans, can still draw some hope from what did and didn't happen in London yesterday that a jigsaw puzzle with all the correct pieces at hand, all in good condition, can capture a far more glorious image than the sum of its' parts - even 21 years into 21st century sport.  But everyone has to do what's best for the team.  That certainly didn't happen over the past weekend...