Team Talk: Crystal Palace

Hello, and welcome to what will become a hopefully weekly segment called Team Talk, where I will take a look at one Championship team, their strengths, weaknesses, and just general bits and bobs. And where better to start than the team I support, Crystal Palace. So without further ado, let's have a look at the Eagles!

Manager: Dougie Freedman.
Freedman took over struggling Crystal Palace in January after a 3-0 loss to Millwall prompted Palace's new owners into sacking George Burley. Freedman was put in charge of keeping Palace in the Championship, and to many's surprise, managed it, saving Crystal Palace with two games of the Championship remaining. Freedman then set about rebuilding the squad, and has brought in many of his own faces over the summer.
Many will point out Freedman's inexperience as a manager, but he has more than most people think. He served under Paul Hart and George Burley as assistant manager, both of whom are well-respected within the footballing world. A football career of 16 years will obviously help, a lot of which was spent at Palace. The fans adore him, and the players will have nothing but respect for him, so he will hopefully be able to unite the squad and get the belief flowing through Selhurst Park again.

Star Player: Julian Speroni
3-time Palace Player of the Year Speroni has performed key defensive duties in goal for Palace, and his spectacular saves have won the hearts of the Eagles' fans. After a shaky start when he lost his place to Gabor Kiraly, Speroni came into his own after the Hungarian's departure, and solidified his place in the team, being almost ever-present for the past four seasons. One of his best attributes is shot-stopping, and he is excellent in one-on-one situations which can be useful behind an occasionally leaky defence. Perhaps his weakness is in coming to claim crosses, as he can sometimes be hesitant or show signs of his past faults.
Other important players:
Darren Ambrose - The midfielder can come up with a goal from nothing.
Paddy McCarthy - Captain is an influential leader and one of the first names on the team sheet.
Nathaniel Clyne - Ever-present last season, the young right back surely has a bright future.

Strengths:
The first thing to mention is the academy. Palace's academy has churned out the likes of now-Premiership players Ben Watson and Victor Moses, as well as Wilfried Zaha, Nathaniel Clyne and Sean Scannell who are still all at the club. The fact that a fair few of the first team are academy players shows how good the system is, and with the likes of Jonny Williams, Matthew Parsons and Ryan Inniss coming through it should be able to sustain Palace well into the future. The defence is solid, although lacks strength in depth. McCarthy is an excellent centre back at this level, and Dean Moxey and Nathaniel Clyne provide good cover on the flanks. The squad also boasts a fair number of international players, with Kagisho Dikcagoi (South Africa), Mile Jedinak (Australia) and Steffen Iversen and Jonathan Parr (both Norway) probably being the most significant.

Weaknesses:
It is difficult to see where the goals will come from in this side. Darren Ambrose, who scored 20 goals two seasons ago, struggled for form and fitness last year and probably cannot be relied on to get the goals again. Palace fans hope that a partnership of Scannell and Glenn Murray will net their goals, but this partnership is still developing and, of course, Scannell is still young and so will not be able to play every game this season. Steffen Iversen is a very good hold-up man but for him to score goals, service will be needed from the wings.
The lack of a regular centre back partner for McCarthy is also cause for concern, as Freedman was forced to bring in Alexander Tunchev and Andrew Davies two days before the start of the season. The permanent signing of Antony Gardner will be some relief, but they will need games together to re-gel. The midfield is also a tad lightweight, but Jedinak may help to solve this.

Conclusion:
Palace have a good squad, and the signings they've made over the summer should be good enough to keep them up, and even push towards the mid table, which is surely the aim for the fans and players. As an avid fan, I seriously hope we keep the academy products, as they will be vital to future success.

I hope you enjoyed this instalment of Team Talk, which I will be writing on a regular basis from now on. Next up will be a look at recently promoted Southampton. Thanks for reading!