“Disappointing,” was the buzzword of the thousands of Palace fans streaming out of Selhurst Park on Saturday evening following the club’s exit from the FA Cup thanks to a drab 2-1 defeat to Liverpool.

The result was disappointing, the performance was disappointing and in hindsight, following the quarter-final draw, we had blown the best chance of winning the FA Cup in decades. That was disappointing. The game itself was built up immensely and perhaps that the general consensus the match would promise to be a classic was a tad naïve. Liverpool were due a result over us.

The Palace faithful were rightfully optimistic about the game – we had notched six goals in the last two home encounters against the Merseyside club, taking four Premier League points. Unfortunately, the optimism was seemingly not mutual between the fans and the Crystal Palace staff, as Alan Pardew fielded a drastically changed side and one that never looked like they had any intentions of having the impetus in the game.

The clear counter-attacking tactics were seemingly working after just quarter of an hour, as Fraizer Campbell recorded his second goal in as many games but even then it never felt like Palace were going to win. The Liverpool side were a whole different monster to the one that were thrashed 3-1 earlier in the season and for all of Palace’s rigidity, the intricate and fluid passing in and around the box was always going to put us under pressure in the second half.

Of course, the longer the game were to have gone on, the better the chances we had of nicking a result and it was crushing to concede within five minutes of the second half. The writing was on the wall from then on, though it was a surprise to see a real lack of urgency from Palace when behind. At 2-1 it should have been us doing the pressing and forcing Liverpool onto the back foot, but it was the reverse for the majority of the final period of the match.

There were few positive performances in the squad. Questions have to again be asked of Julian Speroni for both goals, Martin Kelly and Joel Ward both struggled when deployed in the right-back position and despite his goal, Campbell continues to disappoint me. The obvious counterargument would be “he’s scored two goals, he’s doing his job,” but he fails to add anything to the side, no real pace, strength or even work rate.  Out of the 13 league games he has started, we have lost nine games, winning just two.

It’s time for Dwight Gayle to be played up top. We’ve seen a new lease of life from the former Peterborough man under Pardew and  although he has been playing well out on the wing, the team would benefit far more with a natural goal scorer in front of Marouane Chamakh and a natural wide man to help supply him.

Perhaps being the third game in a week took its toll on the squad and this could be pinpointed to such a tired display. Maybe we aren’t ready for Europe yet after all?

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