Slaven Bilic revives a bit of faith at West Ham United
A few months ago Crystal Palace seemed doomed to relegation. They are now 7 points clear of the bottom 3. Sam Allardyce has once again shown that when it comes to keeping teams up, there aren’t many managers better than him.
Squad Quality
Various pundits have spoken about Palace’s quality of players. The fact is that Palace have a very talented group of players and are a mid-table team at the least. Players like Benteke, Cabaye and Zaha are all nationals for their respective countries. And they are supported by players with good ability like Jason Puncheon and Andros Townsend. The issue with Crystal Palace before their uplift in form was the attitude. The players were simply not motivated enough and didn’t consider relegation a possibility. Credit to Sam Allardyce for changing that attitude and getting the best from his players.
Big Sam Works Wonders
Sam Allardyce does not get relegated. The man saved Sunderland last season and has, in the past, taken teams from virtually being relegated to maintaining their top-flight status. The embarrassment of the manner of his sacking from the England job hasn’t fazed the veteran manager and sure enough he’s worked his magic at Selhurst Park. Positive tactics and a smart game plan characterize Allardyce sides and this was illustrated by Palace’s scalps at Chelsea, beating the league leaders away from home and thoroughly dispatching Arsenal at home. Sam Allardyce has a perfect understanding of what his side’s strengths are and plays to these strengths.
Crystal Palace seemed down and out at the turn of the year but the London club have turned things around and look set to continue in the top-flight. They have Sam Allardyce to thank for lifting the team and getting them to play to their full potential.
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