Football Season Guide

In a season of two halves, Crystal Palace were 15th in the table and only four points above the relegation zone when Roy Hodgson stepped down in February. Following Oliver Glasner’s arrival, Palace picked up 24 points from 13 Premier League matches to record their joint-best points tally of 49 and clinched a respectable 10th position. Palace managed to keep the majority of their starters, but Michael Olise’s – their most talented player - departure is a blow for the team. Promising defender Chadi Riad and talented forward Ismaïla Sarr joined an already talented squad featuring several versatile players, mainly in midfield and defence. Glasner’s main advantage is that he has had the opportunity to oversee his first preseason preparations with the team. Meanwhile, there is uncertainty over the futures of stars Marc Guehi and Eberechi Eze and following Olise’s move, their potential departures will see the first-XI quality dramatically drop. Palace’s strength over the last few years is that the team boasts a solid mix of experienced players and prodigies that has the potential to play entertaining football if they have the right man to unlock it. The lack of quality up front could become their main weakness. No top-10 team netted fewer goals than Palace this season, with none of their forwards being quality finishers.