Crystal Palace once again struggled to facilitate the game plan expected of them, but that may be because Pierre Sage himself is still unsure of exactly how he wants his side to play. 

Following Palace’s 1-1 draw to German side Hoffenheim at Selhurst Park, Sage spoke to the media and suggested that there may need to be some adjustment if his team are to get back to winning ways and produce consistent performances. 

One of the biggest issues for the side this season has been the inability to produce a full, strong performance. There have been moments in games where Palace have looked fluid in attack and robust defensively, but only for a maximum of a half at a time, which has resulted in multiple disappointing results. 

So how does Sage himself view the tactical approach, and what can Palace fans expect to see going forwards?

There is no doubt that the injury issues that Palace have faced so far this season will be impacting the side. Dean Henderson’s absence was particularly crippling. Whilst Walter Benítez put in a couple of strong performances, he simply isn’t at the same level. 

The biggest absence however, is that of last season's top scorer and Europa Conference League golden boot winner Ismaïla Sarr. The Senegalese international was perfectly poised to come back to Palace off the back of an incredible World Cup campaign, but a combination of injury and the winger pushing for a move away has meant that Palace have simply not had one of their most valuable assets available. 

Sage hinted that the lack of pace in the frontline is a big issue for him, and one which needs to be solved. 

“If we defend really low as we did, we need speed to counter-attack. The characteristics of our players is not really the case, that’s why we don’t have the characteristics to play like this, I think.”

Whilst the lack of Sarr is certainly a contributing factor, there is still pace within the attacking ranks, but potentially within players that Sage doesn’t fully trust just yet. For example, Darío Osorio has proven in almost every appearance that he is capable of carrying the ball and providing pace on the break, but is also very young. 

Defending deep and looking to break worked well under Glasner, but that wasn’t due to just a couple of players. The side was assembled to suit that style, with specialist players that were perfect for their roles. Whilst some of those players remain, many have moved on, and that has left Palace struggling. 

“If we defend like this, we have to be really perfect and to take the only opportunity or the two opportunities we will have in this game. And that’s what we did against Fulham. I don’t know if you remember the data, but they had 75% possession.”

The game Sage is referring to, the 0-1 victory in the Carabao Cup at Craven Cottage, was a smash and grab. That style of play is unsustainable, and Sage knows that. 

“They created a lot of chances, set pieces too. Okay, we won 1-0, but I think if we play ten times this game, we will not win for sure.”

A key line which Sage has repeated this season has been that when one issue is solved, it often results in another one being uncovered. Whilst that may be true, it’s not a strong excuse for the performances of late. 

On the face of it, the main issue appears to be a lack of focus from the players, and those blips in concentration are seeing the side ship goals far too easily, which is putting Palace in a position where they cannot recover. 

Sage again hinted at that issue, but in his usual manner, didn’t really give a clear explanation as to what is going wrong. 

“I agree, it’s difficult to find the good things in a long period. Because when we started to do things in a good way, some bad things emerged. I think one of our reference games was in Leeds…Walter Benítez made an incredible save. We made one mistake and they have a big, big opportunity. And we have to deal with that.”

“That’s why I told you last time, I think it was maybe in Beşiktaş, we have to do the perfect game to win. And in this period, I don’t want to blame the players, because I’m always behind them. I have a lot of confidence for them and with them.”

Palace’s biggest issue against Hoffenheim was a combination of retaining possession, and also the positional approach from the defenders. The goal that Palace conceded came from a mistake in possession, but what followed was simply not good enough. 

The central defenders were out of position and Alexander Prass found himself one on one with Dean Henderson in the centre of the goal. 

“Two things. At the beginning we lose the ball. We don’t manage well the rest of the defence because we let the space on our left side. They take the space, when they switch the player we don’t take the cover. It was a counter-attack but it’s a principle in every phase of the game. There’s an offensive issue at the beginning. After that the rest of the defence is about transition. At the end it’s about the cover, a defensive principle. So, a lot of things.”

Whilst that error was costly, Palace failed to prevent the same situation happening again, and multiple times throughout the following 83 minutes or so, Hoffenheim found themselves in far too much space in and around Palace’s box. 

“What is difficult for us is to find the balance between the two things. Because in our last games it was really difficult to attack, and at the end you don’t exist in the game when you don’t attack.”

“We scored one goal in Fulham but we didn’t create too many chances. Maybe at the end. And in Tottenham with the numerical inferiority it was too difficult to try to do things.”

Palace’s general defensive play has been below par this season, especially their ability to make first and second contact from set pieces. Sage didn’t shy away from those issues. 

“That’s why we can defend better. We can defend as a team. When we defend low we concede set pieces and we struggle in set pieces. When we solve something a new thing emerges and we have to deal with that. That’s why I repeat what I said from the beginning. For this team the best way to defend is to keep the ball and to keep the ball with efficiency. And this evening we showed that too.”

It can sometimes be difficult to dissect exactly what Sage is saying at times, but one can only assume he didn’t mean that Palace controlled possession well in this game. Palace may have edged Hoffenheim in terms of their passing numbers and overall possession in the game, but they certainly didn’t control the game at all. 

There’s plenty for Palace to work on ahead of Liverpool on Sunday, and improvement is desperately needed if Sage’s side are to get a result.