Despite the unprecedented levels of success in recent seasons, a disappointing start to the current campaign has caused some fans to become extremely negative about the club and its future, but are those worries reasonable, and if not, what can excuse the start to the season?

Palace have won two of their opening five games in all competitions, with one Premier League win accompanied by three defeats. 

The lack of thrust in the transfer market was heavily scrutinised, especially on deadline day, with many fans feeling that Maxence Lacroix was not replaced adequately when he was sold to Chelsea. 

That anxiety, mixed with the unknown entity provided by a new manager, as well as the disappointment with the opening results has caused the mood around Palace to dip to drastic lows, with some fans already reaching the point where they see no way out. 

Whilst football is a game of opinions, there are a few contributing factors that need to be considered before coming to such a judgement. If the opinion is still held, that’s the prerogative of the holder, but the context is important and not only provides answers but also hope for the club. 

Football is a game of tight margins, and it's hard not to feel that had Palace come away with a point against Ipswich, the spirit shown in the second half and the tireless workrate would have made for a much brighter mood going into the final week before the international break. 

Palace’s opening two fixtures were completely unfavourable, and whilst some fans might expect Palace to beat Everton, the reality of the fixture is that it’s a one sided affair. Whilst history doesn’t necessarily guarantee results, the key difference in that game was that the Toffees took their chances, whilst Palace didn’t. 

Manchester City at home is a fixture which also bears little promise for Palace. In the 17 fixtures between the two sides at Selhurst Park, City have won eleven, with Palace coming out on top only twice, the most recent of those wins coming in the 2014/15 season. Unfavourable to say the least. 

In contrast, Palace’s record at Craven Cottage is strong, and in the first game of the season that Palace fans could realistically be confident of winning, they won 3-2. Of course, the manner of the performance was not the best, and Palace were on the rare side where their opponent was the one to miss many chances, with Palace converting theirs, with some luck admittedly. 

Middlesbrough in the Carabao Cup provided an opportunity for Sage to see some more of the fringe players, and against an equally rotated Boro side, Palace ran out 3-0 winners rather comfortably, although the Championship side did miss their share of chances. 

When looking into Sage’s short managerial history, it’s important to take into consideration the overall level of Ligue Un and also the status and quality of the sides he managed before Palace. 

In his first role with Olympique Lyonnais, Sage lost his first two games, but then won 11 of the next thirteen games. 

At Lens, he lost just two of his opening nine games, winning six. This would suggest that the struggles he’s facing at Palace are potentially lay deeper than simply implementing a new system.

There are a number of factors which have seemingly been swept aside by a number of fans, both of Palace and neutrals, when assessing the club’s start to the season. 

There’s a fine balance between analysing the reality of the situation the club finds itself in and making excuses for poor performances, but at this stage in the process it feels necessary to look into exactly what’s causing difficulties. 

The key problems can be broken down into three categories.

The fact that Palace had the fifth most players at the World Cup, and hence a large portion of the squad only returning to pre-season training a couple of weeks before the season kicked off has clearly resulted in a delay. 

The first time that Sage had a side even close to full strength to field was the final pre-season match against SC Freiburg. The manager himself admitted following the win at Fulham that it would likely take until the international break for the side to begin to fully understand what is expected of them. 

There have been moments in games where the system has clicked and Palace have created plenty of chances, but the squad need to get to the point where implementing the style across ninety minutes comes naturally. 

Intertwined with the first point is the execution of the transfer window. Whilst Palace have undeniably strengthened the depth of the squad, the late nature to the signings means that Sage is having to use the opening weeks of the season to assess his options. 

An unsettled backline is unsurprisingly causing issues too. One of the key reasons for Palace’s recent success was the continuity within the squad, and especially the defence. Once Sage has found his favoured back three, there is no doubt that he will use them consistently, but it is taking some time for that to happen. 

The lack of certainty around the starting eleven and squad is something which Palace fans are not used to. Seeing Jaydee Canvot axed from the squad was an unfamiliar sight for a fanbase which could essentially predict the exact eleven under Glasner each week, mainly due to the lack of depth and options available to him. 

The two major outgoings saw both Daniel Muñoz and Maxence Lacroix leave, and whilst Muñoz was replaced with Anan Khalaili, Lacroix’s loss was not addressed appropriately. 

Through selling two key players in Palace’s defence, Sage has a task on his hands to make the new backline gel. The opening games of the new season have highlighted a category of defensive errors, and the new system does leave the backline isolated at times, which has potentially contributed to these errors. 

Lacroix played the most minutes out of any player in Palace’s squad across last season, whilst Muñoz ranked first in the 2024/25 campaign and inside the top six last year. In fact, in Palace’s top six players for minutes played last season, five of them were defenders. 

The year before, the entire top five featured players in the back five, along with Dean Henderson. This was down to both the quality and fitness of the majority of the defence, but also a severe lack of depth. 

Palace have gone from having four natural options to play across three central defensive positions to having five, both counts excluding Chadi Riad who struggled with injury last year and will miss the majority of this season. 

Sage is yet to find his preferred selection, and the constant changing of the back three has caused teething issues. 

Whilst Palace’s attacking output has improved as the season has gone on, the defence has not. Fans can point to Sage making changes each week, however the number of individual errors and poor performances from the centre backs has at times been equally costly. 

There have been promising moments in the opening weeks, and had it not been for Ipswich’s late winner on Saturday, the feeling around the club would be very different. Palace were the better side in the second half and after the equaliser if any team looked likely to find a winner it was Sage’s side. 

The workrate and spirit was undeniable, but when Strand Larsen and Kamada were withdrawn because they had simply ran themselves into the ground, there was no suitable option to replace the striker. On the face of it that therefore looks like a bad decision, but Strand Larsen simply couldn’t run anymore. 

Palace lost the outlet, and Zavier Gozo understandably couldn’t offer the same physicality, but there are doubts that Evann Guessand would have done much better. 

There is an understanding that the absence of Ismaïla Sarr and Jean-Philippe Mateta is limiting the quality that Palace have on the bench, and having two of the side’s most important players missing is a completely understandable hindrance. 

Sage himself has spoken about the defensive issues, and has confessed that he is struggling to understand why the players are making these decisions in games. A few weeks of focused training will hopefully solve this issue, as going forward Palace have been strong.

Whilst starting the new campaign with poor results can be frustrating, it’s been a common theme for Palace across the years. Of course there was the dreaded season under Frank De Boer, but in more recent seasons when Palace have ended the year with unprecedented success, the starts have also been slow. 

In the 2024/25 campaign, Palace won just one of their first 13 games, and went winless for the first eight. Palace finished 12th and won the FA Cup. 

Last season, after winning the community shield, Palace carried their unbeaten run into the new season and found themselves in and around the top five until matchweek 17. A terrible run of form over Christmas saw Palace drop off a cliff, and still, the Conference League was won. 

This goes some way to suggest that Palace fans have no need to be entering panic mode already. Fans often speak about a ‘new manager bounce’, but this rarely happens, and a number of coaches have struggled to form consistency in the Premier League in this season alone. 

The impact that the World Cup has had on the start of the new campaign is also undeniable, and the reality is that the majority of sides who had lots of players at the competition have struggled at the start of the season, even more so for those with new managers. 

The international break will provide a great chance for Sage to get his side on the training ground and really nail down the basics of his principles. 

Of course, if there is no improvement in the defensive performances after the international break, then questions will need to be asked, but as mentioned previously, the individual errors within the backline need to be cut out, and in time, as the starting three moulds together, those mistakes should become few and far between.

Thursday’s Europa League game against Lech Poznań has the feeling of a must win, and Palace’s quality should be enough to overcome the Polish league champions. 

The following trip to Elland Road is a tough game. Leeds are unbeaten so far and have just beaten Newcastle 4-1 on Monday night. The continuity within the bulk of the side has made for consistency, but the intensity that Daniel Farke’s side are playing with is cause for concern. 

Palace suffered an identical defeat to Newcastle last season in this game, and with the contrasting form of each side it could be a difficult game. 

Therefore, looking at the international break and how Palace can improve from that point should be the main priority, with a very demanding run of fixtures beginning once the domestic season resumes.

It's very early to be suggesting that Sage won't work for Palace, and there unfortunately does need to be an additional level of patience due to the disruption that the summer has caused. 

If he can get his side playing consistently over ninety minutes, the football should work.

The only caveat is that patience is not something which football fans have much of.