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Player ratings: Palace v Swansea

August 27 2017

Wayne Hennessey

Wayne Hennessey

Mike Scott analyses the player performances for the Eagles' home defeat against Swansea.

The Welsh club, who did the double over Palace last season, inflicted more misery on De Boer’s side, as they sunk to their third straight league defeat on another frustrating afternoon at Selhurst…

Wayne Hennessey - 5

During a lengthy stalemate for the first 40 minutes of the game, Hennessey looked at ease with De Boer’s passing game plan. He looked assured on the ball throughout, albeit playing against a side who weren’t pressing too much. His short passing and longer balls were, usually, on the mark. Two shots on goal and two goals, however, isn’t a good return. Wasn’t really at fault for the opener, but was guilty of being caught in two minds for the second.

Timothy Fosu-Mensah - 6

On an afternoon when Palace were guilty of slow build-ups and lack of overlaps, Fosu-Mensah at least looked solid and was offering himself as an outlet going forward. Injury to Tomkins and a change around at the back to accommodate Kelly quietened him down, which was a shame.

Scott Dann - 5

Dann looked confident enough on the ball while the game was deadlocked. He was afforded more time than Huddersfield or Liverpool offered the Palace defence, granted, but he looked more self assured as he sprayed the ball about. The moments when Swansea did go more direct, however, he looked vulnerable. The opening goal was poorly defended by Dann and Kelly and, before that, a free header in the centre for Alfie Mawson should have gone in.

James Tomkins - 6

Injuring himself by ballooning a shot from distance into row M may sound like poetic justice, but with Tomkins on the pitch, Palace were containing Swansea relatively comfortably and he looked like he could handle Tammy Abraham. After his 41st minute injury and the arrival of Martin Kelly (3), Palace looked as fragile as they did during the height of Pardew mayhem. Kelly looked like a man with absolutely no confidence and was at fault for both goals. A solid game against Ipswich midweek may have given the manager faith in him, but Palace will not cope this season with performances like that.

Joel Ward - 5

Starting as right wing-back again, Ward had a quiet game. Which is probably to his credit. Swansea rarely broke down his flank, with their build-up game pushing Palace into a flat back five at times, so Ward had few touches in the first half. After moving to a 4-3-3, he was in familiar territory, without leaving much of a mark on the game.

James McArthur - 6

All the endeavour in the world made McArthur look like one of the few shining lights in the first half, but a lack of quality with the final ball, plus a lack of speed in the build ups from the Eagles, left McArthur looking a little frustrated and detached from Benteke. The free space Cabaye created him against Ipswich didn’t materialise this game, so he didn’t create what he would have wanted to.

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Luka Milivojevic - 5

Whilst Tomkins was on the field, Milivojevic looked comfortable enough shoring up the Palace defence, mopping up several times when the Swansea midfield tried to thread balls through. After Kelly’s arrival, he looked more hurried on the ball, losing the ball to Tammy Abraham at one stage, who luckily couldn’t get around a resolute Fosu-Mensah.

The system currently doesn’t seem to play to Milivojevic’s vast array of strengths - and when he was replaced by Yohan Cabaye (7) on 58 minutes, Palace looked a lot less toothless. Linking up nicely with Townsend, Cabaye was the start of most moves Palace had. He came very close to a well crafted goal himself, tackled by the last man on the edge of the six yard box.

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Jason Puncheon - 4

The combination of Puncheon and Milivojevic seems to be less fruitful than it should, but De Boer wanted to give the two together another go. Puncheon looked lost, slowing moves down and failing to penetrate the Swansea back three with a single, memorable ball. He did cover plenty of ground, as usual, but nothing troubled Swansea too much and he turned over possession plenty.

Patrick Van Aanholt - 5

Van Aanholt only made 45 minutes before being subbed by De Boer, but did offer much of the small amounts of wide threat Palace could muster in the first half. In a tame first period, he did put in a couple of crosses, which is more than can be said for anyone else. With all the Swansea threat coming down his side, he covered well enough, although Tammy Abraham and Jordan Ayew did break through before Van Aanholt was replaced by Lee Chung-Yong (5) , who did find himself in some promising positions, but created very little.

Andros Townsend - 7

The only real hope for the Selhurst faithful of Palace getting a goal back was Townsend. Painfully short of support in the first half, he produced two or three runs, without being able to find Benteke. After Cabaye’s introduction, Townsend had a good 20-minute period where he dominated the game, including a shot that, on any other day, would have crept in the bottom corner.

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Christian Benteke - 5

It’s becoming a cliche to say that Benteke looks isolated under De Boer, but it was true again. Only one or two chances involved crosses to his head, with the main opportunity being a cross to him on 87 minutes that was inches away from his sizeable forehead. He seemed to chase balls a little more than the first two games, but his frustration is written right across his face at the moment.

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