Roy Hodgson's appointment makes no difference and other talking points as Crystal Palace lose to Southampton 1-0

Aditya Devavrat 18:59 16/09/2017
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  • It was a losing start for the 70-year-old.

    With Man City, Manchester United, and Chelsea coming up for Crystal Palace, the Premier League’s bottom side knew they needed a result on Saturday at home against Southampton.

    The game marked former England manager Roy Hodgson’s debut in the Palace dugout after the 70-year-old replaced Frank de Boer earlier this week.

    But it was a return to management to forget for the Englishman, as Saints midfielder Steven Davis put Hodgson’s side behind in the sixth minute and Palace struggled to make any impact as they pursued an equaliser.

    In the end, it was a fifth straight loss for the Eagles to open the season.

    Here are some of the talking points from the game.

    DIFFERENT MANAGER, SAME OUTCOME

    Hodgson is about as different a manager to De Boer as there could be, and it showed in the way Palace set about their business on Saturday. The possession football was gone, as was the back three. Palace were set up to soak up pressure and hoof the ball up to Christian Benteke.

    So far, it doesn’t seem to have made much of a difference. Palace’s attacking play was worse than their display against Burnley last week, and letting Southampton dominate the ball and play their passing game was a recipe for disaster – especially after the hosts fell behind early.

    There also seemed to be no Plan B for Hodgson when Palace struggled to find an equaliser. Even De Boer, who was stubbornly rooted to his basic game plan, was willing to switch things up last week as the Ajax way gave way to playing the ball wide and then pumping crosses into the box.

    Bleak return to management: Hodgson.

    WHAT’S HAPPENED TO BENTEKE?

    Palace have become the first top-flight side in English league football history to lose their first five games of a season without scoring a single goal. It’s a damning statistic in itself, but it makes particularly bad reading for Palace’s leading striker.

    Benteke finished tied-10th in last season’s scoring charts with 15 goals, and was vital in leading the team to safety. So far this season, he’s looked off-colour. Part of that could be due to De Boer’s tactics in the first three games, with Palace’s more patient build-up play not utilising the Belgian’s biggest strengths, but both last week and on Saturday it seemed the Eagles were making it a point of making Benteke a focal point of their attack again.

    If Benteke doesn’t rediscover his scoring touch soon, Hodgson isn’t going to last much longer than his predecessor.

    Struggling for form: Benteke.

    SOUTHAMPTON’S MIDFIELD TRIO SHINES

    When observers pause to consider which are the best midfields in the Premier League – Chelsea, Tottenham, Manchester United, and Man City will likely appear in some order at the top of every list, and rightly so. After that, however, Southampton’s trio of Steven Davis, Mario Lemina, and Oriol Romeu have a reasonable claim to being the next best.

    An insipid Palace side is admittedly not the best measuring stick, and the Saints did lose their previous game 2-0 at home to Watford, but on Saturday the Davis-Lemina-Romeu axis bossed the game, with Davis adding the icing on the cake with his goal.

    Lemina, Southampton’s record signing, is still getting used to a new league and new team-mates, but his understanding with the two players beside him will only get better – and as it does, so will Southampton.

    Lemina is growing as an asset to Saints.

    VIRGIL VAN DIJK’S REINTEGRATION BEGINS

    With Palace chasing an equaliser, Mauricio Pellegrino opted to bring on Virgil Van Dijk for the centre-back’s first appearance this season.

    Southampton’s refusal to consider any offers for their defender even as he missed games in a bid to force through a move made for a tumultuous summer for both club and player.

    The Dutchman was given a mixed reception from the travelling fans, with a fair amount of boos mixed in with the cheers. Thankfully, he had little to do on the pitch, as Palace played hopeful long balls that were easy to deal with for Van Dijk and his colleagues.

    Next week’s fixture against Manchester United will be the defender’s first home game of the season and the reaction then will be even more telling.

    Back in the picture: Van Dijk.

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