The Eagles Shall Rise ~ Crystal Palace (FIFA 18 Dynasty)

[Number999]

The Eagles Shall Rise ~ A Crystal Palace Dynasty

Background: Crystal Palace have found themselves floundering about in the Premier League ever since their heroic uprising when they attained promotion following the 2012/2013 campaign. Going backwards from the 2016/2017 season, their finishes have seen them land in 14th, 15th, 10th, and 11th place finishes. They started off quite well, but have since found themselves in the bottom fourth of the league year in and year out. Led by an ownership group of 3 men by the names of Steve Parish, Joshua Harris, and David S. Blitzer the club is currently living in one of it's best eras all things considered. After getting relegated back at the end of the 2005 season, they spent a whole 6 seasons in the Championship. Prior to that, their peak as a club came in the 1990s when they finished 3rd place multiple times, and even in 2003/2004 they finished 6th in the Premier League before a disastrous season that let to their relegation.

The Eagles are now looking to attain some of that former glory. Hell, they're looking to even surpass those expectations and go beyond. While it may not be easy to crack the cream of the crop in England when mammoth squads such as Manchester United, Manchester City, and Arsenal are wondering about there is no doubt that following the formula of a club like Tottenham is a certainly doable formula. Investing heavily in youth development and finding the next up-and-coming manager is all apart of the process that could see Crystal Palace rise to the cream of the crop. In order to attain this goal, the board of directors have decided to hire a young no-name called Lucien LeClair. The 31-year old previously worked at Swansea City and had attained some notoriety for his work in the analytical department as he attempted to modernize the format of football at Swansea, albeit with little success given the harden ways of the old guard. At Crystal Palace, he will be given full reigns from the starting 11, to transfers, to the youth academy and so forth. While The Eagles may not have the money to compare with the Elite 6, they can find other methods to try and have a breakthrough as opposed to continuing to meander barely surviving relegation each season. That charm of LeClair's may prove to be huge in the long-term.

LeClair was very brief at his press conference, but with early doubters he was able to win many over with his charisma. The French manager was originally born in the United States, and then moved to France when he was 7 years old due to his parents relocating. Since then he's worked his way up the ranks and now has been given the opportunity to prove his stuff running a club ala the equivalent of Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger. Lucien also stated that he was extremely excited to get acquainted with the roster and when asked about potential transfers, he stated that decisions will be made as he sees fit. There's no doubt that while the roster isn't teeming with talent, the likes of Wilfrid Zaha and Christian Benteke are certainly far from scrubs and can provide an immediate jolt to the teams goal-scoring ability. When questioned about the decision to make a hire at the Premier League level in regards to someone who hadn't even managed smaller clubs previously, the ownership deflected that moves like that have failed countless times. Look at Bob Bradley with Swansea City or Roy Hodgson everywhere he's bounced around. Crystal Palace are willing to be daring with this decision, and we'll see if this pays off for them. The potential gains are huge... but the loss? All that PL money down the drain.

Rules:
So these are a few house rules I'll be putting on myself to make sure this isn't a walk in the park.

* Match Difficulty: Legendary
* Half Length: 6 Minutes
* Squad Used: Download Latest
* Disable First Transfer Window: Off
* Special Rule: Only allowed to play 2 games PER month. What does this mean? I am only allowed to play 2 matches each month which makes it so that my skill can't be too influential in how my team pans out. Otherwise, simming will be done in every other match. This creates a nice balancing act where I have to factor in what matches I wanna play (big games that I could lose and waste VS making sure I get points vs smaller clubs) as well as the factor of trying to hard in tournaments such as the FA Cup and hell down the line if we're able to qualify for Europa or Champions League, those are even tougher decisions I'm gonna have to make. This makes it so I can't just win the Prem is the first season since I can only have such an impact, and also hell if I do get lucky/build a good enough squad than it will really feel earned.

[Number999]

LeClair makes sweeping changes in July/August 2017!

It did not take very long for Lucien LeClair to put his stamp on his new tenure as the manager at Crystal Palace. Before the Eagles could even play their opening preseason matchup against Ajax, rumors were already swirling around potential transactions that could be made with him at the helm. One of the most notable rumors was the fact LeClair believed strongly that the talent seen at Crystal Palace in it's youth is far stronger than many believe. He believes Wilfried Zaha can be a cornerstone of the club for the next decade if he so chooses, and the two monster strikers up front in Christian Benteke and Alexander Sørloth could provide a terrorizing threat given their size in the Premier League. He also views Jaïro Riedewald as a key asset that can become the anchor in defense backing up Mamadou Sakho. Whether all of these dreams are mere fantasy or actually plausible will come down to the individuals and LeClair putting them in the best position to succeed.

In terms of opening matches, the preseason tournament did not go too amazingly for Crystal Palace. In their opening match playing against Ajax in a tournament for a 8M pool prize taking place in Portugal, the sides drew 2-2 which is impressive considering Patrick van Aanholt got himself a red card in around the 50th minute. In their following match, the Eagles lost in heart-breaking fashion to Chievo Verona. Manuel Pucciarelli scored the game-winning goal in the 83rd minute as Palace were shutout 0-1. To make matters worse, Ajax was victorious over Spartak Moscow which meant the points were separated 6, 4, 1, and 0 leaving Crystal Palace in 3rd place needing a win plus some help. Against Spartak Moscow, the club achieved their first victory under LeClair defeating the Russian side 2-1 courtesy of a key 87th minute rebond goal by Sørloth! Still, the win was difficult to get excited about since Zaha missed numerous close chances and Sørloth himself was shutdown much of the match with many of his shots getting blocked. Andros Townsend was the other one who scored, and a Quincy Promes banger in the 67th minute was the reason it was tied in the first place. Regardless, Ajax beat Chievo Verona 3-1 which meant Crystal Palace were eliminated prematurely. In the knockout stages, both Ajax and Chievo Verona lost to CD Leganes and Galatasaray, and Galatasaray would go on to beat CD Leganes 2-1 to take the prize money!

So while that may not have gone as planned, it's preseason. There would be far more focus on these dealings!

Crystal Palace Early Transfers(Selling):
76 OVR CM James McArthur sold to Leicester City for $7,500,000
74 OVR ST Connor Wickham sold to Leeds United for $7,200,000
74 OVR CB Martin Kelly sold to Fulham for $7,200,000
74 OVR RB Joel Ward sold to West Brom for $5,100,000

You have read correctly... LeClair was not kidding around when he said he would be taking action as soon as he took over. Before signing any players, he had already sold off 4 of the former core at Crystal Palace. His reasoning? He believes that these players simply will not contribute in the long-term. McArthur is 29 years old and would only be taking time away from players such as Milivojevic and Riedewald. Wickham is basically a worse version of a big striker without much pace, and that's redundant with Sørloth and Benteke. Kelly is stuck behind Tomkins and Dann, while Ward is in the final 11 months of his contract and with Timothy Fosu-Mensah on loan here from Manchester United, he's expendable for this season and next year the Eagles can find a replacement. LeClair decided that picking up these funds would be far more beneficial going to the academy and his own players that he's scouting rather than keeping these 27+ year olds on the team to take time away from youth.

So there you have it. That's the big talk surrounding Crystal Palace at the moment, but it isn't all "bad" news. Rumors swirled that Wilfried Zaha was seriously approached by Roma on a 41M+ bid, and LeClair rejected the offer stating quite simply that Zaha was not for sale. This isn't about profit, but rather the direction that LeClair wants the club to go on. Oh and another thing to mention, there have been some minor rumors about players that Crystal Palace are interested in. Yves Bissouma is one of them from LOSC Lille, and the sides agreed on a transfer price but negotiations broke down badly during contracts supposedly. Could be te end of that or not. LeClair was also intrigued by Achraf Hakimi who's a 18-year old fullback currently with Real Madrid who has a boatload of potential, but Palace weren't willing to pay the 10M+ fee required. Finally there are also some minor names such as Peter Etebo and Alvaro Odriozola being thrown around but both those players are on loan and thus cannot be acquired at this current time. Maybe in the future though.

But now it's time for opening matchday! Yup! Can't believe it's here either. Crystal Palace have not made any signings but there are still plenty of players available and given the sizable mediocre depth of the team, the yet to be purchased players shouldn't be hurting too badly. Let's look at the starting lineup for the 2017/2018 Premier League Season. Please though keep in mind this will vary greatly with transfers + injuries + development.

Crystal Palace 2017/2018 Lineup:
Formation: 4-4-2 Flat
ST: 72 OVR Alexander Sørloth
ST: 80 OVR Christian Benteke
LM: 78 OVR Andros Townsend
RM: 82 OVR Wilfried Zaha
CM: 77 OVR Luka Milivojevic
CM: 78 OVR Yohan Cabaye
LB: 74 OVR Patrick van Aaanholt
CB: 81 OVR Mamadou Sakho
CB: 77 OVR James Tomkins
RB: 75 OVR Timothy Fosu-Mensah
GK: 72 OVR Wayne Hennessey

Substitutes: 76 OVR CB Scott Dann, 75 OVR CDM Jaïro Riedewald, 75 OVR CAM Ruben Loftus-Cheek, 73 OVR CM Jason Puncheon, 72 OVR LM Bakary Sako, 70 OVR CAM Lee Chung Yong, 72 OVR GK Julian Speroni

Reserves: 72 OVR LB Jeffrey Schlupp, 71 OVR LB Papa Souare, 71 OVR CM Erdal Rakip, 69 OVR CB Damien Delaney, 69 OVR CM Jordon Mutch, 67 OVR CB Jaroslaw Jach, 59 OVR CM Luke Dreher, 58 OVR CAM Nya Kirby, 56 OVR RM Jason Lokilo, 55 OVR LM Levi Lumeka, 53 OVR GK Dion-Curtis Henry

Opening at home vs Huddersfield! Next recap should involve tons of transfers + matches in August!

[Number999]

Eagles sputter to slow start in Premier League 17/18

Rome wasn't built in a day... and Lucien LeClair along with fans of Crystal Palace are learning that quickly.

(Match #1 of PL) vs Huddersfield: The minty new sense of a new season was in the air! Finally it had come after so many months away, and it was now time to kick-off the new Premier League season.... AAAAAND before you know it Tom Ince is through our entire defense and scores the first goal in the 1st minute of the season for Huddersfield! Simply.... pathetic. Do you want to talk about stupidity. Oh yeah we do, because freaking Alexander Sølorth got a bloody red card in the 23rd minute. The hell are you doing out there mate? After an equalizer by us, Alex Pritchard scored in the 73rd minute for them as it was looking to be impossible for a 10-man Eagles squad to hold on, and yet before you knew it the hero Wilfried Zaha came swooping in and with a beautiful strike, tied it back up at 2-2 in the 77th minute! Wayne Hennessey and the rest of the Palace defense would hold on to seal a 2-2 draw in the opener. 1 point in the season, considering you were at home vs a weaker side it isn't great but given the 10-men factor, not awful job lads.

Clearly knowing he'll need to make improvements to this squad, Lucien LeClair went right back to the drawing board with LOSC Lille to try and hammer out another deal after contract negotiations fell through with center midfielder Yves Bissouma. The 21-year old was insulted by their previous negotiations, and yet was willing to give it another go after Crystal Palace and LOSC Lille agreed to a $6,400,000 transfer fee. With re-newed focus, Bissouma had his agent land him a 35k per week wage along with a hefty $500,000 signing bonus. With the need to make acquisitions, LeClair agreed and the first signing in this new era was achieved! Bissouma provides a nice variety with his ability to dribble the ball but is overall an extremely well-rounded player despite his lack of shooting. He will rotate starting alongside the likes of Yohan Cabaye and Luka Milivojevic. Overall, damn good to see a deal get done for all sides.

(Match #2 of PL) @ Liverpool(PLAYED 1 of 2): This freaking game... Crystal Palace were assualting Liverpool head-on at Anfield. It was a bit of a new lineup, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek being the complimentary striker to Benteke since Sølorth had to sit with his red card. Bissouma got the start in midfield ahead of Cabaye, and some other names such as Riedewald and Schlupp also were in the starting 11. Right away you could sense Crystal Palace zeroing in, and their physicality compared to that of Liverpool was immense. They were deadly on corners, and it required elite saves by Loris Karius to prevent The Reds from conceding. But then a turning moment in the match happened. In the 48th minute, Christian Benteke was fed a pass and was through on goal against Karius... and he pushed his shot WIDE LEFT! Embarassing. From there, Liverpool were the beneficiaries of a humiliating mistake by Mamadou Sakho. Attempting to pass the ball to Schlupp, he was intercepted by Mohamed Salah who slotted the ball away to put Liverpool up 1-0. Those mistakes will kill you. The Eagles spent the rest of the match chasing, and were never able to catch back up. Bakary Sako hit a banger off the post in the 76th minute, and from there Liverpool and Roberto Firmino scored in the 87th to effectively put the match to bed. Milivojevic scored in the 90th off of a pass by Cheek but it was too late, Liverpool had won 2-1. Just 1 point through 2 matches, considering that Palace realistically outplayed Liverpool today is just downright brutal.

(Round 2 of Carabao Cup) vs Leicester City: This match was in the Carabao Cup. LeClair decided to trot out a fairly strong lineup, given the fact he was able to rest a fair amount against Liverpool with many youngsters playing. Wilfried Zaha scored in the 16th minute, but then Jamie Vardy tied it back up in the 53rd! As a substitution for Christian Benteke, Andros Townsend came on and provided an instant jolt taking the lead right back to put Crystal Palace up 2-1!... and then antics struck again. Mamadou Sakho with a downright idiotic challenge on Vardy led to him getting sent off with a red in the 68th minute. Palace would have to clench their asses for the remaining 25+ minutes or so, but they would hold on to takedown Leicester in a 2-1 victory. Sakho, you're not making a good first impression.

(Match #3 of PL) vs Swansea City(PLAYED 2 of 2): This is the classic case of a team as of right now getting unfortunate with the current tide of things. Crystal Palace managed to hit the post 3 times against Swansea, 2 of them being from Benteke who is having a rough start to the season with just 1 goal and 0 assists through his first 7 appearances. On the defensive side of things, Swansea City had one decent chance all afternoon and it came with Leroy Fer splitting the defense, getting through on goal, and sending a finesse shot wide of the net clanking off the outside barrier. Lukas Fabianski was absolutely brilliant for the Welsh side, with him making 3 distinct key saves late in the 73rd, 83rd, and 85th minutes respectively. It didn't matter if it was Sølorth or Zaha or Townsend, nothing got past Fabianski today. The match ended with a 15 shots to 4 shots disparity. The lone bright spot? Yves Bissouma was nothing short of sensational. He caused chaos all throughout the pitch and Swansea City's midfield in the likes of Leon Britton looked completely out-classed. Could Crystal Palace have found their own version of a bigger N'Golo Kante? That may be jumping the gun too early, especially after a 0-0 draw, but he looked fantastic and earned himself a 8.4 rating(highest of all players) because of it.

Those were all of the matches in August. In the Premier League, 2 draws at home and a loss away at Liverpool isn't an ideal start, but the good sign is that The Eagles are in-fact playing well, it's not like they're getting totally out-classed. Still, Lucien LeClair clearly saw the need to make some improvements to the roster depth-wise, and he noticed those glaring weaknesses right away. His first order of business was finding a young goalie who could compete and perhaps replace Wayne Hennessey come January. After scouring various countries and leagues, he stumbled upon Axel Werner, a 21-year old Argentine who is currently in the depths to Atletico Madrid. Upon liking his 6'4" frame and the fact he was under-utilized, LeClair pursued him and got him at a cheap $1,800,000 price with no sell-on clause. Contract negotiations were swift expecting sporadic playing time along with 19k wages, and whaddya know, Werner is the new keeper who will be competing with Hennessey all throughout the rest of this season in all likelihood.

Now that a goal keeper had been addressed, LeClair saw another glaring need in the fact that Crystal Palace did not have any legitimate depth up top for it's attackers. Bakary Sako was honestly the only one and he was an older left midfielder who doesn't really take over games with his speed. Thus, LeClair went to work and hammered out three different deals. The first was for Sada Thioub, a 22-year old outside midfielder who plays for Nimes Olympique. Is he a great player? No, but he's supposed to provide pace and be a different body in case of injury to Townsend or Zaha, and he fits that role beautifully. He only cost $500,000 on a transfer and his wages are under 4k a week. The next more impactful signing was that of Ben Brereton, an 18-year old from Nottingham Forest. The 6'1" Englishman isn't the most fine-tuned technically but he brings rapid pace at his striker spot and will provide a nice counter to Sølorth and Benteke's more menacing size and physical abilities. Bought him for $2,000,000 with a 5% sell-on clause as well as 22.5k per week wages. Finally, you had the biggest signing. Crystal Palace paid $4,500,000 to ESTAC Troyes for this man, and his name is Samuel Grandsir. A 21-year old right midfielder, Grandsir is a raw athletic dribbler who is an underrated player with potential to super-cede Andros Townsend should he perform well. LeClair had connections with Troyes and was able to make the deal happen on deadline day, paying him 24k a week in wages. Keep an eye on him, since you may be seeing plenty of late minute goals for him as he can change the tide of a match.

So that's all of Crystal Palace's work done... let's look at the biggest Summer Transfers before moving on!

Biggest Summer Transfers of 2017/2018:
84 OVR LM Thomas Lemar | AS Monaco ------------> FC Barcelona for $75,200,000
87 OVR CB Jerome Boateng | Bayern Munich --------> Juventus for $60,700,000
85 OVR LM Marco Reus | Borussia Dortmund ---> Arsenal for $55,900,000
83 OVR RM Quincy Promes | Spartak Moscow ------> FC Barcelona for $40,200,000
87 OVR RM Arjen Robben | Bayern Munich --------> Atletico Madrid for $39,300,000

Analysis: Those are some enormous deals! FC Barcelona decided to go all out with the spending they got on that Neymar deal it appears. Though it seems their attacking is going to get crowded considering they have Messi, Suarez, and Dembele all still there. Perhaps that means one of them could be on the way out? Bayern Munich deciding to sell two mammoth players was also a bit of a shock. I also really did not expect a club like Atletico Madrid to be such big buyers but they too were involved here. It'll be interesting to see if Bayern Munich is planning a larger play here. Perhaps they're looking into seeing how their squad fairs and if they need re-enforcements comes January they'll implement them? Regardless, great to see so much action happening. Next article will likely deal with all the happenings in September!

[Number999]

Crystal Palace pull off stunner at the Etihad, 3-0 victory!

Crystal Palace haven't gotten off to the most ideal start in this new Premier League season, but thankfully there is plenty of time for things to get turned around. Before entering our matches in September though, we have a contract negotiation update! Lucien LeClair was able to sitdown with Yohan Cabaye and his agent and hammer out an agreement on a 2-year extension that will pay himself $62,000 a week in wages along with a hefty 600k signing bonus. The deal also includes an additional fee of 2.5M if he were to reach 25 goals, but we all know that's fairly unlikely. Why did LeClair decide to extend the 32-year old? On top of the fact that having capable players no matter their age is useful, LeClair wants to keep Cabaye around given his veteran leadership and the fact he's a crucial integral member of the former Crystal Palace since he's been here since 2015. Think of him being like a holding member between eras. While the likes of Yves Bissouma have looked impressive, and others such as Jason Puncheon would love playing time, Cabaye is here to stay, at least for now. A few other contract extensions may be discussed down the line, but LeClair made sure locking down his biggest priority was done and dusted before any pre-contract talks could begin for him come January.

(Match #4 of PL) @ Burnley: Two sides that entering this year you're not quite sure what to expect, it seems like one of them could be bound for success while the other could burn and fall. In the 17th minute, Wilfried Zaha struck with a classic near-post finish past Tom Heaton to put Crystal Palace up 1-0! Sadly, that lead would only last for so long as Burnley's own Davis would score in the 20th minute to tie the match back up. Similar to what happened in the match against Liverpool, it was The Eagles own mistakes that turned the tide of this match. Yohan Cabaye, fresh off that contract extension, sent a penalty in the 52nd minute wide of the crossbar. In response just 7 minutes later Burnley got a penalty of their own and buried it. Robbie Brady would also score a 3rd for them in the 81st minute as Burnley won 3-1. By the end of the match facts, Crystal Palace were slated 19th in the Prem with just 2 points through their first 4 matches, with 2 draws at home and 2 losses away at Liverpool and Burnely... not pretty to say the least.

(Match #5 of PL) vs Southampton (PLAYED 1 of 2): It was only normal to feel a sense of desperation entering a match such as this. Supporters were only naturally going to get uneasy when this new hotshot you allegedly hired as manager has failed to get a win through his first 4 matches in the Premier League. Crystal Palace and LeClair especially needed a hot start and they got it in the 8th minute courtesy of Christian Benteke! Wilfried Zaha whipped in a cross near-post on a corner and it didn't matter that he was being marked by Charlie Austin and Valery, he fended them both off, popped the ball past Alex McCarthy and put CP up 1-0! The remainder of the 1st half would be the Eagles peppering Southampton with shots, and they'd go into the break with their lead in-tact. Axel Werner was making his 2nd start and was looking to rebound from the poor match vs Burnley, and with a huge save in the 47th minute he did just that! Sadly, it wouldn't last for very long. In the 54th minute, Nathan Redmond would be given some space outside the box and would send a longshot past Werner into the back of the net. Maybe he should've been marked better, but you've gotta do better there Werner. Regardless, Crystal Palace didn't resign themselves to their fate. They pushed back. Jeffrey Schlupp was able to get free down the bottom wing and got into the box, he feeds a pass to Benteke, HE SLOTS IT PAST MCCARTHY! 2-1 CRYSTAL PALACE! Then later on in the 81st minute, The Eagles would snag a 3rd on a scrappy Yohan Cabaye goal off of a corner and a few deflections. 3-1 victory for LeClair! It's his first ever Premier League victory, it comes at home, and wow Christian Benteke earned himself MOTM with a monster 2-goal performance along with a 9.4 rating!

(Round 3 of Carabao Cup) @ Chelsea: In no way is it very high class sportsmanship to say you're effectively punting on a match, but in this case Crystal Palace basically did just that. With a huge game against Manchester City just 2 days later in the league, LeClair does not have the luxury to try and go really hard and push Chelsea. Because of that, the likes of Speroni and van Aanholt were playing. As a result, the match went just as expected. Willian scored a goal in the 20th minute for them, and then none other than Olivier Giroud netted himself a brace with goals in the 39th and 61st minutes respectively. Chelsea won 3-0, but there was no shame in this loss, just a reality given our current status vs one of the biggest clubs in the world.

(Match #6 of PL) @ Manchester City(PLAYED 2 of 2): It'd be natural to go into a match like this nervous. Playing in Etihad Stadium, Man City were the league leaders through 5 matches with 12 points including 4 wins and 1 loss. They were also on a 3-game winning streak at this point. It came as no surprise that Crystal Palace attempted to play very conservatively holding possession but the drastic difference in talent made itself apparent early on, with Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling buzzing around the field. In the 15th minute, Jesus made Jaïro Riedewald dance out of his boots with two fakes and had a clear shot on Werner, but sent the ball centimeters wide of the far left post to keep it a 0-0 match. In the 28th minute, İlkay Gündoğan had a threatening longshot just go wide, yet vs Southampton that shot by Nathan Redmond went in. Crystal Palace were reeling, and it felt like they were close to breaking, but then, it happened. Yves Bissouma saw Wilfried Zaha open at the top of the box, he fed him the ball, Kwado Asamoah who had been signed by Man City came over to defend him but got FAKED out by a fake shot, Zaha inside, he shoots, deflected by Ederson, BUT BISSOUMA IS THERE AND GOOOOAL! 1-0 CRYSTAL PALACE! He got the rebound opportunity of his dreams and made it happen in the 32nd minute! Unbelievable! It appears as though Man City's defense got disorientated and couldn't recover!

Still, Manchester City would press onwards and only increase their aggression. In the 37th minute, Kevin de Bruyne was just on the outside of the box and sent a shot firing clanging off the crossbar on a shot that could have easily tied things up. It was desperate, but Crystal Palace got to halftime with their 1-0 stunning lead in-tact. At the break, LeClair knew he couldn't survive with this current formation and opted for a 5-at-the-back, bringing on Tomkins to assist in that effort. How did Crystal Palace fair? Brilliantly. Why? Yves Bissouma. The 21-year old lad was a MENACE on the pitch, not only for getting that goal but also because he was tracking down Gabriel Jesus like crazy. He made Jesus look ineffective, and was constantly intercepting passes, stopping counter-attacks, and generally making this luxurious Man City attack look subpar. As a result, Pep Guardiola felt the need to start pressing. That's when Crystal Palace took advantage. In the 71st minute, Christian Benteke fed a streaking beauty of a pass to Wilfried Zaha who found his way into the box, he simply fed it over to Alexander Sørloth and it was 2-0 CRYSTAL PALACE! It got worse from there for Man City, as in the 79th minute Andros Townsend fed Sørloth again in the box, he bullied Nicolas Otamendi and sent a laser past Ederson to make it 3-0 AND A STUNNER! Sada Thioub would come on with his pace and would ice the match allowing for a clean-sheet on top of everything else. Crystal Palace win 3-0! A complete and utter shocker at the Etihad, it was a mixture of brilliance by Yves Bissouma as well as some misfortune(miss by Jesus in 15th) that led to this incredible result. There will be plenty of reactions to come, but many are already singing the praises of LeClair for his efforts.

(Match #7 of PL) @ Manchester United: Coming off such a massive victory, it would be difficult for Crystal Palace to keep the good feelings going. Hell, playing both Manchester's away in back-to-back league matches would be difficult for clubs like Chelsea and Arsenal, let alone Crystal Palace. Romelu Lukaku struck first with a big header in the 30th minute to put Manchester United in front, yet, in the 52nd minute after halftime it was Wilfried Zaha who continues to make a massive impact with a goal to tie it back up! Some subs were make such as bringing on Bissouma and taking off Sakho, but it was not enough. Big man striker Romelu Lukaku netted a second goal in the 70th minute to put Manchester United back in the lead, and United would win 2-1. Certainly never a result you want to see but Crystal Palace put forth an admirable effort and really did make United work for their victory, they certainly played better than they did vs Burnley for example. It's just with this level of talent there's only so much you can do.

2017 September Summary: All in all, a better damn good month. You saw us hit a very low point with that loss at Burnley and temporairly being 19th in the Premier League, but then you bounced back with two monster wins at home against Southampton and away at Manchester City. Still, you know that this isn't going to be a Leicester City-type season with the loss to Chelsea in the Carabao Cup and loss to Man United but it's still promising to see. Benteke had a 2-goal game against Southampton, while Sørloth had a 2-goal game against Manchester City. Some other names to note? Yves Bissouma is quickly emerging as one of the best players at this club, and that should not go unnoticed as LeClair's first huge signing. Also, talk about Axel Werner. He got each start in the league this month and while he's had his ups and downs, you wanna talk about getting you first ever clean sheet against Manchester City away? That's something he'll have for the rest of his life, credit to him. Next time we'll break down a relatively relaxing October since there aren't that many matches scheduled but that means we can go more in-depth on some other things such as potential January transfers and youth development. Until then!

[Number999]

Crystal Palace takedown Chelsea, West Ham in EPL!

(Match #8 of PL) vs Chelsea(PLAYED 1 of 2): Crystal Palace have had to play an on-slaught of monster clubs to start this Premier League season, and this home match against Chelsea was no different. They lost to them in the Carabao Cup but that was with a B-team side at best, now all the stars would be playing. It did not take very long for the Eagles to put their imprint on this game at home, with a brilliant 1-2 being played by Benteke and Sørloth. After being fed a pass by Townsend, Benteke shuffled the ball to Sørloth who gave it back to him in the box. David Luiz had over-run his marked man and Benteke powered up and shot... BANG! INTO THE BACK OF THE NET PAST WILLY CABALLERO! 1-0 Crystal Palace! The home supporters roared with excitement, the match against Manchester City proved Palace were capable of such an upset. Sadly, that bright moment would only last for 4 minutes, as in the 18th minute Chelsea responded. On a corner, Eden Hazard whipped in a ball near-post to Olivier Giroud, and Sørloth over-whelmed could not defend it. Giroud took a masterful strike on goal that honestly should have been saved by Axel Werner whiffed on it. 1-1 dead draw through the first 20 minutes now.

That did not mean that Crystal Palace stopped pressing though. In the 40th minute, Yves Bissouma maneuvered some space away from N'Golo Kante and fired a shot that WENT OFF THE POST! Benteke scrambled to it with Caballero on the ground, OH BUT HE GETS BUMPED BY AZIPLICUETA! PENALTY! Yes, a penalty was given for that infraction as Azpi did push Benteke to the ground. Benteke himself would step up for the shot but despite his menacing presence, he put forth a rather meager effort and it was saved by Caballero. Still stuck at a 1-1 draw, Crystal Palace may have just had that opportunity slip.... until Yves Bissouma took it right back. Right before halftime in the 45th minute, Christian Benteke moved around in the box and held onto the ball, yet he passed it to the bottom half to Andros Townsend. Knowing that he could play risky, Yves Bissouma came up and had acres of space in front of him because 3-men were marking Sølorth since it was nearing the end of the half and they figured a cross would be whipped in. Without even taking a touch, Bissouma reved up and fired... BAAANG! OFF THE POST AND IN! RIDICULOUS! HOW DOES THIS KID KEEP DOING IT!?!? David Luiz and Andres Christensen both made a desperate attempt to block but it was too late. Bissouma had just gifted Crystal Palace the lead right before halftime, and it would be 2-1 entering the break!

It should come as no surprise that from here on out, Crystal Palace went defensive. They brought out a 5-at-the-back formation and Lucien LeClair brought on Tomkins for Yohan Cabaye. Bissouma would continue to dominate the midfield, and after having 5 shots in the 1st half, Chelsea finished the match with 0 shots in the 2nd half. Crystal Palace had won, 2-1! Just a brilliant 1st half and then master-class defensively to finish it off in the final 45 minutes. Yves Bissouma earned MOTM honors with a 9.2 rating as he continues to develop into one of the best players at this club. One notable thing about Chelsea? Willian was held to a 6.2 rating and was fairly useless, and Chelsea's two main midfielders in Kante and Fabregas were subpar by their standards. Bissouma also completed all 32 of his attempted passes and had numerous successful dribbles. It's not a joke to say this kid has the potential to be one of the best midfielders in the world anymore. Without him, you could absolutely say that Crystal Palace would have lost this match. Instead, they now have 11 points through 8 matches in the Prem!

(Match #9 of PL) vs West Ham(PLAYED 2 of 2): This may have just been Crystal Palace's best match from start to finish. Early on, they were pelting West Ham's Adrian in goal with shot after shot, from a 4th minute thunderbolt by Benteke to a key stop on a Bissouma longshot in the 28th minute. Eventually though, they found their way through. Off of a corner from that Bissouma longshot, Wilfried Zaha crossed the ball to Benteke with Mark Noble and James Collins marking him but it was not enough. Benteke got brilliant strength underneath his header, while Sam Byram did his best to deflect it from going in he nearly bumped it into Adrian's diving hand and it was a goal for Crystal Palace in the 29th minute! From there, Crystal Palace would continue to maintain control for the remainder of the match, with close misses and multiple post hits throughout. The best chance for Wesy Ham came in the 56th minute when Werner deflected the ball right into the path of Arthur Masuaku, but he bolted the ball over the net out for a goal kick! A second Crystal Palace goal came in the dying minutes when all of West Ham's defenders were forward, Sølorth broke away and buried one into the far right hand corner of the net. Crystal Palace had won 2-0! West Ham United did not generate a single shot on target, and many of their players performed quite woefully with the exception of Adrian who had 9 saves and earned a 7.1 rating. Wilfried Zaha won MOTM though he didn't score a goal because he had a key assist and was overall quite solid on the day.

2017 October Summary: It was a pretty phenomenal month for Crystal Palace. They won both of their Premier League matches and have won 4 of their last 5 now if you go back to September. At the end of the month, they are in 7th place with 9 matches and 14 points, though it should be noted that a number of teams have 10 matches played already! In terms of ratings, Christian Benteke has produced a 7.40 rating in premier league matches and has 4 goals in 9 games, while Wilfried Zaha has generated 3 goals and 3 assists in 9 matches worthy of a 7.50 rating. Still, neither of them can compare with Yves Bissouma who has produced the best rating of all with 8.10 through 7 matches including 2 goals and 1 assist while being apart of 3 clean sheets. In terms of improvements that can be made to the squad, there are no complaints right now. Axel Werner has to do better in some spots but he's incredibly young, and Lucien LeClair has stated he has been very happy with the fullback play thus far. In terms of center backs? That could be an area to improve since Sakho has had his fair share of mistakes. The month of November is sure to be hectic since there are 5 matches scheduled, and that doesn't even compare with the matches in December. But at this rate, let's just take it one day at a time!

[Number999]

Crystal Palace continue to find success vs Spurs, Stoke!

(Match #10 of PL) @ Newcastle United: Newcastle United had gained promotion from coming in 1st place in the Championship a season ago, so you can only imagine that they'd be gunning hard to validate themselves at the next level. It didn't take them very long to strike against Crystal Palace, with a big header by Islam Slimani in the 18th minute they led 1-0! The next 40 or so minutes of the match were fairly dull, with the only notable happenings being a yellow card by Tomkins in the 30th, and then changes started happening in the 50th minute and beyond. All of that was fine and dandy until he 58th minute, when Jeffrey Schlupp made a reckless challenge on Christian Atsu and earned himself a red card. Why do we keep doing this to ourselves? Now a loss looked just about certain. Ruben Loftus-Cheek was brought on for Milivojevic in the 61st, and that would prove to be a winning substation by LeClair as he STRUCK in the 87th minute in the dying moments for a goal! Beautiful build-up play led to the creation, even while under-manned, and the Eagles would hold on for a 1-1 draw on the road! Listen, I know that after wins against teams like Manchester City and Chelsea that a draw vs Newcastle doesn't seem that great, but considering we were playing away and had 10-men? Hell of a performance, and well done lads even more so on short rest!

(Match #11 of PL) @ Tottenham(PLAYED 1 of 2): Oooooooh baby do you want to talk about a thrilling match! Both sides were generating chances all throughout, but it would be Crystal Palace with an early goal in the 16th minute! Samuel Grandsir was in the box attempting to get past Serge Aurier, and when he turned around he was dragged down for a penalty! Knowing that Benteke had missed the last PK, Wilfried Zaha was given the chance and buried it in the bottom left hand corner for a 1-0 early lead! But as opposed to other sides, Spurs were creating opportunities. In the 28th minute, he stopped Dele Alli attempting to go near-post for a huge save. Crystal Palace responded with chances of their own, but they simply could not get past Paulo Gazzaniga today who was phenomenal in goal for Spurs. In the 40th minute, Alexander Sølorth banged a shot off the post. In the 45th, he made a huge save on a corner that was unbelievably dangerous. This was a back-and-forth match, and the Spurs had a chance in the 50th to take the lead with Harry Kane breaking free but he sent a finesse shot wide with Sakho pushing him off the ball. Kane then hit the post in the 54th minute, as the ball clanked off and sailed to van Aanholt who cleared it. Sølorth also had so many chances to bury 2-3 goals but Gazzaniga was fantastic, and Sølorth's finishing was poor. This tension would last until the 90th minute when Sada Thioub did what he does best. With Victor Wanyama on him gassed, Thioub manuevered around the dis-orientated and displaced Spurs defense, found a gap, and BURIED a shot PAST GAZZANIGA FOR THE GOAL! 2-0 CRYSTAL PALACE! I gotta tell you, while he isn't on the level of many players in the team, Thioub's pace and ability to come on and ice a match is just tremendous. Zaha won MOTM with a 9.0 rating but Thioub had a 8.5 in very limited time and hell, it's yet another clean sheet for Werner! Crystal Palace now find themselves in 3rd place with 18 points!

(Match #12 of PL) vs Everton: After a rough start to the season, Crystal Palace have turned themselves around and are now in Champions League qualifying position!.... okay so that may not last but hey, it's still cool to say regardless. With a home match against Everton, LeClair stuck with what was working but decided to make a few adjustments by putting Milivojevic in the starting lineup and playing Townsend once again. It took 24 minutes for the first goal to come and it was courtesy of Gylfi Sigurdsson, who on a free kick after a foul committed by Cabaye scored. Damn. Still, our star who's been the hero in terms of salvaging points Wilfried Zaha responded with a goal of his own, and the sides were knotted up at the break. in terms of subs, Crystal Palace made two by bringing on Jeffrey Schlupp for Townsend in the 49th minute and Loftus-Cheek for Milivojevic in the 75th, but there would be no late heroics from Cheek this time around. All he would get is a yellow card in the 83rd minute, and the sides would have to settle for a 1-1 draw. You would have liked a win considering you're playing at home, but sometimes you've gotta accept the point and just move on to the next match.

(Match #13 of PL) vs Stoke City (PLAYED 2 of 2: Two teams that have been the talk of the Premier League to start the season, heading into the match with all sides having played 12 matches, Crystal Place are in 4th place with 19 points while Stoke City are in 6th with 17 points! It did not take until the 6th minute for the matches first momentum shifting moment of the day. Badoy Ndiaye was on the edge of Crystal Palace's box when he saw Jeffrey Schlupp make an error to cover Mame Diouf, leaving Bilal Başaçıkoğlu unmarked with only Samuel Grandsir behind him. He laid a masterful pass, clearly onside, and OOOF BASACIKOGLU BLASTS IT WIDE OF THE NET! Just embarrassing. You will rarely get opportunities as open as he had there. That miss would prove costly because Stoke City's offense never had a better chance than that all day. Crystal Palace on the other hand was battering Jack Butland, forcing him to make back-to-back elite saves against Benteke volleys and headers. An off side goal by Sørloth did not end up counting in the 20th, and Stoke City had another golden opportunity to score just before halftime in the 43rd minute. Diouf played a 1-2 with Darren Fletcher and had an angle on goal, but thanks to Axel Werner barely getting a hand to it it banged off the post and stayed out! 0-0 at the break, Crystal Palace kept pressing onwards. Finally a chance came in the 63rd minute. Benteke found Bissouma coming towards the edge of the box and Bissouma saw Samuel Grandsir create some distance from Mortiz Bauer, catching him off guard, he slipped the pass BEHIND Bauer, Grandsir shoots it on one-touch, OFF RYAN SHAWCROSS, AND INTO THE NET! A DEFLECTION GOAL! HAH! It was scrappy, but it was all the Eagles would need. Stoke City's offense failed to break-through and The Eagles had won 1-0! In terms of rating, no surprise who won MOTM... Yves Bissouma with a 9.1, and Ndiaye was comfortably the best player for Stoke with a 7.2, he may be somebody to scout for in the next few windows. Also a big congrats to Grandsir on his first goal at the club and hell also credit to Benteke/Sølorth for making an impact, let's keep the good times rolling!

(Match #14 of PL) @ Brighton: 3rd placed Crystal Palace against 14th placed Brighton is not a matchup many would have anticipated this deep into the season. Sadly, this game will not be remembered for the play at hand but rather the gruesome injury Jaïro Riedewald suffered in just the 10th minute of the match. Going up for a header he got a boot in his heel from a fellow teammate and had to be subbed off right away for Tomkins, hope it isn't anything too serious. To make things more interesting, Brighton got a red card in the 15th minute via Kieran Tierney! 10-man Brighton would fend for their lives against Palace who kept bringing on an on-slaught of attackers from Brereton to Grandsir, but nothing was good enough to penetrate the defense. At the end of the day, this finished a 0-0 draw. I'd say this is the first real disappointing outcome you can say for this month, and the only one at that. Of course Riedewald getting hurt may have shaken the team a bit, and the fact he's out with a femur contusion for 2 weeks sucks, but hey. You gotta get a goal in those 75 minutes against 10-man Brighton.

2017 November Summary: It was an extremely effective month for us in the Premier League. We continued to see big wins against big clubs and we've seen ourselves rise to the top 25% of the league table. Yves Bissouma continues to blossom into a star and the likes of Samuel Grandsir and Axel Werner have made their contributions known. I believe the true potential turning point for this season now comes in December, where we have an incredible 7 matches scheduled for the month. They include West Brom, AFC Bournemouth, Watford, Leicester City, Swansea City, Arsenal, and Manchester City. Depending on their performances, LeClair could very well make the decision to add re-enforcements and make a push for Europe via January transfers. Whether he wants to deviate or not from his initial plan will ultimately be on his shoulders. But hell, with injuries potentially coming it would be a very wise move to do ahead of time. One name I'll drop in here... Badou Ndiaye, just sayin'.

[Number999]

Pre-Transfer Window Negotiations w/ Lucien LeClair

While some matches are being played throughout the hectic month of December, and those are obviously the main focus of Lucien LeClair, that doesn't mean the transfer window can be put off until January. One of the best and most effective ways to improve your squad is establishing what's already known, and then being able to make those improvements swiftly by already knowing some of the talent that's out on the open market. In this case for Crystal Palace, it's even more vital to do that due to the limited funds available. While LeClair did accomplish a fair amount of selling offer in the Summer, there are still more changes to be made and while he understands this process is going to take time, Crystal Palace are playing at a level that they can contend for playing time at a European level. That's no joke when you're a relatively smaller club than the likes of Spurs, Arsenal, and Liverpool. So, let's take a deep dive at each part of Swansea City's lineup.

Up front, you have your two unquestioned starters in Alexander Sørloth and Christian Benteke. Both have been playing well this season, and the Norwegian in particular has seen plenty of growth which is fantastic to see from the 22-year old. Still, one could argue that their skills are especially redundant. Both are huge in size yet lack top-end pace. In an attempt to fix that, LeClair did purchase Ben Brereton from Nottingham Forest but he's only 18 and is likely to be a player who plays in just smaller cup matches for awhile. Crystal Palace could certainly use an upgrade here, and hell considering the fact Benteke is 27, he may want to make a move back up to a big club if the offer comes calling. We'll have to wait and see on that. In terms of the wings, right now we have Wilfried Zaha and Andros Townsend as our main guys. Both have been sensational this season, and they're both entering their prime as they are 25 and 26 years old respectively. In terms of depth, we have 21-year old Samuel Grandsir who we've purchased and he's made some decent contributions, as well as Bakary Sako and Sada Thioub. Sako is likely on his way out if possible, and Thioub mostly serves a substitue and rarely starts. So getting another starter here to have a 4-man rotation wouldn't be the worst idea, Crystal Palace have some options they like in Rafik Zekhnini, Peter Etebo, and Isaac Success but all of them are out on loan at the moment.

The midfield for Crystal Palace will always be tricky because unless a formation change happens, there's only going to be 2 main spots at any one time. Amongst starting players, you have Yves Bissouma who easily is looking at becoming the heartbeat of this team moving forward. But then you also have Yohan Cabaye, a veteran and still one of our best player, Luka Milivojević who's a great defensive player and only 26, and then a variety of other players from Erdal Rakip to Lee Chung Yong to Jason Puncheon to Ruben Loftus-Cheek(though he is just on a loan deal) This position does make it easy to debate whether Crystal Palace should consider a more narrow formation, but it would make you sacrifice one of your strikers in order to accomplish that. But if Benteke gets moved, that could be an option. Regardless, no real need to get anybody as of right now and also it's not like LeClair is going to do any better than Bissouma, who has been as repeatedly stated our best player this season.

In defense, Crystal Palace have already made some moves. Ryan Sessegnon has agreed to a 5-year contract with Crystal Palace after the sides negotiated with Fulham. They paid $2,400,000 for the 17-year old and he'll get paid 19k in wages along with a $240,000 signing bonus. It's a mammoth signing considering the potential Sessegnon has, but he's already made it plenty clear that he has his eyes on bigger clubs which is interesting to factor in... he views this place as a stepping stone, not a place to build like Bissouma, so that's something to keep in mind. Jeffrey Schlupp and Papa Souare man the left back slot, that's alright, Timothy Fosu-Mensah is the right back but his loan will expire at the end of the season, that's where Sessegnon slides in. At center back, we have Jaïro Riedewald as our future along with Mamadou Sakho, Tomkins, and Scott Dann. This could be a place to improve if we're feeling bougee but it's not a desperate need. In net, Axel Werner is pretty much uncontested, though it would be nice to groom a young keeper behind him to create some competition.

January will certainly be interesting, but before then, let's look at what happened in the December matchups!

[Number999]

LeClair leads Eagles to continued success, 2017 ends

(Match #15 of PL) @ West Brom: West Bromwich Albion have been another one of the unsung heroes through this 1st half of the 2017/2018 Premier League season. They are currently in 6th place with 20 points, though they could rise even higher considering some teams ahead of them already have 14 matches played while they only have 13. That all being in spite of the factor they've played many great teams recently such as Chelsea, Spurs, and Man City. This affair between Crystal Palace and West Brom was relatively dull compared to the excitement of their past matches, and the only turning moment came in the 42nd minute when Gareth Barry drew a penalty. He would step up and ice it, and that would be the only goal of the day as West Brom won 1-0. For Crystal Palace, this was an extremely uninspiring performance. Attackers were unable to generate much of anything against a not-incredible West Brom defense, and it's disappointing that we lost out on gaining even a single point even while acknowledging this was a road matchup, oh well.

(Match #16 of PL) vs AFC Bournemouth: AFC Bournemouth have not had the most phenomenal start to the Premier League season, currently in 13th place, yet given the fact that the Eagles haven't played their greatest against some of the weaker sides this season, today was an important afternoon to show our stuff. The first goal came in the 25th minute courtesy of Andros Townsend! He was fed a pass from Yohan Cabaye and buried it past Asmir Begovic to put Crystal Palace in front. Then just before halftime, our main man and star Wilfried Zaha scored in the 45th minute to double our lead just before the break! Making defensive subsitutions, Milivojevic was brought on for Cabaye and LeClair would look to just hold out for the 3-point result. Jermaine Defoe did score in the 62nd minute for Bournemouth which made things a bit more tight than ideally expected, but Crystal Palace prevailed to win 2-1! It's a nice win in front of our home fans and has us bounce back quickly after a rough result against West Brom. Also a testament to Werner and our defense for the fact that they held on.

(Match #17 of PL) vs Watford: The top 4 in the Premier League is kind of crazy right now with 16 matches played, including Man United, West Brom, Man City, and Crystal Palace! Sure, Spurs/Chelsea are only 2-3 points behind with a match in hand but still. Watford themselves are having a pretty good season placed in 9th with 22 points and goal differential of 0. Sadly for the Eagles, tonight would not be the day. On a Tuesday evening, it was Gerard Deulofeu who opened up the scoring with a key goal in the 32nd minute, and you can only imagine how chuffed the former Barcelona and Everton star felt about scoring against LeClair who didn't speak his highest praises in the press conference beforehand. Jason Puncheon who made a surprise start in the midfield alongside Milivojevic rewarded LeClair by knicking a goal just before halftime to make it a 1-1 match at the break. After numerous substitutions for the next 35 minutes or so, the squads would remain deadlocked. All until a 82nd minute stunner by Kiko Femenía off of a corner that put Watford in front and led to a 2-1 victory for The 'Orns. This is a ball-busting loss for Palace even if it comes on short rest, simply because they have their next two matches away and losing so late on is always heart-breaking.

(Match #18 of PL) @ Leicester City(PLAYED 1 of 2): It seems like that Leicester City tremendous triumph hoisting up the league trophy back in the 2015/2016 season was only yesterday. Now, in the 2017/2018 campaign, Leicester City are in 19th place, set for relegation if their pace keeps up, with just 3 wins, 5 draws and 8 losses and a -9 goal differential as well as a mere 14 points. It's been a brutal fall from grace for the Foxes, and now they're just fighting off going back to the Championship. Unfortunatly for Leicester, working towards that goal did have any progress today. In just the 10th minute, Crystal Palace were on the their way to a victory as Yves Bissouma found Andros Townsend for a goal after forcing Danny Simpson to come up and defend him. The open unmarked Townsend slotted a shot past Kasper Schmeichel to make it 1-0 in the 10th minute. In terms of talent and effort, the Eagles overwhelmed the Foxes with shot after shot, hitting the post and crossbar multiple times in the 1st half. Eventually though a second goal came courtesy of none other than, you guessed it, Yves Bissouma! The dazzling midfielder skilled his way around a diving Danny Simpson, and faked out Wes Morgan making him fall to his knees before slipping a goal in to make it 2-0 in the 63rd minute. On another day, this is easily a 4-goal or even 5-goal effort for Crystal Palace, but 2 would be all they need as the only goal Leicester scored came in the 85th minute via a Kelechi Iheanacho longshot. 2-1 Crystal Palace. A decisive victory on the road that has a scoreline suggesting it was closer than it really was. Palace had 20 shots to Leicester's 7, controlled 60% of possession, and had Bissouma win MOTM with a 9.2 rating. What can't this kid do?

(Match #19 of PL) @ Swansea City(PLAYED 2 of 2): In this early season matchup, the sides ended with a 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace unable to break-through and score. Now, Crystal Palace have seen themselves rise to 5th place in the league while Swansea City are barely fending off relegation in 16th place and just 19 points. Still, away matches can be wonky sometimes so this is no match to let-up on. LeClair clearly conveyed that message perfectly as things got moving quite swiftly on the pitch, Samuel Grandsir was being marked by V.D. Hoorn and Roberts down on the bottom corner of the pitch, saying screw it, he launched a cross MASTERFULLY all the way to the far post and connected with Wilfried Zaha's header for the goal in just the 3rd minute of the match! Inevitably, that would be the only goal scored today. Nathan Dyer had a missed attempt in the 8th moment that was decent, and Benteke had a big shot in the 80th along with Sørloth hitting the post in the 87th minute but it neither side capitlized again as Crystal Palace won 1-0. The Eagles dominated with 14 shots, and Zaha looked comfortably like the best player on the pitch. With back-to-back wins on the road, LeClair has comfortably avenged that home loss at West Brom. Sadly, these next two matches to close out the month are expected to be quite brutal considering the competition.

(Match #20 of PL) vs Arsenal: We have surpassed the midway point in the Premier League season, and who would have guessed that Crystal Palace would be in 4th place with 32 points and a +8 differential as opposed to Arsenal, who are in 8th place with 28 points and a +7 differential. Just stunning to think about. Regardless, even though we may be ahead of them in the standings, that doesn't mean we're on the same level with them talent wise. This match made that plenty evident with the way Arsenal dismantled out defense with thier attackers. Kolasinac scored a goal in the 28th minute to put them ahead 1-0, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang tacked on another with a goal in the 53rd minute, and it could have been 3-0 had Marco Reus not missed a penalty in the 86th. Arsenal won 2-0, but it's not anything to be too gassed about even though it happened at home. Bissouma and Zaha were both gassed from having so many matches so neither of them started, and hell considering all the money Arsenal has compared to us it's not too much of a shocker. Now to finish out the month with a brutal matchup... a club looking for revenge for a shameful result earlier in the year.

(Match #21 of PL) vs Manchester City: Manchester City have stumbled a fair bit ever since their hot start, they're currently in 6th place with a mere 31 points, not expected for a team with that much money invested in their team. Plus, a far more shocking fact is that they have a -2 goal differential, worse than that of teams like Stoke City and Everton. Yet all of that was a bit irrelevant in a match like this. You know Pep had his lads fired up considering how pissed they must have been to get embarrassed at the Etihad. You're taking about Gabriel Jesus, Leroy Sane, Sergio Aguero, and so much more. Yet, neither side was able to crack through each other in the 1st half. LeClair decided to give many veterans starts that they hadn't gotten in awhile from Hennessey to Lee Chung Yong to Tomkins to Brereton. Then, Man City scored in the 54th courtesy of Leroy Sane finesse shot. Were the walls now going to cave in? Not quite... even as they brought on Aguero in the 65th minute, the Crystal Palace defense held. It wasn't the embarassement many expected, and then before you knew it, ANDROS TOWNSEND TIED THIS MATCH UP! A 1-1 banger in the 81st minute, simply stunning! From there Crystal Palace barely held on but they managed to do it! A 1-1 draw with one of the biggest clubs in the world! Taking 4 points away from a club like Manchester City is ridiculous, and LeClair had managed to do just that as a fantastic means to end the year of 2017 and enter January's Transfer Window! But before that, let's check out the EPL standings!