Decent first half, no overtly bad performances and solid possession. However, we're still struggling to create enough through the middle, due to Lennon's tendency to stay out wide on the right. When Lennon comes inside, we look more dangerous: see Chadli's header at the end of the half. We need more personnel evenly spaced down the middle to break up Palace's duo of Digkacoi and Jedinak, who've both decided to sit very deep, just in front of and slightly to the right and left of their central defenders.
Best performances:
Verts - composed and solid. No sign of the injury that kept him out for the past month.
Chadli - some good moments of ball control, even if the chemistry with Rose isn't quite there yet.
Dembele - controlled the midfield, and provided a dangerous dribbling threat that forced Palace to tack three players on him at times.
Off performances:
Lennon - when he gets the ball out wide, he could sometimes be better served by standing the ball up immediately instead of going to the byline every single time and getting his cross blocked by the man at the near post.
Walker - occasionally bad ball control and passing, but not too bad.
Rose - muscled off the ball a tad too much, and his control leaves a bit to be desired. Nothing overtly wrong, though.
Second half, a bit more composed down the middle, and a slightly higher tempo would suit me fine. COYS!
