ThatPetrolRelation

(Apologies for a rare long post) I worked in professional sports for nearly a decade. Because of that, I hate calling for people to be sacked. I understand that sacking the manager doesn’t simply affect the manager. It affects his family. It affects his staff. It affects everyone working under him. Plus their families. I was a Strength & Conditioning Coach. I could’ve been the best in the world at my job, but if results were poor, I’d be sacked. Before you say, “they’re compensated financially for this” .. I can assure you that guys like me & other lower assistants didn’t get paid handsomely. We constantly feared for our jobs & knew it was out of our control. Knowing this, I’ll always be reluctant to suggest a manager is sacked. That being said, I think that Sage is gone. He isn’t free of guilt, but he isn’t 100% at fault either. Like most things in life, the truth lies in the shades of gray. I’m as upset as the rest of us. Sitting 20th, we literally couldn’t have performed worse so far. But I implore all to show compassion & understand the human element here. Sage could’ve done more, but this has been the result of a 12 month rot that’s existed at our club. Let’s hope we can fix this. Always optimistic! #CPFC

While results haven’t gone Crystal Palace’s way, the improvement to Yeremy Pino’s game should be celebrated! My piece from today’s Matchday Programme 👇 If you haven’t gotten one yet, well worth the purchase! My contribution is just two of 80 insightful pages of work! #CPFC

Another variable: red cards Pierre Sage has coached 16.5% of his Premier League minutes - or one-sixth of total minutes - with 10 Palace players on the pitch. Removing that variable & comparing 11v11, the underlying metrics become more similar, more than halving xGD under Sage.

Let’s not sugarcoat it: Crystal Palace’s performances have not been good enough. With many acting like there’s been a massive drop-off from Oliver Glasner’s tenure in SE25, a question arises: Are league results truly worse, or does some revisionist history exist? 🧵 #CPFC

Don’t know much about Hoffenheim? Allow my newest Talking Tactics article to help! Aggressive pressing & thriving in transitions. Look for Hoffenheim to break out against unsettled defenders. To take three points, Palace must stay organized & exploit a shaky GK. #CPFC

With my pick for player to watch (Hlozek) out injured, I’d like to highlight the left of Hoffenheim’s midfield. Alexander Prass is a jack-of-all-trades type who is very comfortable with manager Christian Ilzer’s system, as he also played under him at Sturm Graz. Leon Avdullahu’s metrics make him a darling in analytics circles. His “eye test” backs that up, too. A true rising starlet. #CPFC