Crystal Palace just haven’t been the same since Oliver Glasner left and Pierre Sage arrived in his place in the dugout.
Palace had high hopes for Sage after seeing him guide Lens to second place in Ligue 1 last season. But Glasner was always going to be a tough act to follow after winning the FA Cup, Community Shield and Conference League during his reign. Not bad for a club without any major trophies before.
And Sage just hasn’t been up to scratch at Selhurst Park. A run of four defeats in a row in the Premier League, which started with a 5-0 thrashing by rivals Brighton, has seen Palace sink to the bottom of the Premier League.
They’ve also been unable to add to their opening-game win in the Europa League, most recently requiring a stoppage-time equaliser to salvage a draw against Hoffenheim.
The outlook has become bleak for Palace and they have been left with little choice but to sack Sage and move on. He would have wanted more than 16 games to try and get his project up and running, but there haven’t been enough convincing signs to stick with him.
Palace’s downturn in fortunes can be seen by how some of their players have regressed this season.
Here are the 10 Palace players whose ratings on WhoScored (from their Premier League appearances only) have decreased the most this season compared to last.
Bit unfair for Benitez to be top of the list, since he only played once in the league last season.
He got a 7.2 rating for that outing, but hasn’t got near that benchmark in any of his five league appearances so far this season.
You’d be forgiven for suspecting Mateta might have downed tools. Remember him trying to leave Palace by arguing the last year of his contract was invalid?
No player scored more for Palace under Glasner than Mateta, but he’s yet to get off the mark in the league this season.
A hamstring injury didn’t help, to be fair, and nor will a suspension after a red card against Spurs.
Not exactly the kind of reaction Palace were hoping for from Sarr after denying him the chance to join Liverpool this summer.
Last season was arguably the best of the winger’s career so far, but he’s been battling injuries this season and has only come off the bench twice in the league.
That’s not given him much time to build up good ratings, to be fair, but it’s definitely been a blow for Palace not to be able to rely on his impact.
Palace’s decision to take Guessand on loan again from Aston Villa raised some eyebrows after they neglected the chance to make his move permanent at first.
He’s only played twice as a sub since in the league and hasn’t scored.
Past his best now?
The 31-year-old had the joint-busiest season of his career last time out, but has only played four times off the bench in the league this season at an average of 10 minutes a time.
He’s the lowest-rated Palace player who was there last season.
We wonder if the big clubs so often tipped to sign Wharton might be having some doubts about him now.
There’s ample time for the 22-year-old to turn this around, but after a summer in which he was left out of England’s World Cup squad, he risks getting left further behind.
Still only 20, Canvot has seen some of his more experienced defensive colleagues make way over the past couple of transfer windows.
He’s now one of the more important centre-backs left standing, but will need to make sure he reflects that responsibility with his performances going forward.
It’s a similar story for Richards, 26 and now in his fifth Premier League season.
As Palace’s only ever-present player in the league this term, he’s been part of some substantial defeats.
It’s not been a total disaster, though; he’s Palace’s fourth highest-rated player at the moment.
Riad is yet to really get up and running with Palace, despite this now being his third season with the club. Injuries haven’t helped.
He only played once in the league under Sage before doing his ACL.
After scoring once, Nketiah is halfway to matching his goal tally in the league from last season. Not great for a striker, is it?
He’s already started more league games than last season, but is fast becoming a source of frustration for Palace fans.
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