A good performance but Utd seem to have the edge in the second half Good to see the crowd appreciate the effort. Shame Vargas did not square the ball.....
Play like this and we will have a great chance of staying in this leage

0

A very disappointing outcome and a missed opportunity given that Chelsea, City and Spurs all lost. The reasons we lost are largely twofold: (1) The midfield were not up to scratch and (2) Palace were very good. Its when we don't have Wanyama, Alderewald and Schneiderlin in the team that you realise how very important they are. The net result was that Clyne and to a lesser extent Betrand couldn't afford to get into advanced positions, and the attacking options were mostly snuffed out. That being said, congratulations are due to Palace - well set up in defence and aggressive in attack. Pardew has done well in the short time he has been there.

0

Are we looking for scapegoats? Our midfield didn't perform, our defence was bullied, our GK didn't hold the ball when he might have done. On the plus side, Pelle tried very hard, Elia really wanted to win as was shown by his display of temper when Hennessey saved his rasping second-half drive. Unfortunately, a number of our European colleagues fell over far too easily. The fight needed against an aggressive Palace just wasn't there. What has happened to Tadic? He just isn't doing it. Things perked up a bit with Long's arrival. Such a shame about his injury. In hindsight Reed might have been a more hostile defender than an off-colour Jack Cork. A bad day at the office.

0

Well done to Pardew and Palace. Set up with attack in mind and plenty of speed our defence were poor and we didn't seem to have the concentration and tightness that we usually show. Lets hope we get back to normal next week as Swansea also look to be in disarray at the moment.

0

We missed Morgan, Victor and Toby big-time in this game. Amazing we have done so well without them. Maybe a mistake to play Corky and not Harry given he always takes time to get back to match fitness. A lot of mixed performances here but best players for me were Jose, Graziano, JWP and Elia. Elia really shouldn't have been stuck on the touchline all the time, he's just scored 2 against Newcastle through the middle, what was he doing out there? We gave the ball away under no pressure at times and often when Nat & Ryan were forward so we were immediately stretched. Dusan? If things aren't going well then work harder and they will get better. Big job for Ronald to get him back in form. (You missed a sub Nick - Ryan Seager)

0

Orlandi's goal was well taken and reflected a bright opening by 'Pool. After that we went into our shell, and rode our luck as Watford pressed and looked increasingly dangerous, but just could not find their final pass.
Parish looked competent and Peter Clarke was as determined as ever, even if he is not the defender he once was. Our second goal was a major surprise and very much against the run of play. A good cross from McMahon, arguably the only thing he got right all afternoon, and even then Davies nearly squandered the chance before slotting home at the second attempt.
A straw poll of those I spoke to at half time showed the majority would be happy with a point, which says a lot about the state of our club with a two goal first half lead for the first time this season.
In the event, even that relatively downbeat assessment proved to be over ambitious after a horrendous start to the second half with three goals conceded in the first nine minutes and two more in the next twelve !
All the goals were at the far end so it was difficult for me to pinpoint individual errors but as a defensive unit we were simply overrun, our tackling and marking was non existent and every attempted clearance went to a Watford man. Peter Clarke was taken off after colliding with a post trying to keep out their third (shades of Gary Briggs) and his reluctance to leave the field was a tribute to his commitment. You had to feel sorry for Niall Maher, his replacement, coming on for his debut in such circumstances.
I really can't find the words to describe it, but "abject, irresponsible, incompetent and totally inept" come to mind. I have seen many bad defeats over the 50 plus years I have followed the 'Pool, including the infamous 0-7 at Barnet, but nothing quite like this.
The cancer that exists at the top of our club has now spread to all corners and I am humiliated and embarrassed to have witnessed yesterday's debacle. As I left the ground I chatted to a young lad, who I think was a pal of Islam Feruz. His take on our second half capitulation was that it was akin
to match fixing !
In a sense, he was right. The Oystons have fixed it so that all our hopes, dreams, and pride in our beloved club have been destroyed and I fear it will only get worse in the months ahead.

0

Far too many under-performers On the pitch, no fluidity, nobody staying back in the defensive midfield role and giving the ball away far too cheaply. This together with a Palace wanting it more, gave us the inevitable result.
We have done well without Toby, Vic and Morgan previously, but this was just a bridge too far and because others were not performing, their absence was further highlighted.
At the time I was gutted to lose, (especially with who is left in the last 16) but I am over it and now we can focus on not only the league, but getting our depleted squad back to full fitness.
Hopefully Shane is not too badly injured and won't be out for too many weeks, but this may force Koeman into the transfer market. Yoshi will be back to England this week. Mane played on Friday, so hopefully he is fit now and will be back to continue where he left off. There is a!so the potential that Toby, Vic and Morgan will be back for Swansea or the week after.
Let's all march on with one common goal

0

(⌘ c) Copy , (⌘ v) Paste.

Harry Out…

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Naturally, a disappointing result. Again, failing to take our chances cost us. I wish JWP had got a pair of scoring boots for Christmas… A dominant display in the 1st half but we really needed to score during this period as you knew Swansea would change things at half time. I thought with them coming at us a bit more it would open the game up which would suit us as we find it hard to break teams down. The final ball again missing for us. It can be a bit frustrating at times as we seem to want to walk the ball into the net. Again, we failed to take advantage of any corners or free kicks. In defensive games like this one, a set piece can be the difference but we never game close.

To be fair to Swansea, they defended well, were well drilled and scored a good goal. We had a warning earlier when they hit the post as we failed to close them down. A real sucker punch goal. As for the sending off, harsh I thought.

A bad weekend all round unfortunately what with the other results. I hope we don't get a bit nervy now and feel the pressure. It is a case of having to remain confident and grind out the wins. I'd settle for an ugly win. Next week would do..

c'mon lads!!

1

If JWP is going to play in the "no. 10" role he has got to be more clinical in front of goal. He had at least 3 good chances to put us ahead. Had at least 1 gone in then it would have changed the game and forced Swansea to come out and play. Tadic in particular was wasteful with the final ball.

2