For me, Palace are in need of a real left back, a central defender, a midfielder (central or wide) and a striker, make that a goal-scorer. Seems like a lot? Here is my reasoning:
It is clear to all at this point that Joel Ward’s run as our left back has run out. As well as he has played at the beginning of this season and for much of last season, is as bad as he has played of late. He is certainly not to blame for our defensive lapses this season but would clearly benefit from a move back to his more suited right back position. Perhaps then he would sign the contract he allegedly has been offered. Palace need a left back of quality, preferably one with some Premier League or other top flight experience. That player will not come cheap and to be fair I have no idea who we could target in January. Prior to the season I would have targeted Aaron Cresswell from Ipswich, but he signed in July for West Ham United and is doing quite well there. Zeki Fryers was signed from Spurs this summer but as of now has made only one League Cup appearance vs Newcastle United and does not seem ready quite yet.
Our central defensive pairing is in a state of flux at the moment. The once proven pair of Scott Dann and Damien Delaney has been derailed of late due to first, an unfortunate Dann injury away to Hull City and an even more unfortunate red card by Delaney vs Chelsea. This has thrust veteran Brede Hangeland into the lineup, and though he has had some good moments, it is clear to me he is better served as a backup. For me we need “Scott Dann Mark II.” His signing in January by former manager Tony Pulis was a master stroke and set us on the road to recovery as it made us solid in the back. We are in need of a similar player to Dann as our rock solid back four has been anything but that this season.
In midfield we are in need of quality. Looking around the Premier League at the teams that are doing well who are similar to Palace, you look to their midfields and you see quality. Players who can pass, tackle and score. I was very much in favour of a midfield three of McArthur, Jedinak and Ledley or #McJedLey but of late the trio has been broken up and/or somewhat found out and I think we need a change; a central midfielder who can both pass, score and has some set piece quality. This type of player would not come cheaply but last January we found a player in Joe Ledley who brought us qualities we needed at the time. He was player who could tackle, pass and complemented our captain, Mile Jedinak, perfectly. Gylfi Sigurdsson would have been perfect and I can see now why it was rumoured that Tony Pulis was interested in him this summer. A player like that is exactly who we we need right now. But if we cannot find a central midfielder then we need to find a wide midfielder who can get out on the counterattack, scare defenders and put crosses in that can lead to chances. At times our wide players, Yannick Bolasie and Wilfried Zaha, can flatter to deceive—something thst is difficult to say given how much I like the pair. We need a wide player of real quality so that our forwards can have some crosses to feed off of. Demarai Gray of Birmingham is a player like this but he is unproven and would be quite a gamble for Palace, but perhaps one worth taking.
Lastly a forward is needed. I have a lot of respect for the job Fraizer Campbell has done at Palace so far, especially given the limited amount of service he has received but he’s not a poacher. Dwight Gayle has seemingly fallen out of favour and Andy Johnson and Kevin Doyle were really never going to be given a chance in the Premier League. We have been linked to Connor Wickham for a while now and as he has still not signed a new contract with Sunderland, perhaps he will be available in January. He certainly helped to spark the Sunderland revival last season and that may be needed by Palace. Jordan Rhodes would also be someone who I would look at. Despite not being a proven Premier League scorer, he has clearly shown his quality at Blackburn in the Championship.
Whatever is done in January 2015, it is clear that the signings we make need to have a similar impact to the ones we made last January. The additions of Dann, Ledley, Ince and Hennessey all had a significant impact in our great second half to the season and it is becoming increasingly clear that it will be needed again.
