With mathematical safety and stunning performances against title winners Chelsea and fourth placed Man Utd over the last 2 weeks, Alan Pardew and all Palace fans can now proudly sit back and enjoy their last 2 games. For Mr Pardew and the team it is now time to reflect, and begin to look at who will be continuing their run in the Premier League in the starting XI at Selhurst Park next season. Fans too will be pondering over who has shone in the team and they will all be placing their votes now on who they think deserves this seasons Player of the Year award. With many players in the running it is a tough call, but Jason Puncheon will surely be up there as a contender after his superb and influencing performance on Saturday.
Despite another disheartening and undeserving 2-1 loss against Man Utd on Saturday, we should be proud of how close we came. The second half performance was fantastic and this was clearly down to Jason Puncheon coming on after the break as a substitute. This was the first in 10 games that Puncheon didn’t make the starting squad and this could have been a rare mistake by the manager.
Straight away the new addition to the pitch, in the second half, changed the complexion of the game. He created a number of chances from the offset and was also denied a penalty after going down in the box after pressure and a nudge from Mata. The midfielder then comfortably stood up in front of a free-kick on the edge of the box which left all Palace fans in the ground awaiting for something amazing and that is what happened, his free-kick got Palace all level with it getting a small deflection off the wall, handing Puncheon another memorable free-kick against a Manchester side. Unfortunately, Marouane Fellaini’s scrambled header then frustratingly won United their second goal in a game of two half’s that looked towards the whistle that Palace may have been able to steal the 3 points due to Puncheon’s strong influence.
A similar tale at Chelsea on the bank holiday weekend saw Puncheon having Palace’s only shot on target which could have postponed Chelsea winning the Premier league title, if it wasn’t for John Terry’s outstanding defending. Another chance came later with a typical Puncheon volley that just missed the post. Palace went to Stamford Bridge fighting as always and it was clear again of the impact and inspiration Jason Puncheon had on the team that made Chelsea work for their win.
Crystal Palace boss Alan Pardew recently labelled 28-year-old Jason Puncheon as the “most influential player” since his arrival from Newcastle. Pardew coached Puncheon briefly at Southampton and since then he is amazed at how Puncheon has grown and widened his skill set. Despite his 7 goals last season and team effort to ensure we finished in an impressive 11th position, there is no doubt that Puncheon has excelled and grown under the reign of Pardew. He has found his place in a more central position, but his experience as a winger playing opposite Bolasie or Zaha ensures he can still create chances from this position and this is evident with 7 assists this season and now 5 goals to date. His lack of concentration is improving every week and any doubts fans had of his ability has been blown far away – much similar to his horrendous penalty miss against Tottenham last season.
Pardew has multiple areas of the squad to address this summer, with a goalkeeper to fill the BIG gloves of Speroni, a left-back, a new central defence alternative and a striker that will give an alternative to Murray – as Gayle and Campbell are not making the cut. One conclusion surely has already been drawn, and that is that Puncheon should be the sparkling centre piece of this team moving forward. This will be music to the fans ears and also to Puncheon who has returned to his hometown club and thrives of the love of the Palace crowd.
