Football Manager 2021 Crystal Palace tactic and team guide. Club culture and board requirements, tactics, key and youth players, transfers in FM21.
Football Manager 2021 Crystal Palace tactic and team guide. Club culture
and board requirements, tactics, key players, youth prospects and potential
transfers in FM21.
Here is a brief analysis of the Crystal Palace squad, their club structure, relationship any potential managers will have with the board, expectations and possible tactics any FM21 manager can use.
About the club
Crystal Palace are a London club that play their home matches at Selhurst Park. After initially being a part of the Premier League in 1992 the club yoyoed between the first 2 tiers of English football by getting relegated thrice. They eventually fell into administration in 1999 and had a tumultuous few years after that. However, after the successful purchase of the club by a few fans led by Steve Parrish, the club eventually came back into the Premier League in 2013. Now, Palace are a lower mid-table club aiming for some stability.
Board Requirements
Palace finished 14th in the 2018-2019 season and the board will be looking to better those results, the minimum requirement should be;
1. A mid-table league finish.
2. Making the 5th round of the FA cup
3. Making the 4th round of the EFL Carabao Cup.
You will additionally be required to play counter-attacking football, develop players using the club’s youth system and sign players who are u23 for the future.
Palace have decent training facilities and a moderate youth setup. Once you reach your initial objectives with the club, you should aim to improve the facilities to increase the club stature and become more consistent.
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Squad, Formation and Tactical Style
You should definitely aim to play a fluid counter-attacking tactic with Palace as the key strength lies in the pacy wingers. You should definitely aim to release the ball quickly and catch opponent off guard.
A 4-3-3 is ideally suited for the palace squad. This ensures that adequate backup is given to the defenders and once you release the ball quickly, the wingers will come into play with their direct running and trickery.
A rough example of what your line-up would look like in a 4-3-3 formation is as follows;
Vicente Guaita as a sweeper keeper.
Mamadou Sakho & James Tomkins as the 2 centre backs, Sakho can be played as a Ball Playing defender
Patrick Van Aanholt & Nathaniel Clyne as the 2 full backs. The former should be given more attacking freedom and the latter to be played more defensively.
James McArthur, Luka Milovejevic & Cheikhou Kouyate as the 3 central midfielders. Kouyate to be played as the holding midfielder, Milivojevic as a box to box midfielder & McArthur as a playmaker.
Wilfried Zaha & Andros Townsend as the 2 attacking wingers. Zaha can be played as an inside forward and Townsend to be played as an inverted winger.
Christian Benteke as a lone striker in a target man role.
You can even go with a 4-2-3-1 and try new signing Eze if you feel more adventurous or even play twin strikers with either Ayew or Batshuayi coming into the squad instead of a midfielder.
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Key Players
1. Wilfried Zaha
Wilfried Zaha is the heart and soul of the Crystal Palace team, most attacks go through him. The pace and trickery of the winger ranks amongst the best. You’ll do well to retain him in the club.
2. Luka Milivojevic
Luka Milivojevic is the inspirational captain. He contributes key goals from midfield and organizes the midfield very efficiently.
3. Patrick Van Aanholt
Patrick Van Aanholt is a very attacking fullback. Together with Zaha, PVA makes the left-wing the most productive zone for Palace.
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Weaknesses
1. There is overdependence on Zaha with him being the main and sometimes only attacking outlet. If he gets injured or poached by bigger teams, goals can be very hard to come by.
2. The overall squad depth is also quite average outside the first team, the backups may not be upto the league standards.
3. Some of the central defenders are ageing and are not upto quality. Definite improvements are needed in this front.
Potential Transfers (in)
These players could be a handy addition to the Palace squad and help them achieve their targets,
· Tyrone Mings
· Gylfi Sigurdsson
Potential Transfers (Out)
These players may be surplus to requirements at the club or may not be of the expected quality.
· Gary Cahill
· Martin Kelly
Youth Prospects
There are a few exciting young prospects in the ranks who have the potential to be some of the best players in the league. A few examples are,
1. Tyrick Mitchell
Already on the cusp of the first team, Mitchell is a pacy full back who has all the attributes to become a star player for Palace in the future.
2. Eberechi Eze
The new signing oozes quality and is an excellent dribbler of the ball. He also has the potential to contribute plenty of assists and will be a big player for most sides in the future.
3. Nathan Ferguson
The determined fullback is already good enough to be starting more games and could be the ideal replacement for the ageing backline of Palace.
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Summary
To Summarize, Palace will be a decent club to manage for most FM managers. However, it could be a little difficult to achieve what the board demands, especially if bigger clubs poach your talent. Are you up for this challenge?
