Five Things Learnt from Chelsea vs Palace

SillySeason look into The Blues’ shock-loss at home to Eagles

The shock of the day yesterday came from Stamford Bridge when Crystal Palace picked up all three points against reigning champions Chelsea.

Bakary Sako and Joel Ward gave The Eagles all three points despite Radamel Falcao heading home his first goal for his new club with just 10-minutes remaining.

Alan Pardew has now become the first manager ever to beat Jose Mourinho three times, and has overseen a great start for Palace with three wins from four.

So what stood out for SillySeason during the game at Stamford Bridge? Well one of our writers who was at the game has had his say, and here is what he took away from the match.

5) Branislav Ivanovic Is Fading

Ivanovic enjoyed a successful spell last season and was a key figure in Chelsea‘s league triumph but has lacked sharpness this season.

Though never blessed with pace, the full-back had always been a smart defender and a hard worker but Saturday’s loss to Crystal Palace has highlighted his weaknesses and shown there is an edge missing from his game which made him so successful.

Being beaten multiple times for pace and skill by Bakary Sako and Yannick Bolasie when he came on have shown perhaps a need for Chelsea to bring some more pace to the full back position to replace the ageing Ivanovic, though time could come to his advantage as he slowly finds his form as the season progresses.

4) Palace’s Pace is Scary

On the subject of pace, Crystal Palace have proven they have it in abundance as wingers Bakary Sako, Jason Puncheon, Wilfried Zaha and Yannick Bolasie ran riot of the Chelsea defence as well as having players such as Dwight Gayle on the bench.

These players are what make Palace‘s dynamic attack so potent and have proven they can cause even the top Premier League teams serious problems, so if the South Londoners were to achieve a finish as high as seventh, these wingers will no doubt be incredibly pivotal, with players such as Yannick Bolasie already linked with moves to sides like Spurs.

3) Alan Pardew has Jose Mourinho’s Number

Alan Pardew has now become the manager with the most Premier League wins against Jose Mourinho, beating ‘The Special One’ with Newcastle and Crystal Palace, which is no easy feat.

Perhaps his tactics are just well suited to playing against Chelsea but either way his side put in a fantastic shift to beat the champions and the evident unity and quality in the squad make Pardew‘s boys serious contenders for a top-seven finish.

2) Retaining The Title Is Hard

After winning the league it is often hard to spot an area of the squad which is need of serious bolstering and Chelsea‘s lack of serious transfer activity proves this.

Their poor start can be attributed to a lack of match sharpness or perhaps just a string of defensive faults that, over time, will occur less frequently.

This start from champions is not uncommon as can be seen by Manchester City last season and Manchester United even lost their first three league games in the 2008-09 season though the latter still went on to win the league so perhaps it is not all doom and gloom for Chelsea.

1) Chelsea Need Transfers

With the acquisition of Pedro the only first team signing made for Chelsea this summer, and of course a poor start to their title defence it would surely appear evident that the final few days of the transfer period need to be eventful ones for the Blues.

With deals for John Stones and Paul Pogba seemingly fading away, Jose Mourinho has still refused to rule out more activity in the window so there could be a shock on the way at Stamford Bridge.