2014

Player Positional Tracker: Crystal Palace v Leicester

By Antonio | September 28, 2014
2014

Player Positional Tracker: Crystal Palace v Leicester

Crystal Palace 2 vs 0 Leicester Comments on this PPT have been made by Crystal Palace fan, Jamie Seekings. Jamie's thoughts appear below the gif. (Click on the image to open in larger window) CPLvLEI

  • Palace set up in the published 4-2-3-1 with Yannick Bolassie, influential in Palace's last week's win at Everton, having a quiet first 20/25 minutes before becoming more of an inside forward than a winger for the rest of the match (although his most influential moments came from picking the ball up in wide positions).
  • Similarly Jason Puncheon on the right flank plays the other inside forward channel right from the off. In fact, except for a small period of time (65 to 75 minutes) he's never near his wing and for the last ten minutes both end up in what you would call traditional centre forward positions within a 4-4-2. His positioning seems to effect Paul Konchesky who never manages to get forward as much as Ritchie de Laet does on the other side (either de Laet or Palace going two up means Joel Ward similarly doesn't get forward much in the second half compared to the first 25 minutes).
  • Up front Frazier Campbell for his 73 minutes takes up a variety of positions, clearly trying to link up play as the lone front man. From Palace's midfield Joe Ledley was the most forward of the three trying to support attacks.
  • Leicester begin the game with Vardy, Ulloa and Nugent taking up positions more akin to a 4-3-3 (which is representative of their early pressure which led to Jamie Vardy's chance after 6 minutes). After their initial pressure, Ulloa and Nugent both end up playing much deeper - what you would consider more of a central midfield position. Vardy, impressive on the right hand side against Man Utd last week, spends the first 5 minutes there before coming into a more centre forward role before settling in the left hand forward channel.
  • For Leicester Esteban Cambiasso is the midfield player most looking to support the front three and is very advanced in the first part of the first half. He then roams all over midfield in an attempt to spark the Foxes before his substitution on 64 minutes.