Dean Henderson Asseses Crystal Palace's Poor Form

Crystal Palace captain Dean Henderson faced the media alongside Pierre Sage ahead of the club’s fourth Europa League game, where they’ll face Bundesliga side Hoffenheim on Thursday evening. 

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Henderson recently returned to the side after missing nine games through an ankle injury he sustained in Palace’s final pre-season friendly, and despite the defeat last weekend, he made a number of strong saves to keep the score respectable. 

Much has been made of Sage’s future in South London, and Henderson shed some light on the situation internally, which included a full public backing of his manager as well as an honest reflection of where himself and his teammates need to improve in order for Palace to see a turn in fortunes.

Henderson delivers honest assessment of season so far

Whilst he has not been playing, Palace's keeper has been in attendance at all of his side’s games. There has been a huge amount of frustration when it comes to Palace this season. The side have been unable to deliver a strong performance for an entire ninety minutes, and a catalogue of individual errors and poor collective moments in games has left Palace in the Premier League’s relegation zone. 

October was always going to be a difficult month for Palace, with a huge number of games but also a huge amount of travelling too. 

“I think if you strip it all back, and this is just from my honest opinion, I think we’ve probably been through our most difficult time of travelling. We’ve been to Beşiktaş, which is a long flight. Then you come back into the Newcastle game, and you have game plans and that, but maybe the lads are a bit flat, a bit tired maybe.”

Last month was billed as a tough one, and in moments where the side are playing every 3-4 days without any respite, results do tend to flow either one way or the other. A big win at Brighton might have been enough to spur the side on to a strong run of results, but that took the life out of them. It shellshocked them. 

And that’s where it’s difficult, because just a few days later you’re then facing another tough game, and when you’ve lost badly, every game looks more difficult than perhaps it should.

One of the biggest issues has been the way Palace have defended from set-pieces. The lack of cohesion and leadership has seen numerous sides capitalise on this weakness. 

“I think we’ve got to work harder not to get blocked in the box. I think that’s simple. It’s not always about the set-up….it’s about showing fight to get yourself off the grass and put the opposition off. Unfortunately, we haven’t done that very well. But the mentality has got to change.”

League position a worry but not the end of the world

After nine games in the Premier League, it’s looking rather bleak for Palace. Two wins, a solitary draw and six defeats have left a sour taste in the mouth. 

Whilst that might come as a concern for fans, there is the context that the division is incredibly tight at the moment, and just a couple of strong results can really transform the table. 

“Look at Tottenham. Were they bottom or a couple places off bottom a few weeks ago? Things can change really quickly. We’ve been here before, we know what it takes. [We’re] full of confidence that we’ll turn it around sooner rather than later.”

It’s not the first time that Palace have found themselves in somewhat of a rut. Under Oliver Glasner, Palace experienced multiple difficult spells, including in the build up to the Conference League final, where they went seven Premier League games without a win. 

Between December and January, Palace didn’t register a win in twelve games in all competitions. These things do happen. 

“We were here a couple of seasons ago, and we’re probably in a worse position. You take the rough with the smooth and then we’ll hopefully laugh about times like this in a few months’ time.”

Palace will need the likes of Henderson to step up and contribute to the turnaround, and despite the captain being back in the starting eleven, he’s not necessarily back to full fitness following his injury. 

“I think I was going to rush back, but I took the advice of the specialist to make sure that I was getting towards 100%. I’m probably not 100% at the moment because I haven’t trained loads…but obviously, as soon as I put the shirt on, I try to do my best.”

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