Perfect Hull Performance For Allardyce

Crystal Palace manager Sam Allardyce has praised the players for putting in a ‘perfect’ performance as we took victory over Hull City this weekend.

Hosting the side at Selhurst Park for the game, goals from Wilfried Zaha, Christian Benteke, Luka Milivojevic and Patrick van Aanholt led us to a four nil victory and with Hull confirmed for the drop now, our own relegation fears are behind us and we are mathematically safe with one game remaining in the 2016/17 campaign.

Speaking to Crystal Palace FC in his post game press conference following the victory, a delighted Allardyce explained that the players had been worried ahead of kick off but he was delighted to see them channel that into our biggest win of the year to ensure survival.

‘We were all very nervous today but those nerves were used in a positive way, especially by the players to deliver a performance that was needed. We tactically nullified anything they had to throw at us, and the way we took our goals and the quality of our counter-attacking in the second half was excellent. We didn`t give them a hope today and we did the job perfectly under enormous pressure in front of our fans to deliver. A sunny day, a full house and 4-0 brings a great end to what has been a difficult season.’

With Palace now 100% safe from the drop this season, he went on to say.

‘Having seen all the games over Christmas and New Year it was a tough time, and we made some changes behind the scenes and the concentration on the recruitment was certainly one of the big elements towards our turnaround. The players who arrived made us better defensively which was the weakest part of the team, and we had to start at that base before we got anywhere.’

Adding.

‘The acquisitions increased the confidence of the players already here and we stopped conceding goals and winning football matches. We looked at the run-in and I said to myself that it was probably the hardest one due to the quality of the teams we had to play. We took three points at Chelsea away, and that gave us a great lift as it was our fourth win on the trot, and then we had a little stumble but the way we have seen Hull City off today really pleased me.’

As for the last year on a personal level for him, Allardyce admitted it had certainly had its ups and downs.

‘It`s not something I`ve planned: the achievement of Sunderland, the disappointment of England and then the saving of Crystal Palace. Steve Parish saw that he needed a change and thought I was the man, and we`ve achieved it all together with their support as well as the players, staff and fans. Without their financial support in January and our shrewd recruitment operation, it might have been difficult to get out of the trouble that we have.’

With Manchester United up next the manager wanted the players to enjoy the week but prepare properly.

‘Everyone has to enjoy themselves now, relax and get ready for Manchester United where there is no pressure for us to get any points, other than to try and put on another performance at one of the greatest football venues in the world, and then look forward to the summer.’

Adding that then plans can truly be made for season and again recruitment would be key.

‘The next level of recruitment is critical to allow the team to be more consistent and achieving more in the Premier League rather than a fight about relegation. That`s something we`ll discuss in the future. Building for the future is the most enjoyable part, fire-fighting is the difficult part. If you have the label then you have to accept it as you`re good at it, but building for the future is much more important because it relieves the stress on you and everyone at the football club. I wouldn`t want to keep fighting relegation at the end of every season, and we need to make sure we don`t put ourselves in that position again.’