Alan Pardew needs firepower as Crystal Palace draw a blank at Aston Villa
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Version 0 of 1. Alan Pardew will aim to bring a new attacking dimension to Crystal Palace after witnessing them draw another blank on their travels. The departing Newcastle United manager is set to take over as Neil Warnock’s successor at Selhurst Park on Thursday night after going into the dressing room at Villa Park to congratulate his prospective charges on their latest hard-earned point, under Keith Millen’s caretaker charge, but to tell them they need to start creating more chances if they are to stay in the Premier League. Palace remain in the relegation zone, one point adrift of 17th place, after failing to score for the fifth time in six away matches in the league. An FA Cup trip to Dover Athletic on Sunday provides an opportunity for the current players to indicate they can fulfil the new manager’s remit to attack with greater potency while retaining the solidity with which Tony Pulis helped them stay up last season. Millen said: “He had no input in the game but came down to congratulate the players afterwards. He was pleased but said we need to add more to our game. We need to score more goals to stay in the division. “ He was pleased and proud. He has seen us play before so knows what we are about. He knows we need a different dimension. We need to add something else to our game.” Millen has been asked to stay on the coaching staff and is excited at what Pardew can implement. “I think he will bring passion and the fans will respond to that,” he said. “He has a knowledge of the Premier League. You look at his Newcastle team, they have flair. He will want to make us more attractive and exciting while keeping what we’re good at. I’m sure he will have talked to the chairman about transfers; we all know we need to bring in players.” Pardew’s name was on the car park list and everyone’s lips before the game as Palace’s manager in waiting came to evaluate his prospective charges before his impending appointment. He took his seat in the stands – alongside Kevin Blackwell, one of Warnock’s coaching staff, and behind Steve Parish, the co-chairman – back at the ground where he enjoyed his most celebrated moment in a Palace shirt almost a quarter of a century ago when scoring an extra-time FA Cup semi-final winner over Liverpool. None could doubt Palace’s resilience as they ground out another goalless draw to add to Sunday’s at Queens Park Rangers. With the bottom six all avoiding defeat, it was also a necessary point. Wilfried Zaha gave another anodyne performance that illustrated why Pardew will seek to sign a proven striker. Villa’s own goalscoring problems have been well documented, mainly because they do not appear in any danger of going away. They have failed to score in 11 of their 20 games, a run that includes four of their last five games, and in 39 of Paul Lambert’s 96 league games at the helm, a 40% failure rate that is the worst in the Premier League in that period. Even with the luxury of recalling Gabriel Agbonlahor to play in a three-man frontline with Andreas Weimann and Christian Benteke, who had scored the winning goal at Selhurst Park when these teams met a month ago, Villa still created scant chances. They certainly started very positively, Benteke drawing a sharp save low at his near post from Julián Speroni after a swift passing move from kick-off before Palace had touched the ball. Then Speroni posted a further reminder of his worth with a brilliant save in the same vicinity as Alan Hutton came dashing in, when a cross pinballed off Joel Ward, and looked certain to score. But Villa’s fortunes suffered a dip when Ron Vlaar, their captain only just returned from a long-standing calf injury, had to limp off with a knee injury after 14 minutes. “He fears it could be the same injury he suffered in the World Cup,” Lambert said. Pardew at least knows Palace have pace on the break, and when Zaha dispossessed Leandro Bacuna in the centre circle, Yannick Bolasie dashed away, past Ciaran Clark, only to lift his shot against the crossbar from the edge of the penalty area as he went face to face with Brad Guzan. But when Benteke scythed a shot just over from Carlos Sánchez’s pull-back and Speroni parried Bacuna’s swerving free-kick three minutes from time, the stalemate was assured. Villa are endeavouring to play a more expansive game, with the full-backs pushing high and wide and the excellent Sánchez covering in between, but they move the ball too slowly and allow opponents to block them off. “When you have that much possession, you have got to score when you create the chances,” Lambert said. Man of the match: Carlos Sánchez (Aston Villa) |