Alan Pardew praises Crystal Palace midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Crystal Palace lost 1-0 to Southampton at Selhurst Park on Saturday in Roy Hodgson’s first game in charge, since taking over from Frank de Boer.
The Eagles have made a poor start to their 2017/18 campaign, having lost all the opening five games so far. In fact, they have become the first team in the Premier League history to have done so.
Former Crystal Palace manager, Alan Pardew, who led the Eagles to a 15th-place finish in the 2015-16 season, says the players are low in confidence at the moment.
He says that there is lack of personality on the pitch as an individual and as a team. He observes that Palace were too defensive in their approach, and were too flat.
However, Pardew is impressed with the performance of Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who joined on loan from Chelsea this summer.
Pardew says that the 21-year-old was “terrific”, and was the best player for Palace during the match.
“For me, there was a lack of personality on the pitch today as individuals and a team. I’m struggling to find something really positive to say aside from Ruben Loftus-Cheek was terrific in the time he had on the pitch and he was their best player,” he said to Sky Sports.
The young midfielder had three shots, and made two key passes during the game, according to whoscored.com.
Crystal Palace will face Manchester City in their next Premier League game at the Etihad Stadium.
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