Palace threw away a 4-3 lead to lose in the most dramatic, and avoidable, circumstances last weekend.
Crystal Palace striker Christian Benteke has told Sky Sports that beleaguered boss Alan Pardew felt let down by his players after weekend’s calamitous defeat to Swansea City – but insists he and his team-mates must shoulder the blame.
The Eagles produced a stirring, if fortunate, fight back at the Liberty Stadium, coming from 3-1 down to lead 4-3 going into stoppage time, only for Fernando Llorente to score a dramatic brace and send the nine goal thrilling swinging in the direction of Palace’s relegation rivals.
As such, a sixth defeat in succession leaves Pardew on the brink of the sack according to the Daily Mail, with Palace posting the worst points per game record of any side in the top four divisions of English football in 2016.
However, Benteke believes he, and a number of other experienced players in a talented squad, deserve their share of the blame.
“[Pardew] felt like we let him down and I felt the same because we are older professionals all with some experience, so at that moment we had to take responsibility and get something from that game,” the former Liverpool striker told Sky Sports.
“Like I said, it is unfair as the manager tries to put the best players on the pitch, so we have to perform.
“Football is a collective sport, so we win together and we lose together, so I won’t blame anyone and as a player who is involved in the team, I will feel the same as anyone else in the dressing room.”
However, while it would be unfair to pile all of the blame onto the shoulders of the man on the sidelines, with the likes of Andros Townsend, Yohan Cabaye and Benteke himself all under-par in recent weeks, a number of baffling decisions by Pardew appear to have cost him dear.
Most notably, his call not to hire a defensive coach continues to appear more bizarre by the week, especially with Palace conceding an unholy amount of goals from set-pieces, including four of the five scored by Swansea last week.
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