£18m star might have put Tottenham off signing him with 3/10 disaster

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There are a myriad of factors behind Crystal Palace’s worrying decline under Patrick Vieira. 

The lack of a consistent goalscorer, for instance. Injuries to key players. A dearth of genuine quality and depth in central midfield. But Wednesday’s shocking collapse at home to a hitherto out-of-sorts Tottenham Hotspur – 0-0 becoming 4-0 within 24 second-half minutes at Selhurst Park – laid bare another issue facing Vieira. 

Last season, Joachim Andersen and Marc Guehi established themselves as one of the Premier League’s most eye-catching centre-back partnerships. The great Dane and the highly-rated Englishman dovetailed beautifully. A cocktail of speed, physical prowess and line-breaking passes; Andersen and Guehi integral to the Vieira gameplan at both ends of the pitch. 

Andersen is yet to hit the same heights in 2022/23, however. Guehi, meanwhile, produced arguably his worst performance in Crystal Palace colours as Harry Kane, Bryan Gil and Heung Min Son ran riot in South London; the former Chelsea youngster a shambling shadow of the player who has performed with such class and consistency since his £18 million arrival a year-and-a-half ago. 

“A poor performance from an often reliable player,” London World wrote in their post-match player ratings; handing Guehi a 3/10 for his efforts.  

Marc Guehi endures nightmare as Crystal Palace suffer Spurs hammering

Spurs’ fourth of the night – a timely confidence booster for a delighted Son – summed up Guehi’s evening. Outmuscled by the South Korean superstar, Guehi’s desperate attempt to make amends saw him deflect Son’s shot past Vicente Guaita.

At the risk of trying to force a positive upon on a night of negatives, though, one minor plus point Palace fans can take from such a devastating defeat is that Tottenham may now be revising any plans of a big summer bid for Marc Guehi.

“Guehi, they really like,” Tottenham reporter Jack Pitt-Brooke recently told The Last Word. “(Director Fabio) Paratici definitely really likes Marc Guehi.” 

Now, Spurs are not going to shelve their interest on the back of one poor performance. Guehi has more than enough credit in the bank already following 18 largely excellent months at Crystal Palace, after all.

But, with funds already in short supply, Tottenham could be forgiven for having second thoughts now about investing what is likely to be a colossal fee on a player who failed rather miserably to contain Conte’s misfiring atack.