Pundit explains why Crystal Palace have disappointed him this season

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Crystal Palace currently sit in 11th place in the Premier League table.

Former player and current pundit Alan McInally says Crystal Palace have disappointed him this season as he expected a lot more from them at both ends of the pitch, Sky Sports report.

After slipping alarmingly towards the relegation zone with a horrific run of form in the second haf of last season, most Palace fans will be fairly content with the club’s current position of 11th place.

The Eagles have certainly rediscovered some of the form they showed at the beginning of last season, winning three league games this season including an impressive 4-1 victory over Stoke City.

However, McInally has not been impressed, writing in his column for Sky Sports that he expects much better from the likes of Wilfried Zaha and James Puncheon while also criticising the club’s defending this season.

“I’ve been really disappointed in Crystal Palace. I don’t know whether that’s because every time I see them I expect more from the likes of Wilfried Zaha,” the former player explained.

“I know Yannick Bolasie has gone but Jason Puncheon is a good player and needs to do more. And I’ve been disappointed in the way they’ve defended, they’ve been shipping goals.

“I know they spent a lot of money on Christian Benteke who has scored three goals for them but in this moment in time, with the way they’re playing, they’re very unpredictable.”

Palace have not had the toughest of starts to the season, with six of their nine opponents so far currently below them in the table while two others – Everton and Bournemouth – are not exactly top four contenders.

Having said that, there have been some positives and their 12 goals conceded this season is hardly a great cause for concern considering only three teams outside the top six have conceded less.

Palace need more consistency, and with tougher games on the horizon they need to turn Selhurst Park into a fortress as their home form to date has been disappointing.