Crawley vs Crystal Palace: Five things we learned as new signings impress but manager wants more new faces

An inspired performance from Eberechi Eze – who scored an outstanding goal and provided three assists – gave the Premier League side a 4-0 win at the Broadfield Stadium on Wednesday evening (July 19).

It looked like it could be a long night for the Reds when the fourth goal went in after just 25 minutes but they responded well and ensured that the scoreline did not get worse.

Here are five things we learned:

New signings impress

The match on Wednesday gave the home fans a first glimpse of several new signings. They all showed real promise in a match against top quality players and thoroughly impressed their new manager.

Liam Kelly looked at home in the middle of the park. The former Feyenoord midfielder, who was most recently at Rochdale, was the pick of the bunch, according to his manager.

“You can argue he was one of the best players on the pitch,” Lindsey said. “I thought he was outstanding.

"I thought both Liam Kelly and Jay Williams were outstanding in the middle of the pitch. They wanted to get on the ball, they didn't shy away from anything. They kind of got into a defensive shape and structure really well. I thought they were very good, tonight."

Danilo Orsi, who was signed from League Two rivals Grimsby in June, also impressed. He linked up play well and looked dangerous – with a long-range effort ever so close to the top corner.

"He was very strong at the top of the pitch,” Lindsey said. “He presses well, works hard. He does exactly what we say on the training ground, he listens to instructions. He was very good tonight. I think he is going to be a very good player for us this season.

"Harry [Forster] was a livewire on the wing. He was very bright, someone who can get fans on the edge of their seats.

"Of course, Joy [Mukena] at the back stepped in really well and passed it nicely. I thought all five were very good.

“I was really pleased with the new boys, I thought they were all outstanding tonight.”

Big names bring the fans to the club – and provide golden learning opportunity

I was personally pleasantly surprised to see the teamsheet when I arrived at the Broadfield Stadium. I wasn’t expecting names like Eze, Odsonne Édouard, Jean-Philippe Mateta and Cheick Doucouré to be lining up for the opposition.

It was definitely a treat for the 5,562 fans inside the stadium to watch Eze, in particular, who was at his scintillating best for the Eagles.

Crawley’s players will be relieved they won’t have to play someone of his quality in League Two but the experience is definitely one to learn from.

"It's always good to play against good players,” Lindsey said to me, post-match.

"It's a learning curve for all players to play against top players like that. We spoke at half-time about the pockets he [Eze] was going into and about stopping balls going into him.

"I felt we didn't get up the pitch enough when they played the ball back. We didn't squeeze them and make it more compact.

"I feel that's when he became lively and found pockets. He was on another level tonight wasn't he. It's a great experience for the players for sure.”

Speaking to the club’s website, Lindsey added: “Thank you to Roy [Hodgson] for bringing his team down. He brought a really strong side down and that had an impact with the fans."

Defensive shape improves after rocky start

Those first 25 minutes were certainly a chastening experience for the Reds. It looked like being an embarrassing evening for Crawley against a Crystal Palace team, seemingly looking to emulate Bayern Munich’s no mercy pre-season approach (the Bundesliga giants won 27-0 against local side Rottach-Egern on Tuesday).

Lindsey admitted his team were ‘too open’ in four key moments in the first half but acknowledged the quality of the opposition and how clinical they were to take advantage of defensive mistakes.

"On the turnover of possession, we need to become more compact,” he said. “It's something we are working on every day. We will get better and better at that."

To Crawley’s credit, they did manage to steady the ship quickly. They managed to get to half-time without conceding a fifth.

Lindsey gave an insight into his half-time team talk, in which he told his players to get tighter to Eze, in particular, and not give him so much time on the ball. To his relief, the Palace talisman was substituted at the break.

But there were still plenty of other talented players for Crawley to deal with.

"We spoke about becoming more compact when it does turnover,” Lindsey said. “We rolled from one shape into another. We were almost like a 3-4-2-1 in possession and a 4-4-1-1 out of possession. I think we did it brilliantly. I thought my team played really well tonight.

“It was 4-0 after 25 minutes and we didn't want it to become a rout. We were conscious and mindful of that. We wanted to make it harder for them to break us down.

“Over the last two games, we haven't created loads but we played tough opposition. We created one or two half chances.

"They were difficult to break down because they are very good. We are playing against a Premier League team and we had the lion's share of possession. Are we going to come against them in League Two? Hopefully not and probably not. We have got to make sure we defend a bit more resilient, especially in the opening encounters of a game.

"I was pleased with how we carried on. We could have dropped our heads but we carried on playing and carried on being confident, breaking lines and creating opportunities. I was proud of my team tonight.”

Lindsey encouraged by pre-season so far – but wants more signings

Lindsey told reporters after the Palace defeat – the second game in two days – that he ‘wants players to be slightly fatigued’ in pre-season.

“We wanted a certain amount of distance out of the players over two days,” he said. “We've got that.

"That's the plan this pre-season to play some of the games fatigued. Knowing when we start the league campaign, we are fresh and can handle playing under pressure and when tired.”

Lindsey said the shape of the team and fitness ‘is getting there’ but the size of the squad ‘is not quite there yet’.

"We want to add to what we've got,” he said. “That's an ongoing process. We've got targets we want to bring in. We are not far away but there's another two and half weeks until we kick off. Hopefully we get some more new faces in soon.

"We still have a few players not in full training yet. We are two or three short in terms of new signings. Come August 5th, we'll be ready.”

Vital that experienced players stay

After a mass exodus of star names last year, more big players have left Crawley this summer. James Tilley, Jake Hessenthaler, Jack Powell, Tony Craig and Kwesi Appiah are just some of the players to move on – much to the fans’ frustration.

It is vital, now, that they keep hold of the experienced players left in the squad.

Fan favourite Nick Tsaroulla, who played 60 minutes of the 2-1 win at Dover on Tuesday night, started on the bench against Palace the next day. He is one player Crawley must keep hold of.

He is so reliable at the back and such a threat going forward – with the 24-year-old almost grabbing a superb consolation goal against Palace. It was an audacious volley that left the keeper stranded but cannoned off the post.

Ashley Nadesan couldn’t replicate his heroics from the last encounter with a Premier League team but is another player who is so pivotal to Crawley’s success going forward. He is a local lad, loved by the fans, and must be retained at all costs.

See also: Crawley Town scrap matchday programme for 2023/24 season