Frank de Boer was sacked after just 77 days as Crystal Palace manager. The Dutchman failed to grab a win in any of his opening four Premier League matches.
Not only that but the London based side failed to even score a goal.
However, de Boer was not given enough time to turn the results around. Here are three reasons why Palace chairman Steve Parish was wrong to fire his seventh managerial appointment.
The Dutchman’s CV
Frank de Boer seemed like a coup when the appointment was first announced. The former Ajax player was also manager of the Dutch side for six years. He was undoubtedly a success there when given the time to implement his style of play. The 47 year-old managed the team to four Eredivisie titles.
At Inter Milan, he again tried to make his mark on the side, yet wasn’t given the time to do so. Winning five out of 14 matches was not seen as good enough for the Italian giants. More time though would surely have given the former Rangers player a chance to improve the results.
The Players were not good enough
de Boer had the summer to bring in his type of player. With limited funds he bought in both experience and youth, that all seemed promising recruitment.
Mamadou Sakho came from Liverpool for £26m having impressed on loan last season. Fellow defender Jairo Riedewald was bought from Ajax, another good signing, while loan deals for Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Timothy Fosu-Mensah added depth to the squad.
Realistically though, this was not Frank de Boer’s squad. The likes of Wilfried Zaha, Christian Benteke and Jason Puncheon are not the type of players to be involved in the ‘Ajax way’.
The players were not good enough to suit his style. Numerous errors, that are in no way the manger’s fault, have cost Palace points. Without these they would likely be off the bottom of the table.
The Board are in chaos
Firstly, to appoint Frank de Boer would quite obviously bring a different style to that of previous Palace managers. So why after making that move, sack the Dutchman when he starts to play the way he is well-known for.
Another mistake was that Sakho was not signed straight away. He would undoubtedly be first choice centre-back and so having the player over pre-season would help de Boer practice his defensive set up. However, he had to wait until deadline day to get his man and so precious time was wasted.
Steve Parish’s public comments were also a clear error of judgement. He spoke of changing the club’s DNA with the appointment of de Boer, only to sack the Dutchman after just four games when he tried to implement their style.
Parish also spoke on how football is result based business, giving further pressure to the poor start Palace have had in the Premier League.
Realistically, de Boer tried his best and was unlucky in some games to not get points on the board. Have Crystal Palace hit the panic button too early?
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