Win-Win Situation

Having the day off sick on Wednesday did have one silver lining, namely that I was able to watch Chelsea vs Arsenal, whilst simultaneously listening in to the BBC London commentary of Villa vs Charlton. To be fair, within about 30 mins I concluded that I would far rather watch the former without the distraction of the latter, which pretty much sums up my feelings about the Addicks at the moment. The Chelsea game may have ended goalless, but in terms of quality, pace, and excitement it was as if they were playing a different sport from my beloved team. Admittedly, at least half of the players on display could be described as 'world class' (in the sense that they would have a fair chance of being selected for any team on the planet) so it's not entirely a fair comparison, but then again it was played within the same competition as Villa vs Charlton, and whilst I wasn't there I suspect our game fell rather short.

There are a number of things about both Chelsea and Arsenal that impress me, but the one that stands out is their ability to play the ball fluidly through the midfield and thus end up in attacking situations with the ball under control at players' feet (particularly Arsenal). Charlton meanwhile tend to play the ball across the defence, before one of the full-backs launches it long towards Bartlett (or worse, Jeffers) where there is barely a 20/80 chance of retaining the ball (though to be fair, the opposition typically do the same so we soon get it back). I've mentioned the lack of pace in our midfield before but watching the likes of Vieira and Fabregas merely brings it home even more conclusively. It's hardly a secret that we miss Scott Parker, and whilst he had numerous qualities, the one I remember most fondly was his uncanny ability to retain possession at pace and move the ball forward constructively. If I had to put one type of player top of our summer shopping list, it'd be a pacy skilful central midfielder.

So it's on to Norwich, a stadium I had always enjoyed visiting given its friendly atmosphere and now it has been improved markedly too. I recall vividly a stunning Mark Kinsella winner there a few seasons back which remains one of the best goals I've seen.

Judging by Nigel Worthington's pre-match comments, the atmosphere will be red-hot and in many ways for us it's a win-win situation. If we win (which I suspect we won't), then our European hopes remain alive for a little longer; if we lose or draw (which I suspect we will) then it harms the hopes of Palace of staying up, and also Southampton where one hopes Harry Redknapp will finally be found out. I also can't claim to be a huge fan of Bryan Robson but it's hard not to be impressed at the way he has turned things around at WBA, and turned them into favourites to avoid the drop. I'd love to see Norwich stay up - I like the club, they have two ex-Charlton players in the squad, and in my view they play the best football of the four teams down the bottom.

With Konch suspended and Hermann doubtful, we enter the game with problems from the outset, and whilst Luke Young may be a satisfactory replacement, it is hardly ideal and implies playing Kish at full-back. Curbs has already made it clear he is not willing to make large scale changes despite or catastrophic drop in form, and hence the team is likely to pick itself with just the one change from Wednesday. I continue to believe that Euell deserves a chance for the remainder of the season, and whilst his first touch may lack finesse (sic.) at least he has an eye for goal and a touch of pace. A draw at Villa may have been an okay result (though given what went before, we really could have done with three points), but another draw at Norwich will be unsatisfactory with games against Man Utd and Chelsea coming up. Hence my preference would be to get at them with two wingers (Thomas and Rommedahl), and play Holland and Murhpy in central midfield with Euell in the hole. Knowing Curbs, both Rommedahl and Thomas will start on the bench and somehow JJ will get in the side.

Betfair is showing 5/4 Norwich, 11/4 Charlton and 9/4 the draw. Ordinarily I would be considering emptying my bank account to bet on the Addicks at those odds, but as it is they are about right considering our form, defensive failings and lack of attacking flair. If I was going to have a bet, then I would suggest there won't be many goals so 0-0 at 11/1 is compelling as are both 1-0 and 0-1 at 15/2 and 11/1 respectively.