Crystal Palace Need Two Players In January Says New Manager Sam Allardyce

Sam Allardyce admits Crystal Palace need two players in the January window with his side struggling at the bottom of the Premier League. Palace are just two points off the drop zone following their 2-0 defeat by Arsenal on Super Sunday, Allardyce's second game in charge following the sacking of Alan Pardew.

The former England manager criticised the prices in the Premier League, saying it is easy to pay over the odds for players, but admitted Palace need to recruit. He said “There are really high prices, especially in England with really high wages, paying over the odds. That's what we'll have to do in our current situation. Or we go abroad and risk it a little bit more because they are much more affordable, so the big decision will be whether we do that or stick with one player in this country. I think we need two players, although we defended well today and Wayne Hennessey was outstanding.”

Allardyce criticised his players for not having the self-belief at the Emirates, with Palace struggling in possession throughout the defeat. He added “We didn't have enough belief in our ability to do better than that. When you come here you've got to have really good self-belief in your own ability. I think that showed in our lack of ability to control and pass the ball to each other, while we defended really well. Our opportunities today, when they came, we needed to take them, and we didn't. Swansea is the reverse of this one now, nobody expected us to win this, it's whether we can hold our nerve when everybody expects us to beat Swansea. We've got to make sure we win it, and we'll only do that by playing our best and producing our best form in that game.”