Manchester City 4-0 Crystal Palace - 6 Things We Learned

4. Absolutely No Confidence

Confidence is a fragile beast. When Palace beat Chelsea at the start of the season, they were high on confidence and ended the game showboating for the travelling fans. Half a season later, the team can barely bring themselves to shoot, such is the lack of belief and confidence around the squad. Injuries have played their part but right now the squad can be defined as having two tiers: the players that start every game, and the players that barely get a kick. When the usually confident ones who play every week are in the middle of a crisis you need to be able to bring players in that can share the burden. The problem for Palace is that the likes of Lee Chung-yong and Jordan Mutch are in an even worse place. Pardew doesn't seem to trust them, which is worrying as they are his signings.