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Dwight McNeil's stats vs Tottenham make for grim reading, 12% reveal is embarrassing
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- Dwight McNeil's stats vs Tottenham make for grim reading, 12% reveal is embarrassing
Pierre Sage's struggles at Crystal Palace have compounded after a 2-0 loss to Tottenham.
The Eagles were not helped by Jean-Philippe Mateta's eary red card, with the Frenchman leaving his side down to 10-men.
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Sympathies can be placed upon the Palace manager for that, as winning or getting a result with a man less is certainly difficult.
However, the 47-year-old is not helping himself with his team selections with the Selhurst Park side.
His decision-making has come under scrutiny, particularly when it comes to getting the best out of his attacking players.
If Palace are to turn their form around, Sage must start making bolder decisions and become ruthless.
Why Dwight McNeil cannot be a Crystal Palace regular
Dwight McNeil has started Crystal Palace's last two fixtures in the Premier League, but there has been little evidence to back up that decision.
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Sage is under pressure at Selhurst Park, and his future as manager is certainly up in the air.
When a manager is teetering on the edge of being sacked, team selections will come under more scrutiny, and McNeil is one of those.
As per FotMob , McNeil was consistently second best in his duels against Tottenham, an issue that would have been unaffected by the red card.
The Englishman's individual battles are down to his own quality in beating the opposition.
The forward managed to win just 50 per cent of his ground duels - four out of eight - while he also won just a single aerial duel out of eight.
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That provided him with a 12 per cent aerial duel success rate, and an overall duel success of 31 per cent.
Additionally, although Palace barely had the ball, with their 21 per cent possession, when they did, McNeil was incredibly wasteful.
He had just a 56 per cent pass accuracy with the least number of successful passes (five) among those who played at least a half.
Pierre Sage 'thrown under the bus' as Crystal Palace hierarchy risk fan backlash What can Sage change at Crystal Palace?
Whether Sage is still in a job by the time Palace's next fixture comes around remains to be seen.
However, if the Frenchman is in the dugout, changes must be made to his starting XI.
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A European tie against Hoffenheim now awaits, and luckily Mateta will be available for that.
Sage will also have to rely on, and finally trust, some of Palace's summer signings.
Dario Osorio is awaiting his chance for the London side, while Evann Guessand is another who can be called upon.
