Dan Cook has been speaking on the HLTCO podcast about why he doesn’t think Cheikhou Kouyate could replace James McArthur or Conor Gallagher in midfield for Crystal Palace.
Patrick Vieira is now having to figure out how to cope without his trusted midfielder McArthur, who is out injured – and against Burnley, the Frenchman opted for Kouyate and Luka Milivojevic, but that didn’t work as they ended up drawing 3-3 with the Clarets.
Will Palace finish in the top half?
Yes!
No!
The midfield duo of Milijoevic and Kouyate will certainly offer Premier League experience, but given that they have not been trusted to start ahead of McArthur in any league game this season, it begs the question as to if they’re good enough to carry out the Frenchman’s instructions.
Cook is not convinced that, despite his ability to disrupt play, Kouyate could be a longer-term midfield option.
“Cheikhou Kouyate pretty much is a midfield destroyer, but other than that he’s quite limited from a technical perspective.
“There are all sorts of different machinations to the midfield setup that we currently have without Conor Gallagher and without James McArthur, but none of them sort of get my juices flowing as a fan.”
TIF Thoughts on Palace’s midfield…
When McArthur had played alongside Gallagher in the middle of the pitch for Palace this season, they have only lost to Liverpool, while beating Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on the way, so there’s no surprise that Cook is concerned not just about now, but what Palace do when Gallagher returns to Chelsea and when McArthur’s legs start to give way as he is now 34 years old.
If someone such as Kouyate or Milivojevic can’t replicate what the Scotsman does in Vieira’s system, then the manager may be forced into a tactical tweak, which is what he did against Burnley by switching to a three-at-the-back formation, which he had never used up to that point in the league.
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