Roy Hodgson throws three Crystal Palace youngsters under the bus in brutal rant
Roy Hodgson took aim at three Crystal Palace youngsters - including debutant Matheus Franca - after his team was beaten by Tottenham on Friday night.
The Eagles were looking for a response after losing 4-0 to Newcastle in their previous game and went in level at the break. Spurs scored twice after the restart, though, and Jordan Ayew's stoppage-time consolation was too little, too late.
Hodgson turned to his bench in an effort to salvage something from the game, with teenage summer signing Franca introduced along with 21-year-old pair Jesurun Rak-Sakyi and Naouirou Ahamada. None of the trio made a significant impact, though, and Hodgson refused to go easy on his substitutes after the game.
Spurs extended their lead at the top of the Premier League table with their win. For Palace, though, there was some soul-searching after a third game without a win.
“There was no disappointment today," Hodgson began, before changing tack. "Although, maybe the young substitutes — who we like to think we can believe in and help us to a different level — didn’t show that.
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“They didn’t do anything for us at all, really. We became much weaker when I made the substitutions.”
Brazil under-20 international Franca joined from Flamengo over the summer for just shy of £20m, but injury meant he was forced to wait to make his bow. Despite criticising the youngster for his lack of impact, Hodgson did add that the 19-year-old deserved to be "given time".
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Matheus Franca had a tough Crystal Palace debut (MICAH CROOK/PPAUK/REX/Shutterstock)Palace struggled to create chances against Spurs without injured pair Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze. They kept their opponents quiet as well, though, only for the visitors to find a breakthrough when Joel Ward turned a James Maddison ball into his own net.
Ange Postecoglou's side had more success with their substitutions, with Brennan Johnson setting up a goal for Son Heung-min just two minutes after coming on. Ayew's well-struck late effort was eventually allowed to stand after a lengthy VAR check, but Palace were unable to find a crucial second goal of their own, with Franca spurning their final chance of the game.
“In games like this, it’s persistence that will get you the result, and we had to be persistent in terms of making runs where you don’t get the ball, but waiting for the opportunity where we did," Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou told club media after his team's win. "Pape [Sarr] got into that area, and it was a great set up for the first goal.
“We then scored a similar second goal. Again, great focus to stick to our principles and get the job done.
"The second goal felt like a really nice goal, something we’ve worked on. Credit to the lads. That was during our most dominant period and our football was excellent. Palace had to open up and put some pressure on us and we handled it well. This was a real challenge for us and I liked the way we went about it.”
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