There were many negatives for Crystal Palace to take away from their defeat to Brighton, with the injury to Michael Olise being one of the most alarming moments of the fixture.
Roy Hodgson has come under intense scrutiny after Crystal Palace’s 4-1 loss to Brighton, with the 76-year-old in the firing line for his decision to call Michael Olise into action from the bench.
It’s unsurprising as to why the manager hauled the 22-year-old from the substitutes, as Palace found themselves 3-0 down at the interval with change needed quickly ahead of the restart.
The issue was that Olise was deemed not fit enough before the match, hence him losing his place in the starting XI to ensure he was adequately nursing a slight hamstring injury.
Prior to the battle at the Amex, the Frenchman had made his return after a month out of action due to problems with his hamstring, making his omission from Saturday’s squad an understandable act of caution to avoid a recurrence.
Unfortunately for both player and club, the forward headed down the tunnel for treatment shortly after returning to action, lasting just 11 minutes on the pitch.
Hodgson defends his decision to play Olise
Things went from bad to worse for Hodgson, who not only lost the game, Olise and Marc Guehi on the day, but also had a lot to answer for in the media due to his decisions on the touchline.
Speaking after the defeat, the former England boss admitted that the club’s medical staff had cleared Olise to make an appearance from the bench.
“They told me and he told me that he was fine to be on the bench.”
“Unfortunately, because I don’t have a crystal ball and I don’t have hindsight, I wasn’t to know that was going to lead to him getting a recurrence of his injury.”
Arguably the last thing that fans wanted to hear was a passing of blame within the club as to why Olise was withdrawn after 11 minutes, yet it somewhat epitomises the dysfunctional feel of the club at present.
To support Hodgson’s upset over criticism regarding the situation, journalist Alan Nixon also revealed that the manager “was told” that his player was “fit to play a half”, still such information fails to improve the situation at hand.
Palace are expected to assess the injury to not only Olise, but to Eberechi Eze and Guehi this week, as pressure looms over the head of the manager, with ongoing tensions between fans and the board behind the scenes.
The challenges are expected to continue for the Eagles, with Chelsea, Everton and Burnley waiting in the wings to round up February’s fixtures, three teams that are hungry for points.
