A smiling Roy Hodgson laughed off tips he possessed a magic wand after observing his Crystal Palace aspect deconstruct Leeds at Elland Road.
Palace’s 5-1 victory – secured when they fell a objective in the back of – lifts Hodgson’s workforce to twelfth, six issues transparent of the ground 3. The 75-year-old has presided over two wins in two video games since rising from retirement to go back to Selhurst Park as intervening time substitute for the sacked Patrick Vieira. Palace had now not gained in 13 video games previous to Hodgson’s arrival.
“It’s a perfect start, training’s been fantastic, the sun’s been shining and it’s nice to be back,” Hodgson mentioned. “The gamers had been just right sooner than I got here again and now they are appearing it once more. I’ve to revel in those moments as I do know they would possibly not ultimate without end.
With the rankings degree at half-time, Hodgson demanded extra “aggression” from his workforce. “We had to weather a first-half storm,” he mentioned. “We had been suffering and the gamers did smartly to pull themselves via. We had been fortunate to attain sooner than the spoil however that objective used to be price its weight in gold. At half-time we had a chat, we agreed we wanted extra aggression, the gamers took our recommendation on board and the second one 1/2 used to be superb in each recognize. We’ve were given high quality, we are fast, robust and skilful.
Hodgson had very warm phrases for the “wonderful” Michael Olise after the 21-year-old midfielder scored 3 objectives in a stellar second-half efficiency. The industrious Jordan Ayew and the goalkeeper, Sam Johnstone, who made a number of essential early saves, had been additionally singled out for specific reward.
The Leeds intervening time supervisor, Javi Gracia, recommended his “soft” gamers had paid the associated fee for switching off. “I can’t provide an explanation for what took place; It’s implausible,” he said. “We needed to defend set pieces better but we played a very good first half and we could have killed the game.
“After we conceded everything changed. We started the second half very badly. We were soft in so many actions. The first half was very good but something was wrong in the second half; we didn’t keep momentum. If we don’t play at 100% we won’t do well.”
Not that Jesse Marsch’s successor used to be about to criticize his workforce in public. “I have belief in my players, I trust them and today we lose together and stay together,” mentioned Gracia, who refused responsible his right-back Luke Ayling for his phase in a defensive debacle. “It’s very disappointing however all of us have to be informed from this from this tough second. It’s one thing we need to settle for. We need to stay a favorable mindset. This is the placement we must be robust.
“Today greater than ever I need to be nearer to my gamers. We did not stay our ranges, we misplaced our aggression.”