Vieira looks to have found Plan B as Zaha and Eze partnership catches the eye

Patrick Vieira was clear about his demands for Crystal Palace’s players before they took on Liverpool at Anfield.

“You have to perform well out of possession, defend well, accept that you will go through a difficult period, and be patient for the right moment to hurt them,” he said.

Sometimes last season, against teams likely to enjoy more possession than Palace, Vieira set up largely to play them at their own game, press high and disrupt their rhythm. But now he appears to have found an alternative option.

In this draw with Liverpool, he reverted to playing a back five, something done only twice last season, with limited success. For much of the game, this was different. Palace defended resolutely and countered well. They played precisely how their manager had asked them to. “We remained calm and composed, we kept our organisation.”

Eberechi Eze skipped away from Fabinho’s challenge, looked up and played the perfect through ball to Wilfried Zaha. A few touches, a glance at the goal, and the ball was in the far bottom corner. Palace were ahead.

They had hurt Liverpool on the break, having threatened to do so earlier when the pair combined, only for Eze, later flagged offside, to shoot at Alisson.

Vieira has repeatedly said he is more interested in the movement of his players than the formation specifically, and that is apparent even in the early days of this season. Chris Richards has arrived from Bayern Munich to give Palace the option of five at the back. He’s a player comfortable at centre-back and wing-back, as well as in possession.

Throughout the summer the Palace manager has been eager to enhance his squad to provide options for different formations, primarily focused on either three or five at the back, something he intends to use more often this season. That will switch throughout games as well as against different opposition.

Out of possession at Anfield, Palace had four in midfield. With the ball, it was interchangeable, almost becoming a three in attack. Jordan Ayew, in theory, partnered Zaha through the middle. But it was the interplay between Zaha and Eze that stood out.

In the absence of Conor Gallagher, it is unclear whether Palace can continue to play with two No 8s in the midfield and press intensely without a direct replacement. Eze and Jeffrey Schlupp look unsuited as a partnership.

Even accounting for various missed opportunities from Liverpool, and the early sustained pressure, five at the back seemed to work in Vieira’s plan as they looked to play on the counter.

He said his team would not defend for 90 minutes but at times they looked more akin to Roy Hodgson’s side. Vieira has always been pragmatic and not set on single formations, but that flexibility does not shackle the talent of his flair players.

Palace will take a game-by-game approach into this season, but five at the back appears to have a chance of success against teams who will dominate possession. Accepting that but allowing room for flexibility in the system, as they did against Liverpool, is important.

It will not always be used in this way, either. Palace will inevitably use the attacking threat of Zaha, Eze and Michael Olise against different opposition without sitting back and soaking up pressure.

With Cheick Doucoure shielding the defence, but so accomplished on the ball, there is more opportunity to attack in numbers when appropriate. But that may not be with five at the back, given Palace’s full-backs are not attacking enough to get forward.

That would have been risky at Anfield and Vieira’s approach made sense. But it demonstrates how much he values having different options in personnel to change his system around.

This was the right set-up, with the right personnel, and it enabled Palace to counter and create chances. “We played this system a couple of times last year,” Vieira said. “The players feel comfortable and understand their role and responsibility.”

There was wastefulness in possession but had they been more clinical, then they could have won a game in which they soaked up significant pressure throughout.

One successful game is too small a sample to be definitive on, but this was evidence that persisting with this set-up in relevant matches may not be quite so difficult to implement as it was last year.

If the players become familiar enough with the system, they may be able to cut out those lapses in concentration which plagued them last season — regardless of formation.

It could also allow them to balance defence and attack in games where trying to match the opposition would be more likely to end in failure.

If these things work out, then Vieira will have his Plan B.

(Top Photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)