[ad_pod ]

Roy Hodgson needs to change something fast if Palace continue to waste their shots on goal and that could start with a simple tactical change – one that Wilfried Zaha and Christian Benteke will love but Andros Townsend will surely detest.

On the chalkboard

While watching Crystal Palace would perhaps give you no indication of their placement in the standings – they often create a plethora of chances and play some nice football – the Croydon outfit are 14th and just four points above the drop zone.

A loss to Watford last weekend highlighted the big problem facing former England boss Hodgson – his side do everything right until it’s time to have a pop at goal, at which point the effort more often than not goes awry.

Wilfried Zaha is widely regarded as the Eagles’ most dangerous player – indeed, he could have had a hat-trick against the Hornets but his six shots either failed to trouble the keeper or whizzed wide of the post – he would have undoubtedly put one of those away had they been taken on his strong foot, or been better placed to tee up a teammate.

What’s the solution?

Well, Hodgson is seemingly beginning to stray away from a classic 4-4-2 in favour of a 4-3-3 formation in which Zaha plays on the left and Townsend on the right, as they are able to cut in onto their stronger foot and do damage.

However, Watford seemed to have figured out that they must drive both wide so that they are not allowed to do so, this resulted in Zaha taking most of his shots with his weaker left and Townsend being unable to fire off one of his trademark left-footed rockets.

Swapping the two over so that they can whip balls into the box or take shots across goal could mean that Christian Benteke – currently unable to produce the goods in front of goal – finally receives the service that he thrived off of in his first season at Selhurst Park.

However, it would mean we would see less of Townsend’s shots from range – some of which this season have been quite spectacular – and the former Newcastle man will loathe being swapped out to the left.

Especially with the hunt for a new hitman going quiet, the Eagles must do their best to maximise the scoring potential of the strikers they already have on the books and that could start by going back to the basics of wing-play.