After that game against the Magpies, Patrick Vieira was asked whether the number of goals his side were shipping from dead balls was concerning him. The Frenchman replied “not at all” and instead complimented his side for dealing with set-pieces better in that game than they had earlier in the season.
Patrick Viera said: “When you come to Burnley, you expect to suffer in the air, and we have to manage and deal with it. At times we did it well [but] I think we need to improve that aspect of the game because, in the modern game, set-pieces are massively important, and we will need to spend more time in training to deal with those set-pieces.”
After the full-time whistle, Burnley boss Sean Dyche admitted that his side had been paying close attention to how the Eagles defended from set-pieces and said he had instructed them to try and make the most of those moments. When confronted with this, Vieira said he and his staff will need to help the team improve by putting in more hours on the training pitch.
Patrick Viera added: “Teams we will face will look at our strengths and weaknesses and prepare themselves. We have to look at ourselves and work out how to improve that side of our game – what can we do to be better and stronger? We have to spend time and work on that.”
Palace will need to do just that as the games start to come quicker with the festive period upon us. The Eagles host Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa at Selhurst Park on Saturday before facing a quick turnaround to play Leeds at Elland Road on Tuesday.
