Patrick Vieira has defended his decision to bring on centre-back James Tomkins late on against Arsenal and switch to playing five at the back. The Frenchman took off goalscorer Odsonne Edouard with ten minutes remaining in north London, asking his side to finish the game in an unfamiliar 5-4-1 formation. The move backfired, as Arsenal first saw Kieran Tierney hit the crossbar before Alexandre Lacazette scored at the death, bringing Vieira to his knees on the touchline as the Emirates exploded into a frenzy. After the match, the Frenchman came under criticism from parts of the Palace fanbase for what was construed to be too negative a change heading into the final moments of a game in which the Eagles had dominated. Vieira recognised the move didn’t go quite as planned when asked about it during his post-match media commitments, saying his side were unfortunate to concede late on.
Patrick Viera said: “On the left side we had Tierney, who was giving the width and he was giving us lots of problems. So we went with the back five and had four midfielders really tight. At the end, outside of Tierney’s chance, they didn’t create much. Even if you look at the way we conceded the second goal, it was unlucky. But again, that shows we still need to improve a lot of parts of our game.”
Despite the late goal, Palace once again impressed by putting in a performance that left Arsenal looking devoid of ideas for long periods of the game. They were energetic, pressed from the front and took their chances when they came in the second half. It was a showing that is now almost expected from Vieria’s side – one that, at times, completely typifies what the Frenchman is trying to achieve in south London.
Patrick Viera added: “I was really pleased with the attitude that we showed today on the field. It was quite really challenging for the first 15 minutes but then after I think we managed and we controlled the game quite well. This is why the draw hurts because of the performance that we had today. I’m really disappointed for my players because they played well. They showed a lot of character and personality. We played high, we managed to win the ball. We came back and scored those two goals so not leaving with a win, I’m really disappointed for my players.”
