Crystal Palace: 23/24 Season Review
It's time to explore Crystal Palace's 2023/2024 season.
It marked Crystal Palace's 118th season and their eleventh consecutive campaign in the Premier League. They also competed in the FA Cup and the EFL Cup.
It was the first season since 2013–14 without Wilfried Zaha, who departed for Turkish club Galatasaray in the summer, and Scottish midfielder James McArthur, who retired. As a result, Joel Ward was appointed club captain at the beginning of the season, replacing the departed Luka Milivojević.
Despite being 15th and just 5 points above the relegation zone in mid-February, the appointment of Oliver Glasner revived the team's fortunes, and a strong finish saw the Eagles equal their highest league finish in the Premier League era.
Let's examine some of the moments from another interesting year at Selhurst Park.
In September, they were knocked out of the EFL Cup by Manchester United. They were beaten 3-0, and many fans criticised the weakened squad put out. United's goals came Alejandro Garnacho, Casemiro and Anthony Martia. Phil was in the away end that night, he said: "That was a shocking performance. We aren't going to get relegated, so we had a chance to progress in this competition. I hope Roy can inspire the team before we return to Old Trafford on Saturday."
Palace got revenge a few days later. They secured an impressive Premier League victory at Old Trafford, thanks to Joachim Andersen's outstanding strike. During the match, Palace's goal was constantly under threat, but United couldn't find a way through. This allowed the visitors to secure a win that pushed them above their opponents into ninth place, with the hosts dropping to 10th. Danny, a Palace fan, told us: "A fantastic performance from us at Old Trafford. We played well and looked so comfortable."
In November, they lost 2-1 against Luton Town. During this match, they displayed promise in the attacking third, but they were outplayed by a clinical Luton side that capitalized on their opportunities, especially taking advantage of the visitors' setbacks due to second-half injuries.
A poor run of form followed for the club. They made a managerial change in February as Oliver Glasner replaced Roy Hodgson. The 49-year-old Austrian signed a deal to become the Eagles' boss until the end of the 2025/2026 season.
April and May 2024 saw Palace stun Liverpool and Manchester United with two fantastic performances. After the Liverpool match, Jamie said on Facebook: "We are staying up. Full credit to the players for showing some fight and determination to restart our season after some pretty grim moments.
A few weeks later, they sealed their first league double over Manchester United with a deserved and emphatic 4-0 win at Selhurst Park. This was probably Manchester United's worst performance of the season but Palace still did well to get such a commanding victory.
