COLUMNIST Alex White explains how the Liverpool game once again showed why the Crystal Palace fans are the best around...
YET again, the Palace faithful surpassed their expectations with an outstanding display in front of the Sky cameras last weekend.
When you think it is almost impossible to improve our support, we showed we could. The crowd once again proved their importance and influence on the team as they carried the side through to an unforgettable victory against the giants that are Liverpool. Forget the form of the Merseyside club; any victory against them shouldn't be underplayed.
At 1-0 down after just two minutes, it would have been easy for the fans to get on the back of the players and manager but as ever, we stuck by and showed belief in them. It proved how much the encouragement we give to the players pays off and they showed they wanted to repay the fans for their incredible support.
Crystal Palace is a very special club. There seems to be a wonderful bond with owners, fans, staff and players and that connection is what makes us unique. I don't think as fans we would ever swap that for anything. You could offer us as much silverware and money but the most important thing for us is we keep our identity and what we stand for.
My full praise goes to Yannick Bolasie after his performance, I have been rather critical in recent weeks of Yala but on Sunday he rolled his sleeves up and showed his form of last season.
Yannick demonstrated just what an exciting and influential player he can be. His form this year has been poor and one excellent performance in ten games isn't good enough, but I am hoping this can be a springboard to reaching his previous self. It just shows what a bit of confidence can do.
It was a perfect game for Bolasie, he had played brilliantly and scored in midweek for his country and was then put up against one of the worst full-backs in the league.
The decision to start with Dwight Gayle was one that paid off. His goal was a great reaction finish and showed he is ready to play at this level once again. It seemed harsh on the outside to drop Frazier Campbell who I think has been brilliant since joining and is harshly criticised at times, but ultimately was a decision that paid off. I would also like to pay credit to a player who splits the fans views;
Marouane Chamakh was absolutely outstanding and linked up brilliantly with Dwight – that could be an interesting duo going forward.
We go into Swansea a great deal more positive and if we play like that we will get a result.
