Allardyce: Palace have lost their identity

Sam Allardyce feels Crystal Palace have lost their 'identity' and he is hoping to bring it back.

The Eagles have undergone a change in recent years with former manager Alan Pardew transitioning away from the fast counter-attacking side that was in place during Tony Pulis' reign.

Allardyce was brought in to replace Pardew before Christmas but he is without a win since taking over at Selhurst Park and the former England manager is keen to introduce some more pace into the team.

“The team has lost what it used to be. For whatever reason the identity of the team and the way it is playing has changed for me," Allardyce said.

“When I was at West Ham I saw Crystal Palace come and thrash us. They were 3-0 up before we got a chance to score. It was all about how good they were at winning possession – they had it far less than the opposition – but they were so effective at ending up winning football matches.

“I think they’ve lost that identity. I need to try and bring it back. We need a bit more pace in the side. It’s a little bit why we’ve brought Jeffrey Schlupp in because we haven’t quite got the dynamics we had.

“We’re conceding too many goals. It’s an area of expertise for me. I’ve started on it but it hasn’t worked yet because we’re still conceding goals. Hopefully that will work in the end.”

Palace host Bolton in the FA Cup third-round replay on Tuesday night and Allardyce has confirmed he will make changes to the side as he looks ahead to the weekend's Premier League game against Everton.

While he is set to tinker with the team, Allardyce has fired a warning to his players.

"If they don’t win then they are saying to me they are League One players – not Premier League players,” Allardyce told his pre-match press conference.

“I can select my strongest team against Bolton, win and give it 15 per cent last chance of winning against Everton – because of the physical output the lads will put in on Tuesday night. It would not be recoverable in time to play Everton at the full level we need to play against them. They don’t play this week at all.

“If I want to give us our best chance against Everton then I have to change the team tomorrow night.

“If you can’t beat Bolton you can’t expect to be playing in the first-team.”

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