Hodgson on Palace changes during FA Cup loss at Everton
Hodgson on Palace changes during FA Cup loss at Everton
Category
🥇
SportTranscript
00:00 Well, the results, obviously, all defeats are disappointing. I thought this was a game
00:16 where we probably deserved better than a defeat. I thought there were an awful lot of positives
00:22 to our play. We decided to change things around a little bit. One, I was interested in how
00:29 that went and I was very satisfied with the way that went. And of course, the major problem
00:35 for us has been the fact that we get home at 2 o'clock this evening and at 12.30 we're
00:42 playing Arsenal on Saturday. So that was our problem in a way. But it was a good opportunity
00:49 to see some of the players who rarely get a chance to play. And fortunately I was able
00:55 at least to spare three of the very important players for the weekend after 60 minutes and
01:02 another couple after maybe 70 minutes. So in actual fact, we should be in a slightly
01:11 better position, I hope, to confront Arsenal because that's going to be a vitally important
01:16 game. But having said all those things, I still think we were good value for a result
01:21 here today but we didn't get it thanks to the excellent free kick that Gomez played
01:26 and that was unstoppable.
01:27 So frustrations with the schedule and the management?
01:32 No, no, no. This is our own fault. If we'd have wanted to progress in the Cup serenely,
01:41 we'd have won the game at home against them. We didn't. We drew 0-0 which forced us into
01:46 a replay. And the replay was going to be this week and it has to be a Wednesday because
01:51 Everton played on Sunday. So no, it's nothing to do with the schedule, it's just one of
01:54 those things that as a manager you have to look at all the possibilities, all the options
02:01 and to try and use your squad in the best possible way while still trying to get a result.
02:06 And I would say, biased as I am, that's exactly what we did and I think that today we were
02:14 very unfortunate not to get a result in the game.
02:17 Can you understand the supporters' frustration? The game is only 1-0, so it's still well in
02:25 the game to take on the star players and the fans on the other team. Can you understand
02:32 their displeasure?
02:33 Yes, absolutely. We had to think very carefully about it but the fact is, as I've rightly
02:40 said, I appreciate the fans. It's a long way to come and we appreciate their support.
02:45 I would have been disappointed to see Ezi go off because Ezi is one of our best players.
02:49 But I also would have been extremely disappointed as a fan if he had played another 30 or 35
02:56 minutes, got injured in the process or put himself in a situation where he can't go out
03:01 onto the field against Arsenal. That would have been extra disappointing for me because
03:06 even without him on the field, I thought we did more than enough to cause Everton problems
03:12 and create goal chances. In fact, I would say that in the last 30 minutes of the game
03:16 we had three or four exceptional goal chances. But once again, we can only blame ourselves
03:21 we didn't take them.
03:22 Have the substitutions been pre-planned?
03:36 A little bit, yes. We've got a situation where our team has been fairly stable. There's a
03:40 lot of players here that have not had a chance to show what they can do. We keep wanting
03:44 to see what Franca can do, Ahameda can do, David Ozo can do. We want to see these players.
03:50 Now, the chances are, with the team we've got at the moment, their chances in the Premier
03:56 League might still be a little bit few and far between. So it was good at least to see
04:01 these players and to know that our judgement that we can trust them and if we need them
04:07 to go on the field and play they'll do a good job for us is the right judgement. Because
04:11 they've gone on tonight against Everton at home and I think in that 30 minutes you wouldn't
04:16 have said that we were suddenly much worse as a team than we've been in the previous
04:22 60 minutes without those guys on the field.
04:26 Any others? No, thanks very much. We'll leave it there.
04:30 Thank you.
04:31 Thank you.
04:33 Thank you.
04:35 Thank you.
04:37 Thank you.
04:39 Thank you.
04:41 Thank you.
04:43 Thank you.
04:44 Thank you.
04:45 Thank you.
04:46 Thank you.
04:47 Thank you.
04:48 Thank you.