Having gone to sleep very angry at the result and woken up this morning to re-watch the game, I have to agree with the above four posts.
Palace played a very specific gameplan, some of which was worthy of praise: they knew we were going to throw the kitchen sink at them - we all knew it - so they sat back in numbers and swamped us whenever we got near their box and they were first to virtually every cross we put in. That takes a lot of discipline and communication. Furthermore when they took the ball off us they did well to get numbers forward swiftly, as they often had nine or more behind the ball. They rarely just hoofed it away, they were specifically playing to counter-attack.
The Dann goal was garbage, but the two in open play were both well-taken, with the first being a well-crafted effort. If one of ours skinned a fullback the way Baines got bummed for the first goal, we'd all be drooling. I also thought their keeper was on very good form.
I understand why RM wanted to rest some players ahead of the final straight, and I don't think he was wrong to do so. Unfortunately, injuries to our small squad have been our undoing once again - had Oviedo, Gibson or Pienaar been fit then they might have seen some action. If Kone or Traore actually existed, they too might have played a part.
The only criticism I have of Martinez is that I think that starting all three wingers made us a little too one-dimensional. We actually needed McGeady and Deulofeu in the last 20 minutes, running against tired defenders to draw fouls - instead we had Ossie trying to thread passes through the aforementioned nine+ at the back. The deployment of Barkley in CM is something I want to see more of because he NEEDS to be able to play in more than one position, and I feel that neither Gibson nor Barry should be Everton players in September.
