McArthur discusses changing room response to Chelsea

First-team

14 Aug 2021

James McArthur was up front in his assessment of Crystal Palace’s loss against Chelsea, saying the changing room does not have “an acceptance there of just that they were good”.

The Scotsman, who captained the side at Stamford Bridge, suggested Palace were undone by a confident, talented opponent, but that their ability is no excuse for defeat.

“It was very tough,” he said post-match, “they were on it today. They were on a high from their last game [beating Villarreal in the UEFA Super Cup] and you could see that. We weren’t quite at the races today. We weren’t happy with the performance and they punished us.

“They were hard to handle, they caused a good few problems. But in the changing room there’s not an acceptance there of just that they were good. We know we need to be better, we need to make sure we put it right next week.”

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He also delved into what Patrick Vieira did at half-time to respond to the Blues’ strength, and focused on the upcoming Brentford match as a key test for such a newly formed side:

“[Vieira] demanded us to try and get on the ball, be a bit braver. He did that at the start of the game but they pressed very well and we just couldn’t get out really. They were on it, we weren’t and it was a bad day at the office for us.

“There’s been positive signs over the way we tried to play throughout pre-season. We tried to work on our identity of playing. And we’ll keep building on that. We need to make sure we learn from today but try and make sure we do what we can do next week.

“We obviously need to show what we can do next week against Brentford, which is a massive game, but we’re looking forward to the journey ahead.”

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