de Boer under the cosh at Crystal Palace, but who could replace him?

de Boer
de Boer

The pressure is mounting on Crystal Palace boss Frank de Boer is mounting after his team suffered another defeat at Burnley on Sunday, but suggesting he should be sacked after four games just doesn’t make any sense.

Palace were the better side at Turf Moor, creating over 20 chances, but Chris Wood’s early goal gave Burnley three points they scarcely deserved.

de Boer’s team are yet to score this season and the Dutchman admitted to the club’s official website after the game that the result was hard to take.

“I think everyone who was in the stadium or sitting behind the television would have seen that only one team deserved to win today, and that was us,” he said.

“That’s football and sometimes you don’t get what you deserve, but we can also blame ourselves for giving the goal away and not scoring our opportunities.

“We didn’t score and it’s unbelievable when you’ve seen this game, but I always think that the most important thing is that you play like this every week, and then you’ll get what you deserve and that’s points.

“Football is about getting goals, no doubt about it, and we have to do that better.”

It’s difficult to argue with de Boer’s views. Palace were by far the better side, but they were wasteful in front of goal.

Four defeats and no goals is a certainly a worrying start to the season for the club. However, anyone thinking de Boer should be sacked just yet needs to get real. A quick look at the top five names listed as favourites to replace de Boer should tell you why.

Roy Hodgson? Really? Sean Dyche? Why on earth would he leave his cosy little number at Turf Moor? Roberto Mancini? There’s no way he’ll be leaving Zenit St Petersburg anytime soon.

Despite spending much of the summer moaning, Rafa Benitez won’t exit Newcastle United unless it’s for a bigger job and suggestions of a return for Sam Allardyce are just pie-in-the-sky.

Whether de Boer gets things right at Selhurst Park remains to be seen, but sacking him this early into the season with no sensible alternatives out there would be foolish.

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