Alan Pardew issues warning to Arsenal as confidence rises at Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace are in buoyant mood

ALAN PARDEW last night threatened to make Arsenal’s start to the season even worse with a prediction that said: We can beat ANYONE!

 

The Crystal Palace manager, boosted by the superstar arrival of Yohan Cabaye, is brimming with confidence ahead of this afternoon’s clash with the Gunners.

And as the gap between the good and the great in the Premier League continues to narrow he reckons Palace are more than capable of beating an Arsenal side already rocking from that defeat by West Ham last week.

Pardew warned: “There is belief in our squad that we can beat Arsenal. With the type of players we have we can hurt any team.” 

The Palace boss believes his team is one of a pack now capable of seriously hurting the so-called top teams  - just like Swansea did at Chelsea last week.

“I don’t think the top managers would disagree that the margins are coming down,” he said.”On a given Saturday when it’s your best 11 v 11, there’s not a lot in it and I think they understand that.

 

“That’s why I think we’re going to see a close encounter on Sunday - and it could be a closer encounter than last year and even that was pretty tight.”

Pardew accepts that over a full season Palace could fall short - but only very short.

“When injuries strike, top clubs can replace like for like – we cant quite do that. That’s where we are going to fall down,” he continued.

But Pardew is confident he can keep up the pressure on the likes of Arsenal by making sure they beat the league’s ‘lesser’ clubs along the way.

He continued: “We can beat the top teams, but it’s against the other teams when we’ve got to win when the pressure’s on us. 

“That’s where we have to grow a bit, against the West Broms at home, Stoke at home, Swansea at home. Have we got enough to beat them on a consistent basis?”

 

In the meantime Pardew has also set himself a target to turn Palace into a big club off the field as well as on it.

“It’s important we try to grow as a club, not just as a team,” he added.

“There’s no doubt that the team has grown and unfortunately, unlike other businesses, you have to go to the top down in football rather than the other way up. In most businesses you start and grow from below.

“We have to look at the stadium as some point and the academy. But the pitch is fantastic this year, the training ground is now Premier League standard, so we’ve made some improvements which have made a direct impact on the first team this year. That won’t be the same every year.

“It’s a great opportunity for me in the three years I have left on my contract to build a football club and try to make this club as strong as I can so I can look Chris Coleman and Steve Coppell in the eye and say ‘I’ve left it in much better shape than I found it’.