Crystal Palace finished well, but ...

A few months ago, I noted that Crystal Palace was in a familiar position of not quite being safe from relegation in the Premier League.

Well, to put it simply, that changed. Part of the reason was the change in managers, I think. Another reason was that both Eberichi Eze and Michael Olise finally got healthy at the same time.

So what happened?  The Eagles (hardly anyone calls them that, but that's their team name) started winning. They ended up 10th (which they've done before), only 3 points from ninth, but then there was a big gap to Manchester United in 8th with 60 points compared to Palace's 49.

In the second half of March, things looked bad, with two 1-1 draws to Luton Town and Nottingham Forest, and they started April with a 1-0 loss to Bournemouth and a 4-2 loss to Manchester City. At that point, there wasn't a lot of reason to hope.

Then this happened.

14 April 2024     Liverpool 0–1 Crystal Palace

21 April 202       Crystal Palace 5–2 West Ham United

24 April 2024     Crystal Palace 2–0 Newcastle United

27 April 2024     Fulham 1–1 Crystal Palace 

6 May 2024        Crystal Palace 4–0 Manchester United 

11 May 2024      Wolverhampton Wanderers 1–3 Crystal Palace

19 May 2024      Crystal Palace 5–0 Aston Villa

That's right, in their last seven games, they suddenly became unbelievable and unbeatable. Six wins and one draw.

But this is Crystal Palace. After a finish like that, you'd think they could go out and get a couple of players, and possibly contend for the top five.  Europa or Champions Cup, right?

No, wrong.  Because Michael Olise, only 22 years old, was clearly really good, and a hot commodity. How hot?  Apparently 60 million Euros hot.  After interest was expressed from a couple of the dominant teams in the Premier League, he ended up going to Bayern Munich (a deal which was literally just wrapped up a couple of days ago). 

And he's going to play for France in the Olympics, too. Eze is still there at CP, and he's playing for England, and he had a foot in their comeback win over Slovakia (specifically, somewhat of a mishit that led to the winning goal by Harry Kane in extra time).

So, the rich get richer, and the others stay in the middle of the table.

But that's the way it is in the Premier League.