After six games played, Crystal Palace find themselves in the relegation zone – a far cry from the dizzy heights under Oliver Glasner last season.
Inspired by Michael Olise, Palace finished up in 10th place and Glasner was being touted for several top European jobs in the future.
Fast forward a few months, and after the sales of Joachim Andersen and Olise, Palace are struggling.
Eddie Nketiah has looked sharp since joining Palace for £25m in the summer, but the club aren’t getting the most from their new signing.
Trevoh Chalobah is yet to be fully integrated into the first team and Glasner is also being fairly patient with Ismaila Sarr, who hasn’t exactly hit the ground running.
Danny Murphy says Eddie Nketiah is playing in the wrong position
That being said, when speaking on talkSPORT (30/09, 18:10), Danny Murphy offered some advice to the Palace manager in regards to Nketiah, who has been playing as a right-winger.
The England international was seldom used as a winger during his time at Arsenal, only ever appearing out wide out of necessity rather than choice.
READ MORE: Glasner is looking to build his Palace team around £35k-a-week player instead of Eze
But right now, Glasner appears to consider a wide role as the best suited for Nketiah – something Murphy disagreed with.
The pundit wasn’t worried about Palace being relegated, but did suggest an obvious way in which things could be improved.
Murphy said: “I don’t see Palace being down there for long. I think they will adapt a little bit.
“Maybe stick Nketiah up top with [Jean-Philippe] Mateta and play a little bit differently. They have too much with [Eberechi] Eze there. I can’t see them being in a relegation battle.”
Of course, the current system doesn’t seem to be getting the best out of Mateta or Eze either, who both would have hoped to contribute more in the early weeks of the season.
Nketiah’s positioning isn’t helping Mateta or Eze either
Perhaps it could be levied at Glasner that he’s currently overcomplicating things – against Everton all of Nketiah, Daichi Kamada and Jefferson Lerma were playing out of position.
It might seem odd to question a manager who achieved so much last season, but Palace fans won’t be happy with performances right now.
As mentioned, Nketiah has arrived with so much promise, a player definitely equipped to score 15-20 goals in south London, but he currently doesn’t have the platform to do so.
Nketiah always appears at his best when cutting inside, and it would make sense for Glasner to simply start him in the role.