5 Reasons Patrick Vieira Got the Sack as Crystal Palace Battle Against Relegation

• Patrick Vieira was on Friday, March 17, dismissed as Crystal Palace manager with 10 games of the season to go
• The Arsenal legend leaves Palace having managed the club since the summer of 2021
• His record in his first season was quite impressive, but the 2022/23 campaign proved to be a tough one for the club under his regime

Former Arsenal midfielder Patrick Vieira’s time as Crystal Palace manager came to an abrupt end as The Eagles confirmed his sacking on Friday, March 17.

The straw that broke the camel's back came on Wednesday, when Palace lost 1-0 to Brighton and Hove Albion.

Despite the fact that Palace are 12th on the log, they are only three points above 18th place Bournemouth, meaning the relegation dogfight involves a minimum of 8 clubs this season.

As reported on the Crystal Palace website, Vieira’s staff, Osian Roberts, Kristian Wilson and Said Aigoun have also left the club.

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Sports Brief now looks at the worrying stats that inevitably had the Palace hierarchy considering the future of the Arsenal legend.

1. Won fewest points of any team in 2023

Since the turn of the year, Crystal Palace have only taken five points out of a possible 33. A run that has seen them sucked into the relegation battle despite a decent start to the campaign.

2. Goals are lacking

One characteristic of a relegation-threatened side is their inability to score goals, and Palace fits the description perfectly.

Under Vieira this season, The Eagles have scored fewer goals than games played (21 goals in 27 games).

3. No shots on target

Following up on the lack of goals, it is also worrying that Palace have not managed a shot on target in their last three games against Aston Villa, Manchester City and more recently Brighton. Interestingly, Palace lost all those games by a 1-0 margin.

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4. Arsenal on the horizon

Crystal Palace’s next game is against Vieira’s former side Arsenal, who are on the hunt for a first Premier League title since 2004, when Vieira captained the side to a famous invincible season.

5. Facing all 8 relegation candidates

With Palace set to face all eight of their relegation rivals in their final 10 games of the season, the club’s bosses must have seen this as an opportunity to make wholesome changes to the coaching staff in a bid to accrue as many points as possible between now and the end of the season.

Arsenal suffers double injury blow

Elsewhere, Sports Brief reported on the injury blow Arsenal suffered during their Europa League last 16 second leg against Sporting Lisbon on Thursday, March 16.

Japanese right-back, Takehiro Tomiyasu was the first to depart in the ninth minute before French centre-back, William Saliba also limped off.

The double injury blow came just after Manchester United boss Erik Ten Hag labelled the team ‘lucky’ to be devoid of injuries in the 2022/23 campaign.