Strengths:
Dangerous Wingers - Jason Puncheon showed his class last season, being involved in a lot of positive things that Palace did last season. With him and Bolasie Palace have two quick, powerful, inverted wingers who can contribute with goals and assists. Bolasie is a player I'm a huge fan of and on his day is very difficult to stop.
Defensive Stability - A lot has been said about Palace's defence and Pulis' effect on the team and it clearly helped them out. With the presence of Mile Jedinak, who is a terrific holding midfielder, in front of a solid back four, Palace are very difficult to beat. This gives them a platform to build on which is useful for any team.
Height and Aerial Presence - Palace have a lot of players who are very good in the air, standing them in good stead when it comes to set-pieces. Mariappa, Dann, Delaney, Jedinak and Chamakh are all very good in the air, which is a huge bonus for obvious reasons.
Weaknesses:
Breaking Teams Down - Due to their pace, Palace like to play on the break to exploit space behind the defence. This means when teams sit deep, they don't always have the creativity and incision to carve them open. Chamakh plays almost as a number 10 and is a good passer of the ball, but isn't the most creative player. They do have Jon Williams who is a very gifted player, but I'm not sure if he is the man to break teams down.
Depth - Palace don't have many defenders and any injury in that area of the pitch could cause problems. They generally have decent cover in other areas of the pitch, but they don't have many defenders.
Signings:
Fraizer Campbell - A fast, hard-working forward such as Campbell should help complement the side's dogged style and give them an outlet. With Campbell, Puncheon and Bolasie, Palace have a lot of pace to attack teams with, but they are all good footballers too. Could be a coup at a fee believed to be around £900,000.
Chris Kettings - Seems like a decent move, a young keeper to be back-up to Julian Speroni makes a lot of sense. I don't know how good he is, having never seen him play, but he is a Scotland U21 International so he must have something about him.
Who They Should Sign:
Defenders - Some back up for their current defenders, especially at full-back. Mariappa is a centre-back by trade but is decent at right-back, but signing somebody who is natural there might make more sense.
A number 10 - Somebody who will help them break down more defensive teams could be invaluable against teams in the relegation scrap. Jon Williams as I've said is that type of player but I'm not sure he's good enough just yet to have that level of expectation on him.
Final Thoughts:
Palace will rely on Mile Jedinak to reproduce his form of last season to help them rise up the table, but the contribution of Puncheon will be important too. Glenn Murray will be fit this season and we may see his goalscoring touch if he can get back to the level he found in the Championship.
Crystal Palace will almost certainly finish mid-table again as I don't think they will struggle for points. They are a very difficult side to attack against as they are solid, but you cannot afford to throw men forward because they will hurt you on the counter.
Everything looks fine for Palace to have another successful season in the Premier League. So far they've been very quiet in the transfer market but their team is extremely solid and they don't need wholesale changes. Pulis is a very astute manager and any changes he feels he needs to make he will do without hesitation.
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