Sage's Frustration After Palace's Heavy Defeat

Sage fumes over flat substitutions as Palace left reeling by four-goal hammering

Sage cut a furious figure after watching his side collapse in the second half, admitting his own changes had dragged the team’s energy levels down as they slumped to a heavy defeat.

Chasing a route back into the game, the Palace boss turned to his bench after the interval, sending on Dwight McNeil, Zavier Gozo and Evann Guessand in search of fresh legs and sharper attacking edge. The opposite happened. The tempo dropped, the cohesion went with it, and the match ran away from them.

“I think we were able to play 60 minutes, stayed in the game,” he told Sky Sports, his frustration obvious. “When I made the substitutions, the energy of the team went down. I'm a bit angry with that.”

He didn’t spare himself from criticism.

“Both [at my team and myself], we are together. I'm with my team every moment,” he said. “We had a lot of chances, it's difficult to have hope against this kind of team without scoring. When you change players, you need more energy, I didn't find that.”

The defeat carried an extra sting. It was only the second time a side coached by Sage has shipped four goals in a league match, the other coming in Lyon’s 4-1 loss to PSG in April 2024. For a manager who prides himself on structure and resilience, conceding four again cut deep.

Sage pointed to a disrupted build-up and players still chasing full sharpness, but refused to use that as a shield.

“We know we are in a process, we know we have to work. We have to not accept this kind of situation, we deserved a better result,” he said. “Two negative situations at the end. We were late in our preseasons. I think at the moment we need substitutions. You can't replace fatigue with low energy.”

The message was clear: tired legs are understandable; flat cameos are not.

Now Palace are racing the clock off the pitch as well as on it. With the transfer window closing on Tuesday, there is an urgent need to add depth and dynamism to a squad that visibly faded when it mattered most. The bench, exposed here, has become a priority.

Next comes a London derby and an early test of character. Sage takes his team across the capital to face Fulham at Craven Cottage on September 5, still hunting his first points of the campaign.

It already feels like more than just another league fixture. A positive result before the international break is vital to steady the dressing room and stop this slow start from hardening into something more serious.