Tyrick Mitchell's Impact Fuels Crystal Palace's Momentum
Tyrick Mitchell steps out of the shadows as Sage seeks momentum
Crystal Palace arrive at Saturday’s meeting with Ipswich with something they have not felt much of in 2024: a gust of genuine momentum.
Pierre Sage finally collected his first Premier League win as Palace head coach with that wild 3-2 victory at Fulham, then backed it up with a Carabao Cup success over Middlesbrough. Two wins, seven goals, and yet the Frenchman has spent much of the week praising everyone but himself.
He walked out of Craven Cottage talking about Fulham’s missed chances, saying he was “disappointed for the other team and the coach, they had opportunities too”. After the cup tie, the same tone. Middlesbrough, he insisted, were “a really good team”, and he made a point of congratulating them, stressing that “the score is for us, but they played well.”
It is an unusual soundtrack for a manager trying to drag a team up the table. But it fits Sage’s early image: calm, fair-minded, almost disarming in a league that usually rewards chest-thumping.
Now comes the real test. Palace have not stitched together back-to-back Premier League wins at any point this calendar year. Ipswich, newly promoted and already staring at the prospect of a third straight defeat, arrive at Selhurst Park knowing this is exactly the kind of fixture that can define a season’s tone by October.
For Palace, it is a chance to turn a good week into a platform.
Defence leaking, defenders scoring
There is a twist at the heart of this mini-revival. Palace’s back line, on paper, looks anything but secure. They have shipped at least two goals in nine consecutive league matches, a grim club record that underlines just how brittle they have been.
Yet when Sage finally got his first league win, it was the defenders who dragged him over the line.
At Fulham, wing-back Tyrick Mitchell produced the first double of his professional career, surging into the box with the conviction of a seasoned forward. When he went off in the second half, his replacement, Ben Chilwell, promptly stepped up and hit the winner. Two left-sided defenders, three goals, one much-needed victory.
That is not how Palace usually script it. Under Oliver Glasner, Mitchell’s job description came with a clear limit. He often had to sit a little deeper, pick his moments, and leave the raiding runs to the buccaneering Daniel Munoz on the opposite flank. Munoz was the one given licence to tear forward, stretch teams, and live high up the pitch.
Under Sage, the balance is starting to tilt. Mitchell is no longer just the safety-first full-back shuffling into position behind the play. He is arriving in the box, timing his runs, and finishing with the kind of composure that forces opponents to redraw their defensive plans.
Ipswich will have seen the footage. They will know that if they allow Palace’s wing-backs to step infield unchecked, the pressure that broke Fulham could easily roll over them too.
Sage’s next step
For all the kind words towards opponents, Sage will know the numbers. Nine league games in a row conceding two or more is not sustainable for a team with ambitions beyond survival. Praise only stretches so far when the scoreboard keeps flashing against you.
That is what makes Saturday so intriguing. Palace are trying to fix a leaky defence while riding the wave created by those same defenders. Mitchell’s emergence as a genuine attacking weapon changes the picture, but it does not erase the underlying problem.
Ipswich, desperate to avoid a third straight defeat, will come to test that vulnerability. Palace, buoyed by a first league win under their new coach and a cup run nudged into motion, finally have a chance to turn a flicker of form into something more durable.
Back-to-back wins have eluded them all year. If Sage can crack that barrier now, with a wing-back suddenly rewriting his own story, what else might start to shift at Selhurst Park?
