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24th May 2023
11:27am BST

"I'll tell you a funny story. We played Man City away, and, Joel Ward, who is still playing for them (Palace), was designated to mark David Silva," Delaney said.
"Man-mark him because he was their best player. So we had, like, a basic shape like 4-4-1-1, and Wardy was our most athletic player.
"So, after about five minutes - I could see because it happened in front of me - David Silva was just looking at him that.
"Next thing, David Silva just stood in front of the bench - he took himself out of the game.
"I thought he was going over to have a chat and Wardy followed him anyway. Wardy stood with him."
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Silva deliberately withdrew from the match to create more space for his teammates.
According to Delaney, this caused 'pandemonium' for Palace, who had worked on the man-marking tactic ahead of the match.
"All of a sudden, now it's 10 v 10 (players) in a bigger space," the former Republic of Ireland defender said.
"Samir Nasri came into the pocket. Well, oh my God, pandemonium, abandon ship! The plan we were working on (was gone)."
"David Silva knew 10 v 10 in the bigger space, 'I've another guy who will come in here, no problem'. He stood there for about a minute and a half.
"You see Wardy looking at the gaffer going, 'What will I do?' And he went, 'Just hang on!' David Silva just stood there."
Delaney said that Man City's intelligent players, their willingness to work hard off the ball, and adapt to in-game situations has made them perennial champions.
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