Crystal Palace Boss Frank de Boer Ready to Baulk Under Pressure & Alter Tactics in Bid to Save Job

Crystal Palace manager Frank de Boer is ready to abandon a three-man defence against Burnley on Sunday amid mounting speculation that his job is on the line after three league defeats in three. 

According to reports in Evening Standard, De Boer is considering switching to the 4-3-3 system that brought him success when he was in charge at Ajax. The Dutchman has survived the international break after talks with Palace chairman Steve Parish , but he will need to show he is willing to adapt his approach after a disastrous start to his Premier League managerial career.

Defeat this weekend could lead to him losing his job little more than two months after taking charge at Selhurst Park. De Boer has tried to implement an expansive possession-based game plan and the players have struggled to adapt to the style. Last season Palace played under Sam Allardyce who favours a much more direct and defensive minded approach.

Palace have set-up 3-4-3 and 3-5-2 in their first three matches. De Boer had hoped for more new signings who would suit his new system but Palace were only able to add four new players in the transfer window.

Jairo Riedewald and Mamadou Sakho joined on permanent deals, while Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Timothy Fosu-Mensah arrived on loan. De Boer feels he should get more time to make things work out as the club backed his philosophy during his interview before he was appointed on a three-year contract in June.

De Boer changed to 4-3-3 formation at half-time during the 2-0 defeat to Swansea before the international break and Palace did improve after the break. He knows the players are more used to playing with four at the back and 4-3-3 was the system that won him four Eredivisie titles in six seasons with Ajax.

So he will be hoping his time in England goes more like his time in Holland rather than his time in Italy which saw him last only 85 days as the manager of Inter Milan. Ex-England boss Roy Hodgson has been linked with the job if Parish does decide to call time on De Boer's reign.