by It may be down to bitter experience, but pessimism has always been in the nature of Crystal Palace supporters. Even at the end of May, when Eberechi Eze scored an Aston Villa team’s fifth goal on the beach after qualifying for the Champions League a few days earlier, some were already fearing the worst.
Inspired by an exciting forward line featuring Eze, Michael Olise and Jean-Philippe Mateta, Palace finished last season winning six of their final seven Premier League games to equal their highest points total (49) and finish (10th). But after a summer of change at Selhurst Park in which Olise left for Bayern Munich and manager Oliver Glasner was also courted by the German giants after his brilliant debut at the club, many fear an autumn of discontent has arrived.
Six matches into an unprecedented 12th consecutive Premier League season, Palace are still without a win and will face leaders Liverpool at home on Saturday in a match they have not won since November 2014. Perhaps More worrying for Glasner, new recruits Daichi Kamada, Ismaïla Sarr, Maxence Lacroix and Eddie Nketiah are still finding their feet. The Palace manager suggested he was frustrated that “external factors” played a role in the club’s decision to sign Lacroix, Nketiah and Trevoh Chalobah, on loan from Chelsea, in the final 24 hours of the transfer window, but he hopes they will eventually make a difference.
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“We could have done it maybe five weeks earlier, and then we would be making progress five weeks later. But that didn’t happen, for different reasons,” he said. “Yes, we have new signings, but I think Eddie Nketiah has played almost the same minutes in three or four weeks. [at Palace] that he played the whole season with Arsenal, so we have to give him time. We give it time because we are totally convinced of its quality, and it’s the same for everyone.
Yet while replacing Olise – who has already become a fixture in Bayern’s first team under Vincent Kompany – has proven difficult, Palace have also greatly missed the experience and leadership of Joachim Andersen and Jordan Ayew following their sale to Fulham and Leicester respectively. “It’s part of evolution,” Glasner emphasized. “Step up, take responsibility and experience it. We decided to follow this path and now we help all players gain confidence from it.
Having retained Marc Guéhi after rejecting a bid of up to £70m from Newcastle for the England international, Palace’s defense is expected to become more secure once Chalobah returns from injury and Lacroix – who was the Glasner’s preferred choice to replace Andersen after working with the 24-year-old. -former in Wolfsburg – installed correctly. But in Olise’s absence, and with Glasner confirming on Friday that Brazilian midfielder Matheus França is expected to be out for several weeks after injuring his groin in training, much of the creative responsibility rests on Eze’s shoulders. Glasner insisted he was surprised to see the 26-year-old absent from the England squad this week, even though Eze has only scored one goal so far this season.
“I don’t understand why he isn’t announced for England – he’s playing fantastic for us. The difference is he’s missed every chance,” Glasner said. “He could have five or six goals. He is so close and there is a knot that needs to be untied.
“But he plays very well and has every chance. I talk to him and he wants it. He said: “I have so many chances but I don’t have the number of goals I could have scored.” In this situation, we encourage him and say, “Come on, stay cool.” He has to stay relaxed, work for the team and not focus too much on those things.
There are also concerns over Adam Wharton, with the midfielder having to manage a groin injury with painkillers in recent weeks. Glasner said last month that the number of games the 20-year-old has played since joining Blackburn in February has taken a toll on his physical development, not to mention being thrust into the spotlight after being called up to the England squad for Euro 2024. “There was so much on his mind and the mind always influences the body,” the manager said.
Palace have held discussions with the Football Association about whether Wharton would join the Under-21s next week, but Glasner would clearly prefer he was rested. “He struggles and struggles again. It’s about managing him as best as possible,” said the Austrian. “We know it’s not the best situation but there is not a time when we can give him three, four or five weeks leave.”
There was better news regarding Cheick Doucouré. The influential midfielder is set to return after the international break after suffering another injury on his return following an Achilles problem which ruled him out for most of last season. But Glasner knows his preferred 3-4-2-1 formation relies heavily on Wharton’s particular skillset to break through the lines from his deepest role. Kamada has started in central midfield alongside him in Palace’s last two matches and Glasner has taken up defense for the Japan international, who was part of the Eintracht Frankfurt team that won the Europa League under him. orders in 2022 and joined Lazio on a free transfer.
“We have confidence in every player on our team. We can’t listen to what outsiders think,” Glasner said. “I worry about other things in the world. We have elections in Austria, but we have a trend towards more right-wing populism and that worries me because history shows us that it always ends dramatically. But [I’m not worried about] the confidence of the team.
