- Glasner asseses loss in Manchester
- Compares defeat to return fixture
- Thanks fans for support
Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner provided his outlook on his side’s 3-0 defeat away to Manchester City. With three games remaining of his reign in South London, Glasner was keen to provide some clarity around the performance.
A damp evening in Manchester rather summed up Palace’s performance. Lacklustre and evidently focused elsewhere, it appears that the upcoming Conference League final is taking centre stage in the player’s and Glasner’s minds.
The Austrian coach, who will leave the club after the final in Leipzig, shared his opinion on the game and the current state of the squad.
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Words from Glasner
“We tried, everybody tried,” Glasner began, “but it’s not too easy against a team like City, against players like City. [You] see the first goal, it’s just unpredictable that Phil Foden passes with the backheel into space, we were a little bit late and surprised, and then a clinical finish and you are 1-0 down.”
Of course, Glasner did get the better of Pep Guardiola almost a year ago to the date, when Palace edged beyond City in the FA Cup final to lift the club’s first silverware. The performance on this occasion however, felt slightly less motivated.
“Today, for me it feels [like] the players tried everything, we are just two days between the last game and today and so we were not in the shape today to get the points. To be honest Man City deserved the win.”
Palace barely created a sniff aside from an early chance through Jean-Phillipe Mateta, and City were well worth their three strikes. Patient build-up, the epitome of Guardiola’s time in England, resulted in Antoine Semenyo, Omar Marmoush and Savinho each scoring to keep the Citizens in touch with Arsenal.
“We have to accept that City was much better than we were and if you want to get a point or even more here you need a top performance, every team in the world needs a top performance, and this we couldn’t deliver and that’s why we lost in the end.”
In the reverse fixture, Palace created plenty of chances and were in many ways unfortunate to come away with from the game losing 3-0. Glasner reflected on that performance and compared it to this visit to the North.
“I think at home [against City] we played better, today I think we were too slow, too slow in the ball movement.”
“We lost the ball too quickly, and in defence also we were too deep, we didn’t find the moment to start and when it was not synchronised enough they always found the gaps and of course you could see in the first goal, especially how good City are.”
Looking to Leipzig
Whilst the consistent line from players and manager is that the focus remains on the ‘next game’ and full commitment is being shown to the Premier League despite there being little to play for, Glasner did suggest that the game management is becoming more of a factor.
“We could manage the minutes how we wanted to manage it. In four days it’s the next game and we will do the same but on the other side it’s important to learn from today’s game, to stick more to the plan, to be more prepared and focused on what we want to do, and this is what we will do on Sunday against Brentford.”
He also reaffirmed his appreciation for the supporters who made the trip to Manchester.
“Thanks to the fans as always, travelling everywhere, midweek, bad weather, doesn’t care, supporting the team also now looks like everybody is excited for the final and celebrating the final in Leipzig and a huge thank you to the fans.”
Palace will go again on Sunday against Brentford in their penultimate Premier League fixture of the season.
