Crystal Palace is a club fighting to remain in the Premier League.
Oliver Glasner steps forward.Over the course of a few hours on Monday, the former Eintracht Frankfurt coach appointed as palace manager After his predecessor Roy Hodgson, finally acknowledged his own resignation.
The 49-year-old Austrian, who was at Goodison Park to watch his new team pick up valuable points, has a “real talent for reinvigorating a team that is struggling”. That's what they say, and that's exactly what we need to do.
But what is his background and why did Palace bring him in?
“True talent to revitalize the side''
German soccer expert Konstantin Eckner: Oliver Glasner has shown a real ability to revitalize struggling teams, as he did at Wolfsburg and Eintracht Frankfurt, both of whom were struggling before Glasner's arrival.
That being said, in both cases he took over the team before the season started, and not in the middle of the transfer window, which is the case now.
His tactical approach can be loosely described as underdog football, in that he is most effective when he is able to attack the opponent on the break, rather than playing an attacking possession-based style. Considering Crystal Palace's current squad and the team's play this season, his brand of football could fit in very well in the first few months.
Given that he is Austrian and has only coached in his home country and Germany, it remains to be seen whether he will be able to adapt to the locker room as quickly and effectively as he did at his previous club, where he knew the culture well. .
Coach Glasner has been adamant about the fact that successful coaches need to build bonds with their players. He accomplished that in spades during Frankfurt's 2021-22 season, which ended with the Eagles. Won the Europa League in the final against Rangers After defeating Real Betis, Barcelona and West Ham.
Glasner was known as a calm and disciplined manager, but during the Europa League games he seemed to come out of his shell, often directing his players through gestures and instructions with a kind of intensity similar to Jurgen Klopp. supported us.
However, things took a turn for the worse during the 2022-23 season, with Frankfurt once again falling behind in the Bundesliga and failing to enjoy the same level of success on the international stage.
Glassner became increasingly irritated at press conferences, lashing out at his critics. Additionally, veteran defender Makoto Hasebe made headlines when he claimed that he played so violently that he urinated blood after the match, but club officials later disputed this. This caused a rift between coach Glasner and Frankfurt's management, which led to the decision to sack him.
Despite his surprising success against Frankfurt in the Europa League, he must prove he can remain calm when dealing with defeats and questions about his management ability.
'Palace want to capitalize on talent'
Alex Howell, BBC Sport's Crystal Palace reporter: Before Hodgson returned to Crystal Palace last season, the club were looking to bring in a younger manager, Patrick Vieira, and have opted to do so again this time around in a bid to further strengthen the talent of their young squad.
Glasner has been linked with teams such as Chelsea and Tottenham, and his stock as a manager is high after winning the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt.
The 49-year-old had previously held talks with Lyon, the club owned by Palace co-owner John Texter, but feels Palace are a better fit for him and has been linked to his attack. I hope that his style of football will bring the best. Among the Eagles players.
Glasner seems to prefer a 3-4-2-1 formation, which will definitely require some adjustments for the Palace team.
The main challenge facing Glasner is that four of the team's best players are currently injured, with two big home games against Burnley and Luton coming up, including Michael Olise, Ebereshi Eze. It will be interesting to see how Glasner fares without Cheek, Marc Gehi, and Doucoure.
The main objective for the remaining 13 Premier League games this season is to ensure the club stays out of the relegation zone.
Club legends and success in Europe
Glasner spent almost his entire playing career with Austria's SV Lied, making over 500 appearances from 1992 to 2011 before suffering a cerebral hemorrhage and being forced to retire.
After successful surgery and a period of recovery, Glasner began his coaching career in 2012 and quickly gained acclaim throughout Europe.
After meeting with Ralf Rangnick, who became something of a mentor to the young coach, Glasner was appointed assistant to current Benfica manager Roger Schmidt at Red Bull Salzburg.
When Schmidt moved to Bayer Leverkusen in 2014, Glasner returned to SV Ried and became manager, but after just one season at the helm, he moved to LASK.
In his four years at LASK, Glasner led the club from the second division to second place in the top flight and qualified for the third qualifying round of the Champions League.
His achievements drew attention, and he was appointed Wolfsburg's manager in the summer of 2019.
Despite qualifying for the Champions League in his second season, Glasner felt the club did not match his ambitions in the transfer market and was on the move again.
He joined Frankfurt fresh off a top-four finish, but endured a difficult start that saw the team languish at the bottom of the table midway through the season.
The 2-1 victory at Bayern Munich showed what Glasner's side are capable of. An 11th place finish in the Bundesliga was unremarkable, but the club's triumphs over Barcelona, West Ham and Rangers in Europe were no less impressive. First European trophy in 42 years.
His second season didn't have the fairy-tale ending at Frankfurt, where they were eliminated in the last 16 of the Champions League and finished seventh in the Bundesliga. Lost to RB Leipzig in the German Cup final.
This was Glasner's last managerial game, as he resigned last summer over similar concerns over the club's ambitions.
