BY ALEX PEWTER
Following an entertaining 2-2 draw against the reigning champions Manchester City, Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner was pleased, if not fully satisfied, with the point.
Glasner said: “We don’t feel unlucky, but it was a good performance. We can do better. I know the players. I see them in training. We have many positive things today. That’s what I saw. But still, it feels like having the lead twice and then we’ve got moments of being too passive.
“There are many other situations for transitions where we lost the ball too quickly, too easily, and this is what we have to improve in possession.
“We started excellently, scored a fantastic goal, then, of course, City had two or three chances. But overall it was a good performance. It is great for us, being unbeaten, but it feels like it could have been more.”
Having taken the early lead via a Daniel Munoz goal, Glasner could reflect on the advantages of his tactical system against a traditional back four. However, he still sees room for improvement.
“It’s not a secret,” said the Palace chief. “When you prepare a game against a back four, you have a two-v-one on the opposite side. This is how you find these players [open].”
“A good switch between the wing-back and the number 10 – this is what we still have to improve. In many moments, there was so much space on the opposite side, next to Gundogan in their system. We didn’t find this space very often.
“We showed the players at half-time again, and there were so many situations. We are talking about the six-time champions. You have little time, maybe one or two touches, and this is what we want to improve as a team.
“If we find this space, and then we have a two-v-one on the opposite side. And if we find this more often, we can create more and more chances. The goal was which space we want to find. And we should do it more.”
The challenge of any team following a short turnaround from a midweek game is switching focus to the next opposition with limited time, but the coaching staff had identified a couple of areas to exploit – in particular with the second goal from Maxence Lacroix from a corner.
“When you prepare against City, especially having a three-game week, you have two days’ time [on the training ground],” said Glasner.
“We’re always looking where we have an advantage against City, it’s not easy to find. We knew we could play at a higher intensity, and the data showed this.
“We knew when we get into the transitions, we’d get in behind, and we’d get them running. Maybe they struggled a little bit.”
“The second is the set-piece, because they’re missing many good headers. Akanji, Ake and Rodri are three very tall players and good headers in defence. So, we knew attacking set-pieces was a big opportunity for us, and the players did well. Many parts were very positive today.”
PICTURE: KEITH GILLARD
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