Pierre Sage spoke after his Crystal Palace's side's defeat to Liverpool which looks set to cost the Frenchman his job
Pierre Sage, manager of Crystal Palace speaks to media at post match press conference after the Premier League 2026/27 match between Crystal Palace FC and Liverpool FC at Selhurst Park
Pierre Sage, manager of Crystal Palace speaks to media at post match press conference after the Premier League 2026/27 match between Crystal Palace FC and Liverpool FC at Selhurst Park(Image: 2026 Sebastian Frej)
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Pierre Sage insisted his Crystal Palace ‘deserved better’ as he admitted his team were the cause of their own demise in their 3-1 defeat to Liverpool.
Goals from Alexis Mac Allister, Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak earned victory for Andoni Iraola's side as they moved up into the Premier League top four.
In contrast, the loss looks set to be Sage’s last in charge of Palace after just 16 games. The Frenchman has oversaw just two Premier League wins and the defeat to Liverpool leaves the Eagles bottom of the table heading into the November international break.
The Athletic reports that Sage is set to be sacked, having been under increasing pressure in recent weeks, and will become the Premier League’s first managerial departure of the season as a result.
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And in what looks set to be his last press conference as Palace boss, the 47-year-old bemoaned how Liverpool ‘killed’ his side following their own mistakes.
“I think it's the scenario of the game, because we started well, we created the chances to score first, but we missed them,” he said. “And by doing this mistake in possession and conceding the transition and set-pieces just before the half-time, it was really hard to go in the dressing room with that.
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“But you know, the worst thing was, with 1-0 for them, we opened the space because we had to come back to the score and we had to push. And we let a lot of space and with their speed they killed us in transitions.
“Today we defended well when we were in low block, but when we opened the space against this team with this speed, it was too difficult for us.
“A lot of times I’ve said ‘we deserved better today’. I think today it was the case too. But you know, football is not about what you deserve. It's about how efficient you are and we have a lack of efficiency offensively and defensively.
“And for the moment, the situation is like this because of that. The performance was better today, but if we were in a more comfortable situation, we can build on this kind of thing.
“But now we have to take points and it was not the case today. When a team is in our situation, the most important thing is about the confidence, about the way to act with efficiency at the best level of every one of us.
“With this kind of thing, when you think you did, not fully, but more or less the job on the play and you don't have the result expected, it's really difficult.”
Meanwhile, Sage insisted he did not ‘have to convince anyone’ that he was the right person to turn things around at Selhurst Park.
“If my job is the way to convince people the best thing, then they just have to believe in that,” he said. “If that’s not the case, then they will take a decision.
“I always have confidence in myself. If I’m not 100 per cent involved in what I have to do, it’s a big mistake.
“Today, my job is not the most important thing. The most important thing is to find an efficient solution for the team and club.”