Oliver Glasner took Romain Esse off after subbing the player on against Liverpool.Oliver Glasner took Romain Esse off after subbing the player on against Liverpool.
Oliver Glasner took Romain Esse off after subbing the player on against Liverpool. | AFP via Getty Images
The former Millwall winger completed a £12 million move to Crystal Palace in January.
Crystal Palace forward Romain Esse was seen in tears on the pitch as the Premier League season came to an end on Sunday. The 20-year-old has struggled to find his feet in the top flight since leaving Millwall on a £12 million transfer in January.
Esse scored on his Eagles debut against Brentford at the end of January but that electric start lost momentum over the following months. The player made nine appearances for Crystal Palace but was only afforded one start, which came against Wolves last week following the FA Cup triumph - Esse was an unused substitute at Wembley Stadium.
The player, who came through the youth academy at The Den, was given minutes on the final day of the top flight campaign. Crystal Palace drew 1-1 against Liverpool on Sunday and Esse came off the bench with his side 1-0 up and just over 10 minutes left to play.
Romain Esse embarrassed at Anfield
The Champions found a late equaliser in the 84th minute through to prolific Mohamed Salah and Esse was then taken back off the pitch in injury time. That was a statement substitution from Crystal Palace manager Glasner, embarrassing the youngster on the biggest stage.
Footage from after the match has now circulated online and Salah can be seen going over to console Esse, who patted away tears on the pitch as a result of the substitution. It was impossible to make out the words that the Egyptian shared but he was hailed as ‘real class’ by football fans on social media platform X for spending a few minutes with the Eagles star. Others hailed Salah as a ‘big role model’ and a ‘great player but even greater person’.
It would be a jump to suggest that Esse was solely responsible for the Liverpool goal, but the winger did lack strength when easily dispossessed by Liverpool forward Diogo Jota near the Reds’ goal. Having won the ball, the Portuguese international was then able to ping a long pass up field and start the attacking move that led to the goal.
Speaking after the match, Glasner was tight-lipped about why he took Esse off but his words came under a town of criticism. He said: “He knows why, that’s enough.”
Oliver Glasner criticises Crystal Palace character
Speaking more widely about his team, without naming individuals, Glasner said: “I’m not really pleased with our performance. Not in general but a few players didn’t play 100 per cent for the team (in) how we want to play. I didn’t like to see this.
“That’s why we got the draw, there were so many situations we could have won this game. I don’t forget our start to the season where it was similar (with Palace failing to win any of the first eight games), we missed our chances because of a lack of determination and this is (the same) today. “On the other side, it’s an unbeaten end to the season, a (Premier League) points record (53), and winning the FA Cup. It’s a fantastic season overall but hopefully we learn from this game that when we meet for pre-season we don’t make the same mistakes again.
“We always can find excuses, it’s easy to find excuses and we would have been relegated if we (had done). There’s always a reason for something but we prepared in a professional way and arrived yesterday. If someone doesn’t want to play (then they should) tell me and he could have stayed at home. When we go to Liverpool and play at Anfield I expect 100 per cent focus determination and commitment, this was not every single player here today. A few things today I don’t accept.
“It’s maybe a bit unfair when you see it in the big picture over the season I know now why we are where we are and if we have the mindset from today next season we will struggle again. Not everybody played 100 per cent for the team. A little bit of ego trips and a few situations. That’s what I don’t like. We have definitely not reached our ceiling as a team.”
In other news, Pre-season predicted table was wrong about Millwall and QPR - and very wrong about Sunderland.
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