Oliver Glasner gave his thoughts on the journey for Crystal Palace to the Conference League final.
The Eagles earned their shot at continental competition thanks to a 1-0 victory in the FA Cup final last May against Manchester City and backed up that win with Community Shield success against Liverpool in August. Qualification for the Conference League soon followed from a two-legged tie against Fredrikstad, and the team sat in the top four of the Premier League by the end of October.
‘There will always be moments that are a little bit tricky’
But a stretched squad suffered the strain of fighting across Europe, the league and the Carabao Cup in the first four months of the season. The winter would test the patience of the head coach, who would eventually announce plans to leave in the summer, but the group has held itself together.
“We expected to play in the Europa League , which we would have earned after winning the FA Cup , but we accepted [playing in the Conference League ] on the first day of the competition.
“For teams that are used to playing in the Champions League , it is not the most attractive European competition. But if you are a club that takes part in a European competition for the first time in its history, then it is simply outstanding.
“We enjoyed it from the first day of the competition. Our fans enjoyed travelling across Europe. We really started in Fredrikstad and went all the way to Fiorentina . We played at the eastern border in Poland, in Lublin, all the way to Shelbourne in Ireland, so we took on everything across Europe.
“We are now happy to be in the middle, in the centre, here in Leipzig and to be able to play the final. For us it is a great competition, where we also had to find our way and also had to gain experience, and all these games and all these experiences helped us to reach the final.
“I think it's outstanding for every coach. To play two European finals with two different clubs within four years, and in between the DFB Pokal Final in Berlin and the FA Cup Final in England… for me, personally, it's always a highlight. It would mean a lot to me, with these players, with this group, where we have worked together for two years, to give it back to our fans. It would rank highly for me.
“I always think positively, I try to, but when you play such a long season with so many games, there will always be some moments that are a little bit tricky, challenging. We had these moments probably in December, and January.
“There were some tough moments but I knew as soon as we got the injured players back and as soon as we did a few things in January, what the club did, we would be competitive again. We will stay in the Premier League , getting enough points, and could focus on the Conference League .
“I think honestly, and I said this quite often, that there was more noise around the club than within, and the most important ones are the players and we always had a very close relationship, even when the results were not how we wanted them.
“On the other side, especially the Chairman, we had some discussions but that is completely normal because if you always just agree to everything from both sides you don't get the best out of a company, of a club and of the players.
“I want the player to ask me ‘why should I do this’ or say ‘no, I think probably something else is better’ because then we raise our level. If I'm telling a player and he's always just saying ‘yes, yes, yes, yes’, or it's the opposite if somebody tells me ‘yes, yes, yes, yes’, then we always have flowers flying around the training ground, but we never win anything.
“That's why we need also these conversations where we say ‘hey, I think it's the wrong decision, it's probably the wrong way, we have to change it, you have to change it’ and I like if players, if staff members, if somebody at the club gives me a feedback and says ‘Oliver, probably think about this, think about that’ and then I think about it and then I change my opinion.
“This is how development happens and at the end we are in the next Final, playing the second final in the second year with Crystal Palace . I think it's quite okay.”