Oliver Glasner profiled as new Crystal Palace boss brings ex-Prem star as No.2
Oliver Glasner subscribes to the cult of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo because they have emptied the tank for 60 matches a year without losing their passion for football.
And now Crystal Palace ’s new head coach has finally been released from the transit lounge at Selhurst Park, the fiery Austrian will demand the same levels of application and intensity from his players.
Out of respect for Roy Hodgson, thankfully out of hospital after being taken ill at training last Thursday, Palace were forced to delay Glasner’s coronation.
The 76-year-old former England manager is said to be “feeling better” after exhaustive tests, but it would have been obscene to hang out the bunting and install a new manager on Hodgson’s throne while he was still under medical care.
So Glasner, who has agreed a two-and-a-half year contract with Palace, had to wait until the succession could be handled tastefully and without his predecessor being hustled into retirement. Now that Hodgson has stepped aside, a new era can begin in earnest in the People’s Republic of Croydon.
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And when Glasner and his assistant, former Middlesbrough defender Emanuel Pogatetz, clock on for duty in south London, Palace will be taking on a fiercely driven coach who does not hang around if his employers do not match his ambition. He is not a quiet man content to stay in the shadows.
Glasner won the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt in 2022 (Marcio Machado/Getty Images)Some observers in Germany are surprised Glasner has chosen Palace - who have finished between 10th and 15th in the Premier League every season since being promoted in 2013 - as his next project after guiding Eintracht Frankfurt to Europa League triumph two years ago.
But his preferred 3-4-2-1 formation, with a heavy accent on a prolific striker as the spear-tip of an aggressive press, should suit English football’s tenacity. And when they are fit, Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze will be the crown jewels of Glasner’s grand design.
Speaking during his reign at Frankfurt, who also reached the knockout stages of last season’s Champions League after progressing from the same group as Tottenham, he said: “Attitude is very important to me.
“It doesn’t have to be perfect every day and all go well, but I want to feel with every player that he is giving everything. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have been playing at the top level for more than 10 years now and, if you include internationals, they play over 60 matches a year.
Roy Hodgson has stepped down from his role after his health scare (Getty Images)“They put in a lot of effort and are always willing because they love football so much. For me, that passion is the greatest thing you can have in your career.”
Glasner cites Jurgen Klopp as the biggest influence on his coaching style, with an honourable mention for ex-Manchester United interim caretaker Ralf Rangnick, saying: “I saw that you can be very successful with an aggressive and active style of play and also improve the players at the same time.”
At Palace, the key dynamic will be his relationship with sporting director Dougie Freedman, whose masterful surfing of the transfer market brought Olise and Eze to the club for a dirt-cheap £28million combined.
Glasner left Wolfsburg, after guiding them into the Champions League, after his dream ticket with director of football Jorg Schmadtke became frayed. And since leaving Frankfurt, where he turned striker Randal Kolo Muani from a squad player into a £68million Paris Saint-Germain signing, he has waited patiently for an opportunity to test himself in the Premier League despite being courted by Ajax and Lyon.
His playing style has been compared with Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham, Thomas Frank at Brentford and his mentor Rangnick at Red Bull Salzburg. But significantly, every club he has coached has finished higher in the table than the previous season.
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And each season since 2017, until his sabbatical this year, his teams qualified for Europe.
But for Glasner, who admits he enjoys switching off his phone for a an occasional round of golf, his first priority will be keeping Palace out of the heavy rough.
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