Lessons from Frankfurt: Discussing Glasner’s In-Tray at Palace

“I’m not a magician. I’m not David Copperfield.”

This was Oliver Glasner’s first message to Eagles fans, coming after he watched Palace from the stands in the draw at Everton.

It was hardly on a par with Jose Mourinho’s “I am the special one”, but the message was clear – patience. The subsequent hammering of Burnley at Selhurst perhaps persuaded some fans that Glasner was, indeed, equipped with higher powers, but as was discussed here, it does not take much wizardry to defeat Vincent Kompany’s hapless Clarets.

Nonetheless, Glasner is in place, and most level-headed Palace fans know to take the Burnley result with a pinch of salt. Palace’s Premier League odds may suggest the threat of relegation is a remote one, but nobody should be ruling it out. Indeed, Palace’s fixture list is quite tough to finish the season.

Of the remaining games, only four come against teams currently in the bottom half of the table. The cushion between Palace and the relegation zone is a comfortable one, but it can always shrink.

Glasner’s appointment for the long term

Yet, most Palace fans are viewing Glasner’s appointment as one for beyond this season. A key element of the appointment was that it was not a firefighting job. For all the criticism of the fans recently, Palace are in fairly good health. Glasner is not a “Big Sam” appointment, and the coach himself was reluctant to join mid-season for that very reason. It is, as Mikel Arteta likes to say, a “project” appointment.

Glasner’s in-tray is an interesting one. Assuming Palace stay up, he will be in a curious position in the summer of what to do with the squad on a limited budget. If you read the yearly financial reports published by the club, you will understand right away that the board is not going to hand Glasner a blank cheque. Without being too critical, the narrative coming from Palace’s C-suite remains uninspiring, even if the board has spoken of hearing the fans’ criticisms.

Is a squad overhaul likely in the summer? You might argue that it is not necessary. Transfers, yes. Wholesale changes, no. However, one of the intriguing things about Glasner is that he oversaw a huge number of transfers in and out of Eintracht Frankfurt. In his first transfer window in the summer of 2021, he brought over 12 new signings to the club (including loan returns) and shipped out a similar number. In the summer of 2022, he made similar moves. Some of those were fringe players, but the changes were significant, and they included stripping Makoto Hasebe of the captaincy and handing it to Sebastian Rode.

The point, as such, is that Glasner is not afraid to break eggs to make an omelette. He will be buoyed by some elements of the Palace squad, including Ebere Eze, Jean-Philippe Mateta, MIchael Olise, and others, but he seems the type to ring the changes to instil his philosophy at Selhurst Park. The selling of someone like Olise to fund transfers should not be ruled out. The day after Glasner joined Frankfurt in 2021, the club sanctioned the sale of star striker Andre Silva to RB Leipzig.

Squad age is no concern

Yet, as mentioned, there’s not a lot wrong with the squad at Palace at the moment. Yes, fans will always want more, but we are attempting to speak objectively. The average age of the players is 25.9 years, right between Liverpool and Manchester United. While age is no measurement of success, you can look at older squads, such as at West Ham United, or squads that are too young in the short term, such as Chelsea’s, and be fairly happy with Palace’s position.

You get the sense that Glasner’s relationship with sporting director Dougie Freedman is going to be key for this new era of the club. On the pitch, Palace fans will have to be patient. We saw at Frankfurt – and to an extent at Wolfsburg – that Glasner’s teams could be very streaky, going long periods without a win. Indeed, it was a rotten run of form from late February to mid-May 2023 when the team failed to win in the Bundesliga, which convinced Frankfurt’s hierarchy to put an end to the Glasner era. Off the pitch, Glasner must persuade Palace’s top brass to loosen the purse strings. Freedman has an eye for a player, but he and Glasner must be on the same page.

While not every pundit agrees, it’s arguably a good thing for Glasner to arrive mid-season. He has an opportunity to work with the squad before he gives his take on where, how, and when Palace need to strengthen. He never had that chance at Eintracht Frankfurt, and it showed (the club started the 2021/22 Bundesliga season terribly). He has a handful of months to work with Freedman before the transfer window opens. After that, we will see whether or not Glasner is the magician Palace fans crave.