Read on below for Glasner's key talking points from the press conference.
Glasner's pre-AZ Alkmaar press conference: The key talking points
Crystal Palace are back in European action on Thursday evening (6th November, 20:00 GMT), with Eredivisie outfit AZ Alkmaar the next visitors to Selhurst Park – with Oliver Glasner and Maxence Lacroix were on press conference duty for Palace ahead of the game.
On AZ Alkmaar’s qualities…
We want to win. We will do everything to win the game, but AZ Alkmaar are a very experienced team – maybe not in terms of their age, but they always qualify for European football.
Two years ago they played Aston Villa in the group stage. Three years ago they played in the semi-finals of the Conference League and lost against West Ham. Two very tight games, losing 1-0 and 2-1. Both games they had more possession.
They’re a very good team, maybe one of the top four teams in the Netherlands with Ajax, PSV, Feyenoord and AZ Alkmaar. I watched their game on Sunday afternoon against Sparta Rotterdam. They won 1-0, but I think they could have been 3-0 or 4-0 up at half-time. It just showed how good they are.
We will have to perform on a top level to get this win. It would make it a little bit easier if we have this win for the following three games, but again, it's now really take it step by step, game by game, and show the best performance tomorrow.
We always get that support
—Oliver Glasner
On Palace’s status as Conference League debutants…
I remember when Man City played the first time Champions League after they got their new owners. They went out straight after the group stage. And I think in the second year, they were third and qualified for the Europa League. You know, if there is something new, you have to make your experiences.
For me, it makes no sense talking about winning the Conference League, because we have to accept and respect all the opponents. And again, Alkmaar have much more European football experience than we do.
When we see the other teams like, for example, Fiorentina. I think the last two years, they were in the semi-finals or in the final. And for us, it's new for many of our players. It's the first time they have these four competitions, because here in England, we have two [domestic] cups.
We will try to win it, like we try to win the Carabao Cup, like we try to win the FA Cup. Last year, we could do it, but on the other side, I think nobody can expect that Crystal Palace wins a trophy every single year. But we will go for it, definitely.
On Selhurst Park…
It feels unique. It's very traditional, and it's very tight. The fans are so close to the pitch. And our fans make it really feel like home.
I hope at least that everybody feels well when you come home, and that's how we feel when we play at Selhurst – we feel at home, and that we can be ourselves, and we can play with all our strengths, with all our determination.
We always get that support.
On Chadi Riad’s confirmed return to the matchday squad…
That's why all the injured players are in our post-match meetings: to show the way we want to play, what we did well, what we didn't do so well, because it's not just the players who are fit at the moment.
We don't have really tactical training on the pitch. It's more on the screen, and that's why they are always involved, so that it's not completely new.
After six months: [it’s not] ‘it's the first time I hear it’. No, they hear it every single week, or every third or fourth day. That should help them to reintegrate a little bit quicker.
But on the other side, you need the time on the pitch. You need the time with the ball. You need the time with the players. You need minutes in games to develop.
But we are not the only team. I think three played yesterday in the Champions League. Three English teams played today in the Champions League. And Villa, Nottingham Forest and we play on Thursday, so many teams are facing this, with this tight schedule, no time for training, and you have to deal with it.
It’s always about finding a good balance: to win games, to be successful, and to develop the players.
On taking your chances as a player…
[You have to impress] in the moments you get, the moments in training, the moments in the games.
One of the best examples was Jeff Lerma. He is not a young player. He just turned 31. He didn't play so many minutes, but we always could rely on him, when we brought him in. And then he started [against Brentford] and became Player of the Match.
That helps, because every manager will play the players whom he believes are best prepared to win the next game.
That's the only solution: showing up in every single training session, and even if it's just 20 or 30 minutes, showing up in every single minute you get in a game – when it's five minutes, it’s five minutes, and when it's 20 minutes, it's 20. And when you start, then show it.
On the other side, I think every player experiences this. It will be the same for Maxence [Lacroix] when he was young, and I remember when he came to Wolfsburg, he was 20 I think at that time, here from Toulouse, Ligue 2. I don't know if Max remembers, I remember pretty clear.
His first game was a cup game against Luckenwalde. It's a team in the fourth league in Germany. After nine minutes, he caused a penalty and we were 1-0 down. Making mistakes is part of development – in the end, we won 4-1.
It’s completely normal. Then, he was very, very consistent, and improved day by day and game by game. Then he played almost every single game and he qualified for the Champions League.
That’s what young players have to do: show up every training. Show up, every game – not just young players, everyone.
On team selection considerations…
We always play with the strongest team, but that doesn't mean it's always the same players. We had five new players against Liverpool one week ago at Anfield, and we have 18 fit on-field players available, so it’s not possible to change 10.
I don't know if Alkmaar is changing 10 players tomorrow, because I think it's one of the biggest teams in the Netherlands, so why should we do it? We want to go far in the Conference League, and therefore we need to play our best players.
Tomorrow there will be 23,000 or 24,000 Palace supporters. 2,000 Alkmaar supporters. Everybody paid for their ticket. Everybody wants to see his team winning. And I think that's just what we have to do: play with full strength and try to win the game.
We have had very good experience here. When we played, for example, the FA Cup semi-final, three days before, we played at the Emirates and we played our strongest team. We drew 2-2 there. And we won 3-0 at Wembley three days later.
When we see that a player is a little bit fatigued or he needs to rest, he gets the rest. If the players are fine and we are talking to them and, of course, every day in the morning we have a meeting and are talking with the doctor, with the fitness staff, with the medical staff, about what's best for the players.
If we think somebody needs a rest, he will get it. Sometimes I'm asking the player, d’o you want to rest because you played many minutes?’ Usually the response is ‘no, I want to play’. And then they play.
All the players who are in the rhythm are fit, so it's not about playing and playing. It's about managing the situation.
Usually my experience is that more the players who are not in this rhythm get injured when they play, and that's the challenge we all have, and that's what we are talking most in our meetings about.
The way Alkmaar pressed, the way they defended, the pressure they made on the opposition, that impressed me
—Oliver Glasner
On what he expects from AZ Alkmaar…
AZ Alkmaar are usually a possession team.
We played Dynamo Kyiv, we had more possession and we did very well. Against AEK, it was almost 70 to 30 possession [in our favour]. It was 17 to four shots. Their goal was their first touch in our box. It was coming from a mistake we made. We missed too many chances to win the game.
Yes, I like to have 100% possession and win the game. That's the best because then you control it. But in the game, there is always an opponent. Alkmaar are doing well. Every team is preparing. Every team can play football well.
Football is not just possession. I know in the Netherlands especially, it's a lot about possession! But I was impressed, more impressed, about Alkmaar’s intensity, how they pressed against Rotterdam. They pressed every single ball when they played back to the keeper. The striker was sprinting there, and all the others were following him. I was impressed about that much more than about their possession.
Their 4-3-3, very fluid midfield and inverted winger. I know it since Arjen Robben played [the role], so it's not new. But the way they pressed, the way they defended, the pressure they made on the opposition, that impressed me.
And then, having just possession, you also need to win the ball back quickly. Otherwise, the others have possession. If you want to have a high percentage of possession, you should win the ball back quickly. And even when they build up, you have to make pressure to win the ball. Otherwise, they have possession.
You never can separate it. And that's what, again, impressed me when I watched Alkmaar: that they have a very good balance between owning possession and also making pressure.
Match Details
Crystal Palace v AZ Alkmaar
- Thursday, 6th November
- 20:00 GMT
- UEFA Conference League
- Selhurst Park
- Tickets available here.