Read on below for the key quotes from this week's pre-match press conference...
'What we demand from each other': Glasner’s pre-Bournemouth press conference
Oliver Glasner says Crystal Palace are targeting a return to the principles which have made them such a challenging opponent to face in recent months, as the Eagles prepare to host Bournemouth at Selhurst Park on Saturday (19th April, 15:00 BST).
“It shows how crazy football is”
Of course we are not really pleased with this situation, conceding 10 goals in two games. But it just shows how crazy football is sometimes. We were praised not long ago, having seven away clean sheets in a row, and all of a sudden we conceded too many away.
I watched yesterday Man Utd against Lyon and you can see it within a game. It's football, sometimes it's not to find this one reason why it happens.
Of course we watched both games, we analysed it and… yes, we made mistakes we didn't make before and it's okay, maybe why? No one does want to do it. In some situations we act how we don't want to act. But this happened.
It didn't happen for many games. That's why we were so consistent in our defence and all of a sudden it happened. But it also doesn't make a drama of it. Yes, we are not happy with our performances, especially with our results.
It’s clear that we have to do it better. I'm pretty sure that we will do it better and in the best case we start tomorrow.
“The players were running, they were investing”
Glasner was asked whether the FA Cup semi-final on Saturday 26th April could be in the back of his players’ minds.
I don't think so. Of course it's somewhere in the back [of our minds], but we don't talk about it. I think the players maybe a little bit, but when we see all the effort we gave into the Newcastle game regarding the physical output, it was one of our highest, maybe the highest or the second highest physical output.
The players were running, they were investing. And even after the 5-0 [goal], it's not that we gave up and just stayed at the back and hoped not to concede one more. For the players who came in, it's the most difficult situation when you get into a game where you are 5-0 down, but the players had a huge effort and wanted to score a goal.
It's not that they were thinking just about the semi-final. Also, when you see this, at half-time with the two late goals at the end of the first-half, it was more or less game over.
I watched the whole game, not just the clips, I watched the whole first-half again, and we had many moments where it was possible to come back into the game – not just the penalty. I'm not just about the penalty, there were many other situations where we didn't get the right finishes, didn't take the right decisions.
You see the game, and this was also my feeling during the game: ‘they are so threatening and we are not.’ But we had a four against three overload. We don't take a finish. In the transition, they have a three against three and they take it. And it's not that they would scored, it's just then you get a feeling, and it's the same what happened with the players, so it's important.
You could see it yesterday and many other times: a football game is always a game of momentum. It's never 90 minutes going into one direction. And then you have to take these moments to get back into the game, to take the lead and we showed this several times this season – but at Newcastle, it didn't work.
“This is what we demand from each other”
We will do our best. This is what we can do. This is what we demand from each other, giving our best every day and of course in the games.
The approach will be the same. We will go tomorrow and try to win the game against Bournemouth, but while having huge respect for their performances and for their manager. This is always the same.
It’s this place that gives me confidence because I could see today's mood. We had a meeting here. The players could be very down. Yesterday we were all still disappointed. We came back very late from Newcastle.
But today it changed completely. This is important. We need to stay positive. We need to be in a good mood. We need to stay together. This is what I really love working with this group because this is what they are always doing.
I think this helped us after a difficult start to the season, that we always stayed together. We always stayed positive and kept working hard on the pitch so that we could get the turnaround. Then we had really great months.
And then sometimes you need all of these tough results so that you value the other times maybe a little bit more, because it's could be normal going to an away game, coming home with a clean sheet and having three points – but it's not normal in the Premier League. It's not normal in any league in the world, and so we could experience this in the last two games.
We will really go tomorrow and give our best to get a win at home.
“Daniel has had a great impact on the team”
Daniel Muñoz has signed a new contract with the club until the summer of 2028.
It's good. Since he arrived – and he arrived before I arrived – he’s had a great impact on the team performance and his availability, his mentality, his qualities are so important for us.
That's why I'm really delighted that the club did everything to extend his contract.
“It’s my job to support the players”
When somebody is on the ground, it's easy to kick at him, but then he needs support. He needs somebody who reaches a hand and helps him to get up again. The players were down, and then it's my job, it's our job to support them.
You know, it's different when there is a lack of effort. Okay, then we also can say: ‘guys, this is what we always say. We give our best and the players give their best. Okay, it wasn't good enough.’
This is what we have to accept. But again, if something doesn't work and you always show him: ‘here you did wrong, here you did wrong, this was a mistake, this was a mistake’, you just take every confidence away from him, instead of giving him confidence and supporting him.
But of course, we also analysed the goals we conceded. Not individual mistakes, this happens, but let's say tactical things, and why things now happen. The positive thing is we’re not conceding goals because we're doing the same as we did before, we’re conceding goals because we don't do it in the right way, in the right intensity, in the right moment. That’s good because that means we don't have to change anything.
It's now making one more step back, back to the roots, stick to the patterns we already showed, keep it simple, and then we will get the confidence back and then we can see that it's tough.
It's not so long ago that I spoke with a manager from another team and he said, it's so tough to find space and create chances against you. It was a funny thing – and then we conceded 10! So it means just do what made us strong and do it again, do it with 100% determination because this sometimes happens, you lose a little bit of confidence and then you go: ‘should I or shouldn't I?’
How we defend needs a lot of bravery and as long as you are hesitating, it can be a reaction being late, being late, being late, and this can happen. So it's again, do the things we are used to doing and this is what we will try tomorrow.
“It’s part of life”
I think that's especially the quality of the Premier League: because of the quality of the players, because of the quality of the managers and the quality of the staff, every team can score a goal at any time of the game, and it doesn't matter if you are first or if you are at the bottom. I think this makes the Premier League so special.
Then, it’s same and the more we have to value what we did in the last weeks, and trust the process, trust the things we did, and this is what the players really showed when we were talking – and we talked quite a lot the last two days, more than training – and so we will keep going.
It's like it was at the beginning of the season: maybe life was a little bit better when you're always winning but it's part of life, you have to deal with the situation. It looks like we are all dealing quite well with this situation, the whole club, and this gives me confidence that we will get the turnaround.
Again the positive thing is we can start tomorrow – we don't have to wait one week, or three weeks, no game, which we had in March – so now we can start tomorrow.
Over a season we are not the competitors with these teams [Manchester City and Newcastle] but with the others we are having around – it's Brentford, it's Bournemouth it's Fulham, it's Brighton– but also when you see who are behind us, the two huge teams Tottenham and Manchester United, are now playing the semi-finals of the Europa League.
It just shows the strengths of the Premier League and then also shows the strengths of our players and the quality of our players and their performance, because we are in the mid-table, far away from the bottom of the league and still having big chances to play the best season in Crystal Palace history.
Of course it's nothing we don't want to have, but it's part of the game, it's part of life, that you also have some defeats because otherwise we would win the Premier League! I would be delighted if this happens but I think it's not a realistic goal.
“Andoni Iraola is doing an amazing job”
He’s doing an amazing job with the team and also the structure is pretty clear and also the pace Bournemouth have, going also very direct in their attack, going very direct in behind, having a lot of confidence.
But then also you could see their struggles in the moment of the season. Okay, now they got the win against Fulham, but I think before they lost five of the six games in the Premier League as you mentioned.
I think Nottingham Forest, challenging for the Champions League and they lose at home against Everton, and that's the Premier League! Crystal Palace is the same, but they are doing well, but I can promise that we will give our best and we will do well tomorrow.
Match Details
- Saturday, 19th April
- 15:00 BST
- Premier League
- Selhurst Park
- Live audio commentary on Palace TV+.