Oliver Glasner could do no wrong. It was remarkable how he had masterminded Crystal Palace from a side looking over their shoulders to a joint-highest Premier League points tally in less than three months.
The new-manager bounce helped produce a purple patch of six wins from seven to end the campaign, but it came courtesy of a man who had led Eintracht Frankfurt to a Europa League title two years earlier and had rejected Lyon the previous summer.
Glasner’s arrival at Selhurst Park had been a coup, and coupled with that form created an inevitable summer of optimism around the club. Dismantling Aston Villa 5-0 in their final game was the perfect send-off, as Jean-Philippe Mateta plundered in his 13th goal in as many games since Glasner took over.
Things couldn’t stay this good, but there was certainly no foreshadowing of how bad they would become.
Glasner has already moved to temper expectation. “The first goal has always been to not get relegated,” he said last month.
“The last seven games of last season were great, the first 31 weren’t.” But now fans have seen what Palace, and what he, can do when they are at their best, it is hard to forget.
Seven games into the new season and Palace have still only equalled the five goals they scored in that final-day thrashing. If they fail to beat Nottingham Forest on Monday Night Football, this will become their longest winless start to a season in 31 years.
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Would things be going better for Crystal Palace if they were awarded a penalty against Liverpool?
A sense of anxiety has returned to a fanbase more familiar with false dawns, with a thread on the club’s official forum titled “How worried are you about our poor start?” stretching beyond 32 pages.
Glasner is the fourth-favourite to become the first Premier League manager to be sacked this season, but there is little feeling the Austrian is under any huge scrutiny from either the boardroom or the terraces – yet. Why?
The new boss’ first transfer window provided more questions than answers. In January, the arrivals of Adam Wharton and Daniel Munoz had catalysed his start, but the loss of both Michael Olise and, to a lesser extent, Jordan Ayew left him facing an uphill struggle.
The pair contributed 13 assists last season – almost a quarter of Palace’s entire tally.
Monday 21st October 6:30pm
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None of Palace’s six new incomings has truly settled in yet, with the final third unsurprisingly where the club has suffered most.
Ayew was already being phased out by the time of his exit but Olise’s sensational start in the Bundesliga, where only Harry Kane has scored more than the new Bayern Munich winger, has rubbed salt in the wound of what was already an obvious loss. Replacing one of the best-performing wingers in Europe is a big ask for a club of Palace’s standing.
Olise’s powerful relationship with Eberechi Eze has been particularly missed. They started five games together under Glasner last season, scoring nine goals – and Palace won each time.
In the six games where one or both did not feature under Glasner, Palace failed to beat Luton, Forest, Bournemouth and Fulham, all sides who finished below them in 2023/24.
Replacing their spark was always going to be a major challenge. The arrivals of Eddie Nketiah and Ismaila Sarr have added two talented players but no like-for-like replacement for Olise, who was arguably their most important player.
Sarr and Nketiah are yet to score between them in the league, starting together for the first time only in the final game before the international break, when the misfiring Mateta was finally benched and Nketiah moved in from the right flank to his more natural No 9 role.
They combined for a first-minute opener which was ruled out by a narrow offside, but otherwise showed little promise of providing that missing spark.
Some adaptation will be needed, both from the players and their manager, if they are going to click. Neither player is Olise, in style or star quality – and Nketiah’s talents are wasted out wide.
Eze has suffered without Olise too. The fatigue of a truncated summer, even with limited minutes for England at the Euros, has not helped.
He has scored just once this season and was guilty of missing Palace’s best chance against Liverpool. What has appeared clear to the naked eye is backed up by the statistics.
He is still creating creates chances, but they are of far lower quality than when Glasner first arrived. He is beating his man barely half as much. The number of times he brings the ball into the final third has fallen even further.
Another new arrival, Daichi Kamada, arrived with big expectation given his history with Glasner in Frankfurt but has been a further disappointment. He was anonymous on debut against Brentford and has barely picked up since.
Kamada’s difficulty adapting been exacerbated by his being shoehorned into an unfamiliar defensive midfield role. “It’s really unfair to say one guy is responsible,” Glasner said of the Japan international on the back of the painful reviews he has been receiving.
But the manager himself has to take some responsibility for Kamada’s slow start. Last week, he played and scored for Japan in Saudi Arabia, operating in his favoured No 10 position. Time will tell whether Glasner takes note.
The list of affected individuals could go on. Wharton, another who spent much of his summer in England training at Euro 2024, has not looked the same player and has been carrying a knock.
Marc Guehi is another who would have preferred more rest, especially after a transfer saga with Newcastle lasting the entire transfer window.
Trevoh Chalobah, brought in on Deadline Day to replace the influential Joachim Andersen, was only fit enough to start his first game against Liverpool after being exiled at Chelsea in pre-season.
Munoz, who thrived as a creative wing-back under Glasner last season, looks tired in a demanding role without any natural replacement in the squad – a problem the manager will have to fix given he was injured against Liverpool.
The one criticism of the manager has centred on his tactics, which remain largely unchanged despite the differing personnel. The individual form and, especially, fitness issues have not lent themselves to the Glasner philosophy of high intensity and pressing.
Palace have been sluggish out of the blocks and struggled to impose themselves in the early parts of games. In the one exception, a 2-1 defeat at Everton, they scored their only first-half goal all season before collapsing within nine minutes of the restart.
Time will probably be a healer for Glasner, and for Palace. But he must adapt his style to fit a different profile of player than he had last season, many still coming up to speed.
And with tough tests against Forest and Tottenham building up to a trip to Wolves on November 2, if things do not improve by that trip to Molineux, the man who could do no wrong could find himself under real pressure.
Analysis: No need to panic ahead of January additions
Sky Sports News’ Michael Bridge:
“I don’t think there’s any need to panic. They were unfortunate not to have been awarded a penalty against Liverpool, and, of course, there’s nothing worse than a defeat going into a two-week international break.
“The sliding doors moment for me came on the opening weekend. If Eze’s free-kick [a disallowed effort against Brentford] counted, do Palace go onto win that game and Eze starts the season on fire? The new signings also need time to settle in. It’s not happened so far for Sarr and Kamada.
Palace received good money for Andersen, but they’ve also said goodbye to a good, solid Premier League defender. It’s early days for Maxence Lacroix but there are good signs after the last few games. Adam Wharton isn’t fully fit. Glasner must also decide who is his main striker.
“Michael Olise is gone and will be one of the biggest names in world football in a few years’ time but to say Palace miss him and he’s the reason for the poor start is lazy. Olise had plenty of injury issues at Palace and they found a way to win without him.
“The manager will no doubt want one or two additions in January. I wouldn’t be surprised if they look for another left back.
“Monday’s match at Nottingham Forest will be a tough test and it will be intriguing to see any changes under Glasner after being able to work with the majority of his squad during the international break.”
