Crystal Palace head coach Oliver Glasner has explained what concerns him about the Eagles’ forthcoming clash with Leeds United.
Palace were held to a disappointing 2-2 draw by Finnish outfit KuPS in their final Conference League league-phase encounter on Thursday, a result which means the Eagles must now contest a two-legged play-off to reach the last 16 of the competition.
Glasner made widespread changes for the European fixture, naming a completely different starting XI from the side that lost to Manchester City.
The Austrian coach handed senior debuts to several academy prospects and also offered valuable minutes to first-team players who have been on the fringes of the squad.
Such extensive rotation was anticipated, as Glasner attempts to carefully manage a stretched squad during a demanding run of fixtures, with Crystal Palace set to face Leeds on Saturday just 48 hours after the final whistle against KuPS.
The Eagles then face another swift turnaround, travelling to Arsenal for an EFL Cup quarter-final clash on Tuesday.
Glasner confirmed that no player who featured from the start against KuPS will be included in the starting line-up against Leeds, as he looks to preserve fitness levels amid the congested schedule.
When questioned about the prospect of navigating a two-legged play-off round in February, Glasner acknowledged that Crystal Palace should have more players available by then, which would be a significant boost.
He also praised his squad’s mentality, revealing that several players volunteered to feature in all three matches across five days.
However, the Palace boss admitted that the one aspect he disliked about the KuPS fixture was that Leeds manager Daniel Farke will now have a clear idea of the starting XI set to be deployed in the upcoming meeting between the two sides.
“It’s February. There will be a few players back”, Glasner said via his club’s official site.
“Today, we had a few players who said, ‘Gaffer, we have three games in five days, I can play every game for 90 minutes.’ I said, ‘calm down’.
“It just shows the character of this team.
“Yes, we would have preferred to win, but everything else, we calculated this risk of maybe getting a draw, but everything else worked how we planned it.
“We could rest a few players.
“The only thing that I don’t like is Leeds now knows our starting line-up already, because we have just eleven players who did not start – so when I mentioned nobody will start in both games, that’s the only thing I don’t like tonight, but Daniel Farke will know it now!”
Glasner has previously voiced his dissatisfaction with Palace’s business in the summer transfer window, and the challenge of navigating the current packed schedule with a limited squad is likely to heighten those frustrations, with speculation over a possible summer departure continuing to build.
Crystal Palace have made an impressive start to the campaign and will next come up against a revitalised Leeds side.
One Whites legend has already struck an optimistic tone about his team’s chances of overcoming Crystal Palace this weekend.
It remains to be seen how Farke’s new back-three system will fare against Glasner’s own well-organised defensive structure.