Oliver Glasner makes Millwall comment when asked about lack of Crystal Palace squad rotation
If there is one thing Crystal Palace fans can complain about when it comes to Oliver Glasner, it is rotation.
Fringe players like Christantus Uche and Romain Esse have hardly featured so far this season – playing just 79 and 52 minutes respectively.
Eventually, regular starters will begin to suffer from fatigue.
Oliver Glasner was asked about this lack of rotation during his press conference ahead of the clash against AEK Larnaca on Thursday, and mentioned Millwall when explaining himself to Crystal Palace fans.
Oliver Glasner uses difficult Carabao Cup win over Millwall as example of why he rarely rotates
Fans who attended the Carabao Cup win over Millwall in September will understand just how woefully the side performed that night. In fact, we were fortunate not to be 2-0 down at the interval as our south London rivals missed some glorious opportunities.
Glasner highlighted that uncharacteristically poor display as one reason why he dislikes disturbing his starting XI.
As quoted by the official CPFC website, the Austrian said: “Before it was Uche (who fans were asking about and) now it’s Eddie (Nketiah) – but we can talk about Will Hughes, about Jeff Lerma, about Jaydee Canvot, about Esse, about Justin Devenny. They all deserve to get more minutes, but at the end, we always look at what’s best to win the game.
“It’s not a gift, but sometimes if you change eight or nine positions at once it doesn’t work out because you never train together. We could see this against Millwall, and then it’s a little bit unfair. Then, all of a sudden, you are judged for something you are not (responsible for) – because when you never train together, how can we expect that everything works out?”
With the clash against AEK Larnaca being the first game of four in the next nine days, Glasner is not holding training sessions as usual – with much of the focus being placed on recovery and video analysis sessions.
That does admittedly make it difficult to bring fringe players up to speed with his demands, although football is a squad game – especially with Crystal Palace being involved in four competitions – and changes will eventually have to be made.
Fringe players must be wary of questioning Oliver Glasner
It can be hugely frustrating for a footballer to consistently sit on the bench and have to bide their time.
However, Rob Holding has already shown why it can be a risk to question Glasner.
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According to The Athletic, the defender asked the man from Salzburg why he needed to partake in a post-match running drill after a 2-0 defeat against West Ham back in August 2024, having been an unused substitute.
Glasner promptly demoted Holding to the U21 side and he never played another game for Crystal Palace, so the 51-year-old has already made it clear he is the boss in SE25.
