Glasner on Cup selection dilemmas & countering Arsenal strengths

First-team

17 Oct 2024

Oliver Glasner is happy to have selection dilemmas ahead of Wednesday’s Carabao Cup quarter-final against Arsenal at Emirates Stadium.

The Eagles will be bidding to reach the semi-finals of the competition little over 75 hours after recording a famous 3-1 win over Brighton & Hove Albion at Amex Stadium.

But Glasner’s side – who will be without the suspended Daniel Muñoz, and for whom an assessment on Ebere Eze will be made on matchday – are raring to face the occasion, the manager has confirmed.

“We had the last week to rest and to prepare,” the manager explained. “[We had] some days to rest, some days to train, and then this week is just playing and recovery.

“Three games a week, once, shouldn't be a big problem. We also showed that it isn't a big problem for us, and that's why I will start with the best shape, in our opinion.

“We’ll play the best team. If there is no risk of an injury, the player will play. Or if a player says: ‘gaffer, I feel tired’, he will get a rest, but today nobody told me [this].

“It makes it easier [to have options]. I always like when the players are fit and are in good shape. We know and we could see it at Brighton. When we were struggling, bringing in fresh legs can help you. We can't win a game with 11 players. We always need the squad.

“Of course, it's the tightest schedule. There's Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday, whereas Arsenal have had one day more. We need all of them.

“As I mentioned, Daniel Muñoz is out. Two or three weeks ago, we expected Adam Wharton being available, and he isn’t. It’s not that everybody is fit, but we have now more numbers.

“Joel Ward is back again. He had to rest against Brighton. Chris Richards wasn't in the squad because he became a father for the first time and had a well-deserved break, but now he's back with a big smile on his face when he's arriving every day! We have many players available and options. Everything is fine.”

With Muñoz out of the tie, Glasner was asked as to who might fill in at right wing-back, with 33-year-old Nathaniel Clyne and 18-year-old recent debutant Caleb Kporha both mooted as possible replacements.

“Yes, if we stay in the same shape, it’s a decision I have to take between Caleb and Clyney,” the manager confirmed. “[Caleb] is 18 and [Clyne] is 33 – a lot of experience against non-experience.

“We don't really have other options in the wing-back position, but we also could play someone in a back four. We have Ismaila Sarr there as an attacking winger, so we have several options and could bring another player into the pocket. So, yes, several things we have in our mind. We were already watching Arsenal yesterday in great detail – so let's see who starts tomorrow.

“What I really like in this group is that everybody supports each other. No one is jealous if another one is playing in his position. We always support each other and this will be the same.

“We also know now, okay, Caleb didn't play many minutes in the last weeks or even months, Clyne didn't play many minutes in the last weeks or months, and we have now two games against Arsenal within three days, so I don't expect one of them playing both games over their whole time.

“It's now who starts, who ends the game and then maybe to switch the next game. I had some busy days so I’ll take my time to take the final decision and we'll have a good rest in the evening and hopefully a good sleep and then tomorrow I will tell the players.”

Quizzed on his midfield options, Glasner noted: “Again, we can't give anybody a gift, even if Christmas is coming. Everybody has to deserve [their place] and has to be better than the other ones. It's a competition within the group. This is also bringing each other to their personal edges, pushing each other to the edge, to the best performances, and then it is also a decision of fitness.

“Jeff Lerma was coming back after an injury. In the last three-game week, Cheicky [Doucouré] started at Ipswich, but then he was close to a red card, so we had to take him off at halftime. Jeff has been doing really well in the last games. Also, we need his physicality, maybe in defending set-plays.

“We have to think about many, many things and not just, ‘OK, he needs some minutes’. It's always the whole package, and then it will be a decision, but I know if Cheicky starts, he will do everything to help the team, and he knows what he needs to do in his position for the team, and when he plays just for several minutes, like he did in the last game, he did very well.

“I'm very confident. I have a lot of trust in both of them and, of course, in Will Hughes as well.”

As is well documented, since the beginning of last season, no team in Europe’s top five leagues has scored more goals from corner kicks than Arsenal’s 22 (next up is Bayer Leverkusen on 17) – but with Palace having scored from corners two weekends in a row, Glasner says that his own team have improved at set-pieces at both ends of the pitch.

“It's getting better and better,” the manager smiled. “Big credit to my assistants who really invest a lot of work in analysing it on the pitch with the players, and also it gets more value for the players, this is what we try to implement into the team: that set-pieces are a chance to score goals.

“But of course on the other side, everybody knows it. Everybody tries different things. To be honest, it looks like nobody could avoid that [Arsenal] have chances. They didn't score but they had one big chance against Everton. It's a strength, so the best thing is don't give them any corners, but this is the style, how they are playing.

“They force corners. They come from the wing, they overload sides, making the runs, early crosses, you block it… corner, and that's how they play. We have to deal with it. It's not that we are now just talking and thinking about the corners. We know it, but we don't make the issue bigger than it is.”

Ahead of the occasion of a Cup quarter-final, Glasner spoke about the emotions which accompany a knockout game of such magnitude.

“Every game [I get nervous],” he said. “After the [broadcast] interview one hour before [kick-off], it's the worst time for me, the hour [leading up] to the game, because players and the staff go out to the pitch, warming up, and you're alone in the dressing room.

“It of course many question marks: will everything we planned work? How are the players doing? Every time, it's butterflies, so it's maybe not the hour I like the most of the day, but as soon as the game starts, it's just focus on the game.”

Match Details

Arsenal v Crystal Palace
Carabao Cup
Wednesday, 18th December, 19:30 GMT
Emirates Stadium
Live audio commentary on Palace TV+

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