Oliver Glasner praised Marc Guéhi’s 'fantastic character' as he confirmed that he was 'never in doubt' about the centre-back staying at Crystal Palace over the summer transfer window.
“I never was really in doubt,” the manager said of Guéhi’s place at Crystal Palace. “First of all, really, congrats to Crystal Palace, to the chairman, to the owners, to everyone that they didn't give in. Especially after the transfer of Joachim Andersen, it was very important that Marc stays.
“Also really thank you to Marc. We were always very close and talking a lot, and all the rumours didn't influence his performance, his mood, his professionality.
“He always told me he's not pushing to leave Crystal Palace, and that's always for me the most important thing, that the players tell me that they like to play with us, that they like to play for Crystal Palace, that they like to play for the team here, and this Marc told me very often.
“But sometimes people tell and act the opposite way, but Marc told me and he acted in the same way, so he really showed his fantastic character again.”
Guéhi could be in the side to take on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, with Palace aiming to build on our League Cup victory over Norwich against a club which has completely transformed its squad in the last two seasons.
“Of course there's a lot of discussion about the amount of players, but regarding the talent, it's a fantastic squad,” Glasner said of Chelsea.
“I watched yesterday's game [against Servette] in the Europa League. They changed eight or nine players, but they're still fantastic players on the pitch, and it's clear what they were looking for: very talented players in offence, a lot of pace.
“It's unbelievable pace they have, and also in defence, a lot of power, with the new manager, clear structure, how we want to play, you see many short passes, building up in the 3-2, 5-3, 2-4-1. Very flexible, especially in the last game against the Wolves, very aggressive, very high-press.
“It will be a good challenge for us, and our mindset never changes, so we go to Stamford Bridge to take the win.”
Despite having a multitude of options to choose from, Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea side will play to an established blueprint, which Glasner says is a big help in preparing for the match.
“It's good that the manager has a clear idea of how he wants to play, so regardless of which player is playing, the idea is the same,” the manager explained.
“Also because the profiles they brought in each position, they are very similar, so if [Pedro] Neto or [Mykhailo] Mudryk is playing, there's a lot of pace. and [Noni] Madueke has a lot of pace, and if Jackson is playing, there's a lot of pace.
“[Cole] Palmer will play. Palmer we know between the lines, with his left foot, great player. Yesterday, they played different players, but also very, very good, and if they play with –[Enzo] Fernandez and [Moises] Caicedo or [Romeo] Lavia, it doesn't matter, all are great players.
“It's the same in defence, because they have a lot of high numbers of players. They invested a lot of money, but the idea of the manager is clear how they want to play, so it makes it a little bit easier to prepare.
“It's easy to win on the screen, but it's difficult or challenging to win on the pitch. But this is what we are going for, we know what we want to do, and now it's up to us to do it on our highest level, because this will be necessary to perform on our best level in every part, and then it's possible to win there.”