Glasner: Olise update, Doucouré & development…

First-team

1 Mar 2024

Oliver Glasner covered another wide range of topics in the embargoed section of his pre-match press conference.

The Austrian manager discussed Palace’s trip to face Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday and the need for persistence in north London; Michael Olise’s recovery from injury; Cheick Doucouré’s new long-term contract at the club; and how he likes to support his players, among other topics…

On Palace’s record against Tottenham, where they have not won away since 1997…

I don't like it when we usually lose, but I don't know the history of this.

As a player, for example, I couldn't win against Rapid Vienna for my whole career, and it was 19 years, and then I was manager in Linz [LASK], and we played there and we also lost and lost and lost! I got crazy and I thought “maybe next time it's better I don't go into the stadium, because we always lose!”

But at that time: ‘no, come on, let's work, let's do it, let's try it’, and the next time and the next time… and then the moment came where we won there!

I always tell the players here: we wouldn't have light [bulbs] if [Thomas] Edison wouldn't have tried, I think, more than 1,000 times, so it's important: try it, try it, try it, and you get the information and do it better, do it better, and then will be the moment that we can win at Tottenham.

I hope that tomorrow’s the day.

On Michael Olise…

It was nice that Michael received the [London Football] award for the Goal of the Season yesterday evening, so we all congratulated him today.

He deserves it and it gives him confidence and a good feeling for working out because Michael is a player – I hope most of the players, but Michael especially – he wants to train football, and it's tough for him to train in the gym and to run when he cannot play football [due to injury].

But we expect him back… I don't know, we don't know exactly… but at the end of March or April, I hope everything goes well and our medical department does a great job, and he's also very ambitious to train with us, and I think maybe after the international team break, he can be with us in training. But it was his third heavy injury this season, so we’ll take care of him.

With every player we want to avoid any injury and, of course, when you have this past with three injuries, starting in the summer after the Under-21s with France… so it's important to take care of all our players.

On Cheick Doucouré’s new long-term contract…

I think it's a great signal from Crystal Palace to sign Cheick for five more years. He's a fantastic player, and I'm really looking forward – and can't wait until – he's back on the pitch.

I think it also shows the ambition of Crystal Palace to keep the best players in the squad, and I like this. You can support a player when he's in his best shape and everybody is celebrating him, but if you have an injury and maybe you don't have your best times of your career, then it's important to show him “we believe in you, we count on you, you are the guy who should play for us the next years”.

I think it's a great signal from Crystal Palace, but it's also a great signal from Cheick that he can feel that we are an ambitious club.

On keeping injured players motivated in training…

We always have, on Tuesdays, a post-match analysis meeting, and I told them [the players] I want all our players to be there because, in post-match, we talk 100% about our game.

In pre-match, of course, we also show them scenes, clips about Tottenham [for example], but in post-match we talk about our game, and the players should know what we want to do, how we want to defend, how we want to attack, what everybody has to do for the team – and they take part.

And, of course, we have time to talk to them in the gym and then the closer they come [to matchday], we also do individual analysis with them – also with the players who played, and also with them who are out – but the best thing is again to support them, because all the players want to play football, they are footballers.

That's what we want them to do, and they want it also.

On how he likes his players to refer to him…

I just want to use the right term, so that you understand me! The players call me ‘gaffer’ – I’d never heard it before! It's not important.

I don't know what it means exactly, but they used to call the ‘manager’ the ‘coach’ or whatever, so no, it's not important for me. The title is not important. I'm a human, like we all are, and I give my best to support the players, I give my best to support the staff, I give my best to support Crystal Palace with all my passion I have.

I will make a lot of mistakes every day, and I try to avoid them in the future, but if Oliver the ‘gaffer’, the ‘manager’ or the ‘coach’, makes a mistake, or does well, it's not important for me – it's important that we're all human, we're all the same.

On his supporting staff…

Everybody has their own responsibility and this is what I would like: to work with them.

They have their responsibility. They are the experts in their parts, also the medical department, so they are better than me. We want to get the best staff around the players, we want to have the best experts and then to put all this information, all these qualities together so that we get the best out of our players.

I'm the coordinator of this and so I think they're fantastic guys who came with me, but also fantastic guys, fantastic humans and fantastic experts in their roles. I'm really happy at the moment with the staff around me.

Every assistant [coach] has his role, his set-pieces, his offensive plays, what we can tell the strikers, how to move in the box, how they can have a finish…. for defence, what kind of habits we want to implement in our defence.

So Paddy [McCarthy] and Emanuel [Pogatetz] were two defenders, Ronny [Brunmayr] was a striker, a national team player for Austria – so everybody has their role and everybody works with the players and then, again, we stick it together so the players can benefit from it.

On self-development…

For me, it's always important to not just see football. It gives you this sight every day, and you don't have so much time to think about a different sport and different situations.

I like to meet with people out of sports, because it's the same: you can learn from everybody. It's not just tactics, it's about leadership and organisation.

I think also one big word, becoming more important, is mental healthcare. This is also important for the players, it's also important for the staff, and so I try to develop myself to learn every day, every week, and every year, because this is what helps you, but also what keeps you young – and as I said I'm becoming 50 [in August], so it's important to stay young!

Related News

More News