Sage embracing ‘big challenge’ of trip to Besiktas
Pierre Sage says Crystal Palace will be swift to put their last two defeats behind them – and embrace the challenge of playing Beşiktaş away, with its famous atmosphere, on Thursday night.
After a promising home win over Nottingham Forest, the Eagles have suffered back-to-back away defeats in Europe and domestically.
But with fixtures coming thick and fast amidst another European campaign, a trip to Istanbul this week yields a chance for Palace to return to winning ways – if they can overcome a Beşiktaş side who have scored seven times in, and won, their opening two Europa League matches.
“Sometimes we have to switch quickly and this is the case this time,” Sage told his pre-match press conference.
“It was a tough defeat [at Brighton] in a context, and we have to forget this quickly because now we have to show our real face in a big atmosphere, especially here against a good team – and that's a good challenge for us.
“Sometimes you think it [the atmosphere] is a negative, but I think it's really positive, because we have to be really focused on the play and the noise has just to be here to help us to stay focused on the play.”
It's a big challenge for us – but it's a good moment for a big challenge
—Pierre Sage
On Beşiktaş themselves – who saw off Marseille 4-1 in Turkey before overcoming Palace’s next opponents, Hoffenheim, 3-2 in Germany – Sage added: “We are aware of the quality of this team, especially of their attack, because they score a lot of goals with a lot of energy.
“That's why, like I said, it's a big challenge for us – but it's a good moment for a big challenge.
“I will not give you all the [tactics] today because I keep that for the players but we saw what they are able to do, and we saw that they push a lot when they attack.
“That's why we have some opportunities when we recover the ball, and we have to take these kind of opportunities and maybe to change our opponent’s way of playing by scoring first.”
Sage was also asked about how he would look to rectify the Eagles’ recent defensive difficulties, noting: “We just have to analyse how we conceded the goals.
“I think in our last game we conceded on a transition. We conceded in a low block, we conceded from set pieces.
“We just have to not be focused on one problem. We have different problems and sometimes you resolve one and you create a new one. That's why we have to be better in each side of the play and be more consistent in what we do, in what we believe, in what we ask are stable in.
“We don't train too much in this period because we have games every three days. That's why the games are really important to improve.
“And sometimes you take the lessons and you change the thing. That's why I wait for the game tomorrow – because we have to change a lot of things from Sunday.
“I have to accept all things which are positive for the team. Because it's not about my high ideal. It's about the efficiency and the performance of the team. A lot of people think that the coach wants to be the main actor, the main person in the decision. But I prefer that the teams are the star.
“But we have to keep what we did well too. We scored more than 10 goals from the beginning of the season. That's a good sign of our play, and we have to keep that.
As I said, the better way to not defend or to defend less is to keep the ball. And when we don't have the ball, we have to be better defensively.
“We have to improve all the sides and not only be focused on one. Because football is not something that starts – it's something that continues – and we have to manage all the seconds, minutes of the play.”
Match details
Beşiktaş v Crystal Palace
- Thursday, 22nd October
- 20:00 BST UK time / 22:00 local time
- Beşiktaş Park, Istanbul, Türkiye
- UEFA Europa League
- Live audio commentary on Palace TV+