SELHURST PARK — And so, life for Crystal Palace without Eberechi Eze has begun. In unconvincing fashion.
The Eagles may have beaten Fredrikstad without their soon-to-be former talisman, but a 1-0 win against a team currently positioned eighth in Norway’s top flight at the season’s mid-point wasn’t especially convincing.
Palace should still progress to the Conference League group stage – assuming they don’t slip up on Fredrikstad’s plastic pitch – but the next 10 days will be crucial to not just their season, but potentially Oliver Glasner’s future.
The Austrian did not hold back in his assessment of Palace’s underwhelming transfer window so far after the game, as he discussed Eze’s imminent move from south to north London.
“I think we could have done much better than we have done [in the transfer market]. It’s not a criticism, it’s just telling facts,” he said.
The Eze saga is proof of how quickly the football cycle spins. On Wednesday afternoon, Glasner insisted that Eze would play on Thursday, despite apparently being on the verge of joining Tottenham.
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By Thursday evening, however, Eze’s name was conspicuously missing from the Palace teamsheet, as his proposed move to Arsenal edges closer after a dramatic north London heist.
Struck down by a mystery illness, according to Glasner. You suspect his medical at Arsenal is not in any serious doubt.
As chairman, Steve Parish said, “The king is dead, long live the king.”
It was a shame. The Palace faithful would have loved to have given their FA Cup match-winner a hero’s send-off. Various homemade signs thanking him for his contribution were visible in the crowd. Alas, the next time they see him gliding across the Selhurst Turf, he’ll do so in an Arsenal shirt.
With Eze on his way and £67.5m trickling into Palace’s bank account, attentions now turn to how they replace him.
Leicester’s Bilal El Khannouss and Club Brugge’s Christos Tzolis, once of Norwich City, are the two main names in the frame. Recruits cannot come in soon enough.
Palace have only signed two players since lifting the FA Cup. Left wing-back Borna Sosa joined for £2.3m from Torino, and goalkeeper Walter Benitez arrived on a free from PSV. Both have arrived as backups.
The absence of a sporting director hasn’t helped, although The i Paper understands ex-Wolves chief Matt Hobbs will be appointed.
“We need to act,” stated Glasner. “We need to add not numbers, but the right players. The profile is defined for months.
“It’s not surprising for anyone that Ebs left honestly. We knew the chances were high that this would happen. Honestly, I’ll say it like it is, we missed [the chance] to replace him early enough. That’s completely our fault and nobody else’s fault.”
Glasner’s mood was irritable; just imagine how unhappy he’d have been had Jean-Philippe Mateta not given Palace a win in their first European tie in 27 years.
Palace dominated the game with 75 per cent of the ball and had 25 shots on goal to their opponents’ five, but lacked a cutting edge. They have work to do to reach the group stage.
The Eagles face new arch-rivals Nottingham Forest at Selhurst Park on Sunday, before flying to Norway for the second leg of their European qualifier.
The scoreline could have been greater, with both Mateta and Daniel Munoz hitting the post and Justin Devenny, Eze’s replacement in the starting line-up, guilty of the most glaring miss with an errant header.
But Palace lacked a creative spark in the final third. Neither of the attacking midfielders – Devenny on the left, Ismaila Sarr on the right – in Glasner’s 3-4-2-1 system are natural No 10s.
Mateta dropped deeper than usual to try and help out with production. Forgotten man Odsonne Edouard was thrown on at the end as Glasner sought a second goal to give his team more breathing room next week.
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“What do you need against such a deep block?” asked Glasner.
“You need creativity. Everyone would say Eberechi Eze is the most creative player in Crystal Palace’s squad. Who was the most creative player before? Michael Olise. Both aren’t here anymore.”
Worryingly for Palace fans, there appears to be a disconnect between Parish and Glasner over another influential figure, Marc Guehi.
Speaking to Channel 5, Parish made clear that Palace would rather sell the England centre-back this summer than lose him for free next summer, a stance that doesn’t seem to be shared by the head coach.
“If Marc leaves, maybe I will try on my boots because I was a centre-back,” he said wryly.
Glasner has laid down the gauntlet to Parish. The Austrian is Palace’s most successful manager in history, the brain behind the FA Cup and Community Shield triumphs in the past few months. He is also out of contract next summer.
Palace have already lost their best player and are scrambling to replace him. They run the risk of losing Glasner too, unless he belatedly gets what he wants.
The man who made Palace dream at Wembley has been unable to build on them.
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