To give an example of how Oliver Glasner wanted his Wolfsburg team to put pressure on their opponents, he would often train three centre-backs without a goalkeeper behind them. Glasner explained: “We want to defend in a way that we almost never need them.” And why should an unintended goal be a problem for a team with experience in this regard? gegenpressing?
Glasner will arrive at Crystal Palace this week looking to quickly turn his fortunes around after a handful of wins since November, but the Austrian will have little time to rehearse his players in his own way. His success in German football also includes pre-season periods where he shaped his team with eye-catching results on the preparation pitches.
He mastered the Champions League qualifiers at Wolfsburg and succeeded where Erik ten Hag had failed, getting the best from Wout Weghorst. He then followed a similar path for two years at Eintracht Frankfurt, leading them to success (promotion to the Europa League after beating Rangers in the final) before abruptly leaving the team.
Either way, he was thought to be unhappy with the level of investment in his teams, so his initial comments on Palace’s long-term future will be interesting. They have very valuable players in the Premier League. It’s not just young midfielders Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze. There’s also Marc Guehi, who goes through the matches without fuss, often unnoticed by TV pundits but appreciated by Gareth Southgate and the transfer teams of the Premier League’s top clubs.
Glasner now has the resources to take them higher than the 16th place they had when his appointment was announced. Palace are recruiting a student of Ralf Rangnick, who hired him as an assistant coach at Red Bull Salzburg. He is a more advanced version of Rangnick with his intense football and coaching style. Those who have spoken to him about his work say he is more adaptable to his principles than Rangnick, which may have been a strength in his early days in English football.
Nottingham Forest looked at Nuno Espirito Santo before selecting him, while Tottenham also once spoke to him. He had aspirations of Premier League football and could turn to former Middlesbrough defender Emanuel Pogatetz as his right-hand man, even though he had no experience.
Glasner’s own playing career saw him play more than 500 matches for SV Ried without making an international appearance, and he retired after suffering a brain haemorrhage. His style is very different to his predecessor Roy Hodgson as he expects his coaching career to be short. The 49-year-old football player said, “I don’t want to be a coach until I’m 65, and I probably don’t want to be a coach until I’m 60.”
He stood on the edge of the training pitch at Eintracht, wearing Nike Premier 3 boots and watching with a stopwatch and whistle around his neck. With his hands behind his back, he observed the first-team coaches conducting warm-ups and early sessions before he started training. Invented ‘Vier gewinnt’, the sprint version of Connect 4.
There is a presence that Palace players will feel on the training ground this week. His workouts are more technical than physical, but there is an intensity to his work. He joked that his home in Wolfsburg was where he slept, but that was all. The rest of the time he was at work. As can be seen from his session without a goalkeeper, his preferred formation is 3-4-2-1.
Palace can also expect a manager who can speak his mind not only in guiding his club but also in defending his players. His red card against Hoffenheim last season caused consternation at his own club, and he was subsequently replaced by Makoto Hasebe as questions arose about the experienced centre-back, who was 39 at the time. “He’s almost bloodied at this point because he’s so tired and he’s still playing,” Glasner said.
His departure was announced before the end of last season and came as a shock. They won the Europa League last season against Steven Gerrard’s side but also saw Martin Hinteregger and Filip Kostic leave the squad. Among the players who have improved under his management is French forward Randal Kolo Muani, who transferred to Paris St-Germain after his season with Glasner. “We signed him because we saw a lot of potential in him. We saw right away that he was really fast,” Glasner said.
Another important factor for Glasner’s teams was the cohesiveness of the squad. The Palace already has this. They certainly seem united. But one of Glasner’s first tasks will be to assess his mood.
“I don’t condone someone causing bad feelings in the locker room because it’s preventable and it’s something we can influence,” he said. “It’s about how we behave with each other, how we respect each other: it’s team spirit.”