2nd Nov 2024 • Written by Bruno Collingridge

Oliver Glasner cannot rely on senior players to resurrect a broken attack

Speaking in his pre-Wolves press conference on Friday, Oliver Glasner highlighted the sole benefit of having just thirteen senior outfield players available - the opportunity for Crystal Palace's young talent to impress at the highest level.

“I think it will be time also for our Under-21s to get some minutes here."

“We all trust in them. Otherwise, we would go with 13, but we could see that they are able to help the team. We never can win with one player - never, no game."

In practice, however, there was no evidence of such "trust".

With Palace desperate for attacking impetus as the clock ran down, Glasner chose to bring on 33-year-old Nathaniel Clyne in order to let Daniel Munoz, a right-back by trade, play on the right of Palace's attack. Not long after, 31-year-old Jeffrey Schlupp was brought on for winger Ismaila Sarr as the final change of the night - consigning the four academy products on Palace's bench to another game on the sidelines.

The former Ghanaian international managed just a single touch in the eight minutes he played - a clearance.

It's not as if Sarr and Eddie Nketiah had fared any better, both of whom had a woeful evening at Molineux. As if Palace's attacking troubles weren't clear enough for Glasner to see, it took two goals from defenders Trevoh Chalobah and Marc Guehi to earn his side a point.

Credit: Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images

Spare a thought for Jean-Philippe Mateta - perhaps Palace's best player on the night - who in just six months has gone from playing alongside Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze, to a lone figure of competence in attack, surrounded by lost players out of position.

Glasner appears to have exhausted the attacking possibilities of the senior personnel currently at his disposal. The only option that remains is to take a risk on youth.

19-year-old winger Asher Agbinone, who by Glasner's own description performed "very well" on debut against Nottingham Forest just two weeks ago, was Palace's only attacker on the bench against Woves. In light of the Austrian's pre-match comments and the tepid performances of Nketiah and Sarr, it is baffling that he didn't see any minutes.

Agbinone is raw but possesses the necessary trickery to beat his man and knows where the goal is - two assets he demonstrated in pre-season, where he scored a 90th minute goal against the same club as Saturday's opposition. It is a damning indictment of Glasner's so-called "faith" that he preferred two natural defenders over Agbinone to hopelessly revitalise Palace's confused attack.

Given his absence of opportunity, Glasner's argument that Palace's lack of senior depth is apparently by design to provide a pathway for young players feels more like an excuse for a poor transfer window than anything strategic.

“We decided that we don't need [as many as] 25 on-field players [in the squad], because you don't need a new Academy building if they never get an opportunity to play. And if you have 25 and then you have seven injuries, you have still 18. And then how would they [the Academy players] get some minutes?

Oliver Glasner's pre-match comments

For all of their apparent efforts, Crystal Palace have given the second-least minutes to U19 players in the Premier League this season - with Asher Agbinone's debut placing Palace just one minute ahead of Nottingham Forest. Is that evidence of a pathway?

To put it as simply as possible: for as long as Eze is unavailable, positional familiarity is needed in Palace's attack more than experience. It's time for Glasner to put minutes where his mouth is, and take a risk on youth players while he still can.

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