21st Feb 2024 • Written by Cory Woodthorpe

Oliver Glasner: a tactical deep dive

Oliver Glasner - Ralf Ragnick protégé, Europa League winner and now Crystal Palace manager. There's no denying that Steve Parish has pulled off a coup in appointing him which shows an exciting degree of intent from the club. 

The Austrian’s primary aim for the rest of this season is securing the club’s position in the Premier League. However, attacking football based on strong defensive principles sounds like a dream, and he could very well be the man who takes Crystal Palace to the next level. What can we expect from Glasner long-term?

Oliver Glasner’s career pre-Palace

Oliver Glasner was a two-time Austrian Cup winner with SV Ried where he played as centre-back and made 571 appearances between 1992 and 2011. 

When Roger Schmidt left SV Ried to manage Leverkusen in the Bundesliga, Glasner stepped up from his then-assistant coach role and was appointed head coach for the 2014-15 season., before taking on both the sporting director and head coach roles at fellow Austrian club LASK Linz the following season. With LASK, Glasner gained promotion into the Austrian Bundesliga and subsequently finished fourth which secured the club a Europa League spot. The following season, LASK finished second behind the mighty Red Bull Salzburg - this gave the club qualification to the Champions League.

In 2019, Glasner was headhunted for the  VfL Wolfsburg job and repeated his success, taking Wolfsburg first to the Europa League and then the next season to the Champions League. Once again, Glasner was poached by another side following his success - finding himself in the dugout at Deutsche Bank Park - managing divisional rivals Eintracht Frankfurt.

At Frankfurt, Glasner's first season was a huge success, winning the club the UEFA Europa League. The club reached the DfB Pokal final in 2022/23 losing to RB Leipzig 2-0. Oliver Glasner then departed the club at the end of the season - with the next step being to take over from Roy Hodgson at Crystal Palace on February 19th, 2024.

The tactics that took him to European glory

At Frankfurt, Glasner adopted a similar playing style to previous manager Adi Hütter - deploying a 3-4-2-1 formation, which develops into more of a 3-2-5 during attacking play.

Within Glasner’s tactics, the defensive line of three work with the goalkeeper to build play from the back, with the two central midfielders sitting deeper to offer an option when required. The wing-backs push on into advanced positions to provide the connection between defence and attack in wider areas.

Defensively, Glasner’s Frankfurt remained very compact as a back three, with the majority of the defensive pressing being done by the holding midfielders or the wing-backs. Against stronger opponents, the wing-backs were asked to ‘sit in’ more, making the defensive shape more of a 5-2-3. In games like this, the holding midfielders were asked to press higher, win the ball back and facilitate a counterattack.

The defensive style of Frankfurt under Glasner used zonal marking - working within groups to counter-press their opponents efficiently, winning the ball back as high as possible.

The major benefit of Glasner’s tactics is that they stretch teams across the pitch, allowing for development of spaces in behind in order to create a high number of quality attacking chances during a game - especially against defensively weaker opposition.

Glasner’s systems are incredibly flexible, changing between 3-4-2-1, 3-2-5 and 3-4-3 both in and out of possession, to remain unpredictable over the course of a match, also being able to change between systems to combat the chosen opponent’s tactics.

Departing Barcelona manager Xavi said that facing Glasner’s Frankfurt was one of the toughest tests of his career - "They play on the counter-attack and counter-press in a way I’ve only seen from a few teams in my career.” Frankfurt defeated the Spaniard’s side 3-2 on their road to Europa League success in 2021-22.

Going forward, Glasner’s Frankfurt worked heavily on counter-pressing and counter-attacking quickly - as mentioned by Xavi. The right and left-sided forwards look for space between the lines in order to receive the ball in attacking areas, before advancing the ball to the team’s main striker to fashion high-quality chances. One major positive of the system deployed by Glasner is that when the wide-forwards are tightly marked, the offensively positioned wing-backs can slot into the half-spaces, allowing for a positional overload and a high retention of possession when required.

Glasner’s Frankfurt prioritised fast free-flowing direct vertical play - often making their better attacks starting from wide positions, through players such as Daichi Kamada and Ansgar Knauff.

How could his system work in SE25?

Based on the personnel selected by Glasner during his time at Frankfurt, the most likely lineup against Burnley will be: Johnstone; Munoz, Ward, Andersen, Richards, Mitchell; Wharton, Lerma; Ayew, Mateta, Edouard. 

When the likes of Olise, Eze, and Guehi return to fitness, França, Ayew, and Edouard will likely drop to the bench, with a re-adjustment based on available players.

The current crop of starting Crystal Palace players fits a Glasner system very well, but depth will need to be brought in at centre-back in order to operate with three centre-backs, as well as wing-back cover for both Mitchell (who may operate as part of the back three) and Muñoz. Other than those areas, the Palace squad is strong for the tactical vision of Oliver Glasner, and any other additions will just be strengthening the already existing squad.

Chris Richards will be important for the tactics to work properly, especially with the potential exit of Marc Guehi or Joachim Andersen. The USMNT international looks much more comfortable in a three and will be key to building up play from the back within Glasner’s system. Richards will be given a chance to impress from the off given the current injury status of Marc Guehi.

Another player of interest for Glasner will be Jordan Ayew; the Ghanaian is more than capable of playing in multiple positions within the system, so he will get regular game time. Ayew may operate in the forward line but also as a wingback on either side. Due to the quality of Ayew’s play at both ends of the pitch, he is likely to be a key man for Glasner’s Palace.

The new man in South London, Adam Wharton, will also benefit from the hiring of Glasner. Wharton possesses all of the attributes that Glasner requires in a midfielder, being able to win the ball back effectively while also having the eye for a killer pass into the half spaces and in between the lines. Wharton also has the stamina required to control the midfield for 90 minutes, something that is crucial within Glasner’s tactics.

An interesting conundrum for Glasner will be that of Tyrick Mitchell.  Mitchell is an immense one-on-one defender, but going forward, the young Englishman can be suspect at times, meaning that he may not be the ideal choice for the left wing-back role within the system. A positional change to left-sided centre-back may be the way to fit Mitchell into the plans, as his defensive capabilities make him more than good enough to play the role.

The only question mark over Mitchell at left centre-back would be his unfamiliarity with the position, something that could be worked on over the course of the 2024/25 pre-season. For this reason, it is unlikely that we see Mitchell deployed as the third centre-back this season, but it could be a tactical change employed from the start of the next campaign.

Crystal Palace have a squad that is strongly suited to the high-intensity tactics deployed by Oliver Glasner during his time at Eintracht Frankfurt, and Eagles fans should look forward with optimism to what the Austrian will bring to Selhurst Park. From looking at Glasner’s previous record, it is not an outrageous claim to say that Palace will be pushing for the top half next season (should Palace stay in the league this season), and maybe even a potential push for a Europa Conference League place could be on the cards.

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