Nottingham Forest 1-0 Crystal Palace: What has gone wrong for Eagles?
Crystal Palace spent much of the summer fending off interest in their best players, but while Eberechi Eze and Marc Guehi both stayed, they were unable to keep hold of star man Michael Olise.
Bayern Munich spent about £50m to lure him from south London and he has proved impossible to replace.
The 22-year-old scored 10 goals in 19 league appearances for Palace last season and was key to their strong finish. Indeed, Glasner has only won one game without Olise in his team – a 3-0 victory over 10-man Burnley.
“Olise is a massive miss. What he’s doing now for Bayern Munich and the quality of player that he is,” former Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey said on Sky Sports. “He’s maybe one of the best that’s ever come out of Palace.
“The impact he had on that team last year was remarkable, so that’s not so easy to replace.”
While the departure of centre-half Joachim Andersen to Fulham did not attract the same attention as Olise’s move, it has arguably had as big an impact.
They conceded just 14 times in 13 matches under Glasner last season, with the 28-year-old key to a stingy Eagles defence. This season, they have already let in 11.
At both ends of the pitch Palace are not the team they were six months ago.
“When you’re losing one of your best defenders and one of your best attackers, no matter what your set-up is as a manager, it’s difficult to replace that quality,” added former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher.
