Oliver Glasner says Crystal Palace will have their opportunities when Tottenham Hotspur visit Selhurst Park on Sunday afternoon – but must be ready to take them.
The Eagles' winless streak at the start of the Premier League season continued last time out at Nottingham Forest, despite Palace twice hitting the bar and forcing goalkeeper Matz Sels into several impressive stops.
Nevertheless, Glasner feels that the ruthlessness required to turn those opportunities into goals could come against Spurs in SE25 – an opponent he discussed in detail in his press conference below...
We have all had better moments in football. And of course, there was a big disappointment after losing at Nottingham [Forest on Monday].
We met Tuesday afternoon and analysed the game. And then it was, again, looking forward to the Tottenham game, getting the head and the chins up, and we’ve had good training. The mood got better and better.
And also, we are all humans, so it takes time. If you have a disappointment, it takes time to deal with it. We gave this time to the players, we gave this time to us, but when we started preparing yesterday, it was forgotten.
And the complete focus is on the Tottenham game and what it needs to win against them. We know it's a very good team, they're in good shape. I watched yesterday's game against AZ Alkmaar, where they had a lot of changes in the squad. It just shows the strength of their team.
They always play their style, regardless of which team they're playing, so a big credit to their manager. It will be challenging, but we also think that we will get our chances, we will get our opportunities, and then it's to be efficient, to score from it. I think we won’t get 10 clear chances, but we will get two, three, four, and then it's to score from it.
It's always important after any game – and what we also did when we had a winning streak, not always just running through the city and everything is fine – it’s always analysing the game, very neutrally, not emotionally.
This is what we did against Nottingham. We had 20 shots in an away game, with seven on target. We had our situations. It's not just ‘we don't score goals, we don't create chances, we don't create situations.’
I don't know when Crystal Palace last had 20 shots in an away game. So in some parts it goes in the right direction, but on the other side, we also analysed why maybe we didn't have these clear chances in the box.
I can understand, because again, we are human, the players are human. Very often we had the situation where we could pass into the box, we had good runs into the box, but we always took the riskless pass, and then cutting back and playing the safety pass, and then Nottingham recovered well, and when they have eight or nine players behind the ball, it makes it more difficult.
We had many situations entering the final third, but we could play more directly into the box, because sometimes we didn't have the numbers of players in, then we passed. Sometimes we didn't pass where we had the numbers, and now it is, again, to combine this, and then we will have more situations, and then we will be able to score more goals.
We're always under pressure, especially if we don't have the results that we all want. That’s normal in football, so it's something you have to deal with.
When you sign a contract as a manager, you know there will be times when you are under pressure, because, I don't know, maybe the top two or three clubs in England, they win most of their games, but all others have moments in the season where it's to fight, where the pressure increases.
For me, again, it's important that the pressure or the feeling, the emotion doesn't influence our work, doesn't influence our relationship with the players within the team, and therefore I can just say we're in a very good mood and the players are really working hard and trying to get this turnaround, and this is what we all can do.
[Tottenham will bring] intensity, runs, pace, high quality… I just heard that maybe [Heung-Min] Son is not available, but, you know, they’ve bought [Dominic] Solanke, a top striker of the Premier League.
They have Brennan Johnson, he's in great shape, a lot of pace. They have [Dejan] Kulusevski. Richarlison had his comeback yesterday, they have Timo Werner, so they have a very good midfield, they have a lot of pace in defence, so it's all about intensity.
I think it's the team that’s sprinting most, making runs, runs in behind. They always give you pressure. As soon as you pass back, they start their pressing, they run to the keeper, with a very high line, and so it will be a very intense game, you don't have time to rest, you don't have a lot of time to find solutions.
But if you find them, you can create chances, so this is what Brighton did in the second- half, this is what also AZ Almakaar did yesterday, in three or four situations, when they could put pressure on the defence, winning the ball high, or even with a lot of pace, and they got in behind, so you always get your chances, and this is what we will go for.
[When in a high-pressure job like football management] First of all, it's always important when you have a good environment. I have a great family, and I'm always having a call in the evening with my wife, with my children, and my daughter tells me about school, tells me about riding a horse, going to track and field, and then football is far away.
This also gives you a different view, perspective on things, and so this is important. Also, of course, I try to take my time, it can be in the gym, or it can be because the weather is unexpected! It was sunny the last days, so it's also maybe going for an hour to a driving range, playing a little bit of golf, getting the mind free, and this is what we all need.
Yes, we prepare, we do everything we can, everybody in the club, everybody in the staff, every player, but it's also important to stay calm, and again, not get influenced by all the emotions.
I think he [Kamada] has adapted. I saw a good game from him at Nottingham. He won many duels, he had two finishes, maybe he was not that lucky.
I know him quite well, so he puts himself also under pressure because he wants to score goals, he had situations, and he's working very hard for the team, and so I think he has adapted.
I think this is what every team faces in the Premier League. You see the table of the Champions League: I think first is Villa, second is Liverpool, and third is Man City. You watch the table of the Europa League, I think [second] is [Tottenham], and so all the English teams are one of the best in Europe, and this is what we are facing, this is the challenge we have.
Of course with a team like Tottenham, with all the quality players, with a great manager, then it is challenging, but this is Crystal Palace. We want to play in the Premier League, we want to challenge with all these teams, and what this season told us until now is that we are competitive.
Yes, we don't get the results. Yes, we are missing some details, some percentages. But I didn't find any game, although we just have three points, where we said there was no chance to win it, so this gives us confidence.
But, on the other side, it is [important] also not to rely on this, so it is to work and to find and get this last 10% we need to win the game.
