Crystal Palace are recovering from a 3-1 loss to Spurs over the weekend, now Oliver Glasner has shared why he made a controversial decision.
Despite losing 3-1, Saturday held plenty for Oliver Glasner to be positive about. Although the majority of these came off the ball, on the ball there was one man who produced gold for Crystal Palace.
Eberechi Eze as we all know, scored an incredible free-kick as he managed to impact the game despite limited minutes.
However, his early withdrawal did leave some fans pondering if he should’ve been kept on given the impact he’d already had.
But now Glasner has explained why this simply wasn’t an option due to Eze’s recent return from injury.
Oliver Glasner explains why he had to substitute Ebere Eze
Glasner made the call to withdraw Eze at 1-0 up after he scored that wonderful free-kick goal which left Heung-min Son in awe.
The decision to substitute the standout player would’ve been frustrating to many, but now Glasner has explained, as the South London Press reported.
“The whole of England knows Ebs is a great player,” Glasner began before explaining the substitution.
“But I also believe we could see also that he doesn’t have the rhythm [yet] because over the 60 minutes, it wasn’t his highest level.
“But this is normal coming back from an injury and having one week of training. He is a player who can decide the game. He was fouled before the free-kick and he scored the goal.
“Now we also work with him so he is able to play 95 to 100 minutes at the highest level.”
While it may be annoying that Eze didn’t get to play for longer as he was clearly a real threat to Spurs, in the long term it’s the smart decision.
Eze was a real danger against Spurs for Crystal Palace
Against Spurs, Eze only got handed 23 touches and one real opportunity to impact the game for the Eagles.
Despite being starved of the spotlight, the 25-year-old found a way to shove himself into the headlines – in rather spectacular fashion.
This moment shows how right Glasner was to take no risks with his prized asset with some important games coming up.
This includes a huge game this weekend against Luton, in which Palace could rid themselves of any relegation fears and Eze will be vital, so saving him was just right.
