Crystal Palace fought back to secure a 2-2 draw at Wolves on Saturday night.
It was a frustrating result when you consider we could have gone two or three goals ahead after Trevoh Chalobah made it 1-0 with a great finish, although in hindsight, three games unbeaten against Tottenham, Aston Villa and Wolves, winning the first two, is not bad at all.
In years gone by, Jorgen Strand Larsen’s goal may not have even stood, after Matheus Cunha handled the ball before assisting the Norway international – a rule change ahead of the 2021/22 campaign benefitted Wolves on this occasion.
The result leaves Crystal Palace 17th in the Premier League.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 17 |  Crystal PalaceCrystal Palace | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 13 | -5 | 7 |
While a draw was probably a fair result after Wolves went 2-1 ahead, many fans are upset by Oliver Glasner choosing to bring Jeffrey Schlupp and Nathaniel Clyne on ahead of talented young prospects such as Asher Agbinone, who was one of four academy graduates on the bench.
It sent out a negative message – in all honesty – but the Austrian has now revealed the thinking behind his substitutions.
Oliver Glasner says Wolves clash was “not the game to have your debut”
The 50-year-old is quoted by Edmund Brack of the South London Press as saying: “I could have given one of our U21s a chance and minutes, but it was not the game to have your debut and going up and down in this game.
“Will Hughes has his fifth yellow card and will be suspended against Fulham. It will be time for them to get some minutes. This week really gives me confidence.”
We can understand the notion of not wanting to change too much while the scoreline reads 2-2 in a finely balanced game, but after Wednesday’s win over Aston Villa, it was a shock to see Schlupp in particular trusted with more minutes by Glasner.
The £12m man was actually subbed on and subbed off during that 2-1 win at Villa Park, in which he looked well off the pace, and tripped over his own feet on several occasions to ruin promising attacks.
Oliver Glasner has to stop using Jeffrey Schlupp
2025 is a matter of weeks away, and we are still somehow relying on Schlupp to change a game for us.
In eight minutes of action at Molineux, the Crystal Palace No.15 had just one touch of the ball, which pretty much sums it up.
In stark contrast, in his ten minute cameo in the 1-0 defeat against Nottingham Forest, Agbinone managed to record one key pass, had one shot at goal, and saw one attempted cross blocked.
Agbinone also scored against Wolves in pre-season, so he would have presumably felt confident taking on the Old Gold.
We see no logic in handing minutes to a 31-year-old who is out of contract at the end of the season, when that game time would be invaluable for our academy products.
Simply put, Glasner has to stop relying on Schlupp, who has shown very little in recent times to suggest he is still capable of performing to the required standard at Premier League level.
