Oliver Glasner finds himself approaching last chance saloon at Crystal Palace after Monday’s 1-0 defeat against Nottingham Forest.
Despite losing Michael Olise and Joachim Andersen – while also being without a fully fit Adam Wharton or Cheick Doucoure – the Austrian is now under pressure after becoming the first Crystal Palace manager since 1992 to begin a league campaign without a single win after eight games.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 18 |  Crystal PalaceCrystal Palace | 8 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 11 | -6 | 3 |
The aforementioned details are important to consider and make us feel sympathetic towards the 50-year-old, but something is definitely off at Selhurst Park as players look disinterested, and some odd decisions are made, such as deploying Eddie Nketiah on the right and being wedded to a five-man defence.
Now – however – Oliver Glasner has taken a step towards change.
Oliver Glasner has been experimenting with a new Crystal Palace backline
A story from the Daily Mail now states that the man from Schärding has examined the use of a back four in his time since Monday’s loss at the City Ground, exploring which personnel could be best served in such a system.
Glasner has been committed to a five-man backline which involves wing-backs since replacing Roy Hodgson in February, a formation which yielded six wins and a draw from the final seven Premier League games of last season.
However, the departure of a naturally inverted winger in Olise – whose tendency to cut inside often left acres of space for Daniel Munoz – has dented the effectiveness of this shape, with the Colombian looking 50% of the player he was last term.
We Are Palace understand that Steve Parish admires Graham Potter and could turn to the 49-year-old if Glasner fails to spark a turnaround.
Trevoh Chalobah could drop out of Crystal Palace defence
If Glasner does put a back four into action against Tottenham on Sunday, we believe Trevoh Chalobah will be the man to make way.
The Chelsea loanee has struggled in his first two appearances, showing a lack of awareness when Diogo Jota snuck in to prod beyond Dean Henderson during Liverpool’s recent 1-0 win in SE25, while also strangely heading the ball infield rather than out for a throw on Monday, setting up Chris Wood’s strike.
Of course, the man from Freetown is probably a bit rusty after being left out of pre-season at Chelsea, although we highly doubt Glasner will drop Marc Guehi or Maxence Lacroix, meaning the 25-year-old seems most likely to be axed.
Interestingly, the aforementioned Potter seems to be a huge fan of Chalobah – so if that appointment happens, it could transform the loanee’s season.
Hopefully – whatever Glasner decides to do against Spurs – it inspires us to a desperately needed win.
