Glasner reveals key area for improvement post-Bournemouth
Oliver Glasner says his Crystal Palace have to make more of the attacking situations they create if they are to come out on top of tight games like the one at the Vitality, as a late Bournemouth goal condemned the Eagles to defeat.
“If you don’t score a goal, you can’t win and then the maximum is a 0-0,” Glasner said in his post-match interview. “One situation decided the game and it was not on our side.
“We maybe have to blame ourselves in that we didn’t have enough finishes. We had many good situations here – four against two in the first-half, two against one – where we didn’t even have a finish.
“So you need to shoot, you need to have a finish to score a goal and this is maybe where we have to improve: to be more decisive in our offensive actions, in our situations that we have.
“But we have this every game, and it’s not just one, it is four, five or six times we have it, but at the end we didn’t score and then one situation for Bournemouth decided the game.”
Glasner says Palace can take encouragement from the fact that the chances are being created, but that the final approach towards goal is something he and his players will be focusing on in training.
“I would worry about it if we don’t have the situations to score, but we have them,” the manager explained. “I think we played really well in the second-half, and we controlled the game.
“Their goal was the first shot in the second-half for them, so we controlled the game but controlling is [not enough]. We have to create more power in the opposition box, more directness to the goal, not passing again and again.
“Especially in this weather today, with the wind and the rain, the pitch was very quick and wet, so take the shots! This is what we have to talk about and what we have to improve.”
Palace scored in the first-half but were denied by a narrow offside call from the VAR, before being hit by Bournemouth’s late winner after the break.
“We had the ball – we knew what they were doing,” Glasner explained. “They play very often with one touch behind our back line.
“We were ready, but we lost the duel and then I think we slipped away in the box. In the first-half we scored a similar goal, but it was maybe eight inches offside or whatever.
“It’s the third time we talk about the same, so it’s not a coincidence. So this is what we have to work on, what we have to analyse, what we have to train, so that these tight decisions will be for us instead of against us.”
Palace welcome champions Manchester City to Selhurst Park on Saturday, and Glasner says if they can improve their finishing in front of goal there is a real chance of getting a big result.
“I will concentrate on our performance and on what we have to do,” he said. “We know that on Saturday City come to Selhurst.
“It’s a game where we don’t have a lot of possession, but again I'm sure we will get situations. Maybe we don’t get eight, but we will get three or four, and then it’s important to be very efficient.
“This is important. If you are efficient you have the chance to win against Man City, but if you are not efficient like we were today you can lose everywhere.”