Oliver Glasner had every right to feel angry, livid even, at seeing one of his players hospitalised by a horrific, head-high challenge, but his measured response revealed plenty about his character.
Speaking after Crystal Palace‘s 3-1 win over Millwall that secured a place in the FA Cup quarter-finals, Glasner said that Jean-Philippe Mateta was “conscious” after suffering a “very serious” ear injury following a sickening collision with goalkeeper Liam Roberts’ left boot.
The only thing that matters is Mateta’s wellbeing. Thankfully, the 27-year-old posted on social media that he was “doing well” and vowed to return to action “very soon” a couple of hours after full-time.
Palace confirmed late on Saturday night that Mateta had been released from hospital after receiving “specialist treatment and 25 stitches to a severe laceration to his left ear”.
Glasner made clear post-match that his immediate concern was with Mateta’s health and not the result, echoing comments made by chairman Steve Parish who had given an understandably emotional interview with the BBC at half-time.
Parish had said that Roberts “needs to have a long, hard look at himself,” and that he had “endangered a fellow professional maybe even with his life.”
Glasner, who spoke much later and had the benefit of more time and more information, was sombre but less emotional in his response, insisting that “sportsmen don’t want to injure players”.
“The good thing is, just imagine if he hits his face straight, with his power, with the studs, it is the end of JP’s career,” he said.
“I’m pretty sure he didn’t want to injure JP in this situation, but I also think that you have to decide when you make such an impact, you just can’t do it in this way.
“The risk of a very, very serious injury is just too high, so I think it was the wrong decision the keeper took in this moment, but I always believe in the fair play of sportsmen, I know they never want to injure their opposition players.”
Glasner’s calm demeanour was impressive, particularly given his own playing career was ended by a serious head injury.
In 2011, Glasner suffered a concussion and a cut above the eye after suffering a clash of heads which developed into a subdural haematoma while playing for SV Ried. Doctors told him he had a 50/50 chance of surviving the operation.
“Sometimes we forget that health is our biggest value because when you are healthy, you don’t think about it,” he said upon joining Palace last year.
That sense of perspective was evident too when he said in his press conference: “I don’t feel happiness today, still a sadness and doubt [about Mateta].”
Unusually for a local derby, the game felt like a non-event from the seventh minute onwards. Four goals were scored and instantly forgotten. Those in attendance at Selhurst Park will always remember Mateta’s injury, but will struggle to recall Japhet Tanganga’s own goal or Eddie Nketiah’s brilliant header to seal the win.
Still, the result sends Palace to within one game of Wembley and two from a second FA Cup final in nine years. The Eagles haven’t had an especially taxing run to the last eight, playing lower-league opponents in all three rounds, but progressing to the latter stages would further prove they are on the right path under the Austrian.
Under Glasner, Palace are an entertaining watch, which is not something you could have said under previous managers. They play at a freakish intensity with and without the ball, which can only be achieved by the players having complete faith in their manager’s methods and an unwavering sense of togetherness.
“We didn’t train at 80 per cent or a little bit slower or something, it was always 100 per cent,” Rene Gartler, a former player for Glasner at Austrian club LASK, told The i Paper.
“He demands a lot from the players to do the things that he wants to see in the game and he did it every training with no break. He was very disciplined to do this. That was a very big key for us being successful.”
It’s taxing, but players clearly buy into Glasner’s methods. He improves players, with Mateta and Will Hughes the obvious beneficiaries in south London. Maxence Lacroix jumped at the chance to be reunited with Glasner after excelling under him at Wolfsburg.
“It was a very nice time, I loved it,” Gartler adds of his three years working with Glasner. “He also inspired me to take my coaching licence because it was very fascinating how he did it, how clear his message was and how he wanted 100 per cent every day.
“At this time I was 28, 29, 30 so you have to think ‘Ok what’s after my active career? What’s the plan? What’s interesting for me?’ He showed me that you can do a lot with a team. He inspired me to get my licenses. He inspired me a lot.”
In the modern game, managers are expected to be both tactically astute and media savvy. It is no longer sufficient to be one or the other.
Glasner is an exceptional coach, that much has been evident during his 12 months in south London, but as Saturday showed he is a fantastic statesman too. Crystal Palace are lucky to have him.
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