How Oliver Glasner transformed Crystal Palace into a defensive powerhouse in the Premier League

Oliver Glasner is quickly emerging as one of the most coveted managers in world football. He has done a phenomenal job with Crystal Palace – and it all stems from their water-tight backline.

We’ll take a look at how he did it. The Austrian head coach has masterminded their rise to European prominence – currently, Palace are 3rd in the Premier League table and have the joint-best defensive record alongside title favourites Arsenal, having conceded just three goals in six games.

In their last Premier League encounter, Palace shocked the world by defeating Liverpool by a score of 2-1. Can the Eagles continue their meteoric rise under the guidance of Glasner?

Crystal Palace’s formation under Oliver Glasner

Under Glasner, Palace have routinely utilised a 3-4-2-1 formation, but there is much more to it than that. On the ball, Palace’s wingbacks have license to get forward and create overlaps, but when out of possession they can drop into the defensive line and form a back five.

Palace’s wingbacks – Daniel Munoz and Tyrick Mitchell – are both integral to Glasner’s system. Not only must they be able to offer an attacking output, they also need to be very strong defensively. Thankfully, both of them exceed these requirements.

Additionally, their midfield players make a large contribution to this – Daichi Kamada and Adam Wharton each perform a vital duty in screening the back line.

Differences from last season

In the 2024/25 campaign, Palace’s defence was nothing to write home about. They conceded 51 goals in 38 games – while this isn’t a poor defensive record by any means, it was inferior to that of teams such as Everton, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest.

They were by no means vulnerable last season, but their defensive solidity has come on leaps and bounds in the following months. For example, Chris Richards looked completely lost in the first half of 2024/25 – now, he is one of the most capable defenders in the division.

Towards the end of last season, Palace’s defence did show signs of improvement. In the first 19 games of the Premier League season, the Eagles let 27 goals in – however, in the latter half of the campaign, they conceded 22. A modest improvement, but nontheless a sign that Glasner’s defensive drilling was beginning to take effect.

Furthermore, Palace did well to keep most of their best players from last season – notably, their back three of Richards, Marc Guehi and Maxence Lacroix remained in tact, despite plenty of interest from other clubs.

Can Crystal Palace maintain their excellent form?

Of course, the pressing question remains – can Palace keep up their strong early season form going over the course of the campaign?

Going by the data we presented earlier in the piece, it seems that Palace tend to pick up steam towards the end of the season. This would indicate that they are more than capable of keeping their form.

However, the Eagles will need to contend with extra fixtures this season, as they are also competing in the Europa Conference League. As such, given their relatively small squad when compared with other Premier League teams in Europe, they could fatigue as the season draws on.

Furthermore, this small squad size could be exacerbated in January – if some of their key players are poached in the transfer window, they may not be able to replace them immediately.

As such, we would encourage Palace fans to enjoy the good times while they last. A top seven finish could certainly be on the cards – but only if they can keep their fantastic run going.