Last week, Crystal Palace appointed Oliver Glasner as their new manager and he guided them to a 3-0 win over Burnley in his first game in charge.
The Eagles job has allowed the 49-year-old to return to the bench after leaving Eintracht Frankfurt at the end of last season.
Kronen Zeitung interviewed the manager to find out his views on his new life in London. When asked what has ‘bothered’ him so far in his short time at Crystal Palace, Glasner gave an honest response.
“It was getting to know all the staff. The support staff at Crystal Palace is huge,” he said.
“The new faces and names every day at the beginning were a sensory overload and a major distraction in a phase where I knew: You only have three days until the first game, you have to concentrate on football and players.”
To put it in context, the Austrian has revealed that there’s about 50 people buzzing around his team.
Luckily for the manager and Crystal Palace, this ‘major distraction’ didn’t impact them when they faced Vincent Kompany’s side at Selhurst Park.
The coach received several approaches since leaving the Bundesliga side last summer and revealed this when asked if it was all the money swirling around Premier League clubs which attracted him.
“That was also the attraction for me, even though I’ve had lots of enquiries from all over the world since the summer,” the Crystal Palace boss added.
“But in England, the challenge lies in being able to compete with the best. All four Champions League participants from the Premier League can win it. The same applies to all English Europa League starters. So, you’re constantly playing against the best.”
Towards the end, Kronen Zeitung asked Glasner whether it’ll be difficult to implement his ‘intense style of play’ in the Premier League.
Responding to that, he said: “Purely in terms of physical data, the league is no different than the German Bundesliga. The only difference in terms of intensity is that the referees let the game run more smoothly and not every contact is a foul.”
