Glasner: I don’t get paid by Arsenal or Man City

In a piece headlined “It’s not Palace’s job to look after City“, he then goes on to explain why that’s exactly what they should do. He starts, “Pep Guardiola said he expects Crystal Palace to be professional in their team selection on Wednesday. If they are, Oliver Glasner will field a weakened team.”

He adds later in the piece, “So if Glasner is smart, he goes half-in against Manchester City, as a way of doing the same when it is more important against Arsenal. And if Mikel Arteta is dumb, he makes a fuss about Palace’s selection in the City game. For, if Arsenal complain and draw attention to it, that places pressure on the Premier League to act and increases the chances of Palace starting a stronger XI in that final fixture. So Arteta sucks this up, whatever happens.”

Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images

That logic is difficult to take seriously. Clubs rotate all season depending on injuries, schedules, priorities and form. This is not a new concept, despite how pretending the mundane and familiar is a national scandal has become de rigueur this season.

It would be absurd to demand that Burnley field the same side against Arsenal as they did earlier in the season at the Etihad when they lost 5-1, just as it would be absurd to treat every team selection through the narrow lens of how it affects Arsenal or City.

There has also been no outrage over Aston Villa’s selection against Tottenham, despite that result having a direct impact on the relegation race and helping Spurs move out of the bottom three.

Glasner was asked about his approach to the City game with Palace’s European final in mind in two weeks, and his answer was pointed.

“After your question I had a look at my payslip to see if we get some money from Arsenal or City,” he said. “I couldn’t find it.

“I’m responsible for Crystal Palace, not for Arsenal and for City. I just got the confirmation.

“We always think what is best for us. This is my responsibility. Our influence on the title race will definitely be less than VAR,” he added, further continuing another bullshit narrative the press created this week. “With these amount of games, playing every three days, we always rotated.

“It’s just necessary in such a long season. In the last league game, against Everton, in every physical data in the Premier League we were top three.

“Just playing three days after [the Conference League semi-final second leg against] Shakhtar Donetsk with more or less the same team.’

That should be the end of it, but we know it won’t be. Palace are entitled to pick a team based on their own needs, particularly with a European final to come. Rotation in that context is not suspicious, unprofessional or unfair.

It is basic squad management and the inability of football pundits and journalists to understand simple football concepts when it concerns Arsenal should be studied..

The wider point is that Arsenal’s season is being examined through a different lens to everyone else. Every decision around them is being turned into a massive scandal, whether it is VAR, refereeing, set-pieces or opposition team selection in matches Arsenal aren’t even involved in.

Won’t somebody think of poor, put-upon City?

The idea that Palace must select their line-ups to avoid upsetting City, Arsenal, the Premier League or pundits is nonsense and I can’t imagine any selection that would even anger Arteta, in the first place.

The title race will be decided by Arsenal and City taking care of their own games, not by Palace altering their team sheet to meet some newly-created media standard.

That, it seems, might be the biggest problem of all for these journalists.

Ollver Glasner has faced Pepe Guardiola five times, winning one, drawing one and losing three. His sides have conceded 14 and scored seven in those games. The won win came in the FA Cup final last season.