Reeling Crystal Palace Host Chelsea | OneFootball

Crystal Palace host Chelsea this weekend in the Premier League, and the Eagles are experiencing something of a crisis at present.

Eagles Sinking Fast

They were in poor form anyway, having not won since early December, when manager Oliver Glasner decided to give two bombshell interviews last week that rocked the club and the entire league. The first was before the league game against Sunderland, in which the Austrian revealed he would be leaving the club at the end of the season. He also laid bare in the same press conference that captain Marc Guéhi was close to joining Manchester City, and that star striker Jean-Philippe Mateta could be sold if the price was right.

Some fans were shocked and others angered, but the entire fanbase seemed furious with Glasner’s comments after his side went on to lose 2-1 to the Black Cats.

After the match he launched an explosive rant in which he accused chairman Steve Parish and the board of ‘abandoning’ him and his squad. Things have since calmed down, and Glasner seems to have accepted he will remain in his post until the end of the season. Palace’s form is poor though, aside from the farce off the pitch, and they are now winless in their last ten games.

If Glasner does want to move to a big club, he will have to fix what is in front of him or else there may not be many interested parties in the summer.

Chelsea in Transition

The game comes at a good time for Chelsea, who are still getting used to new manager Liam Rosenior. It’s difficult to know what to make of his time in charge so far.

The Blues have played four games under his management, in four different competitions, bizarrely. They have won three of the four, only losing to Arsenal, which would suggest an encouraging start, but the latest 1-0 win over Pafos in the Champions League was far from convincing.

Chelsea had plenty  of opportunities but could only make one count, that coming close to ten minutes from time. To leave Stamford Bridge without a win would have represented one of the club’s most embarrassing results in Europe in years, and it wasn’t far from becoming a reality.

There was an undeniably positive 2-0 win over Brentford in the Premier League before that, which hinted Rosenior does perhaps have what it takes to weather the Premier League.

Brentford actually went into the game ahead of Chelsea in the table, and it was the sort of match the Blues would have struggled to win a couple of months ago. The Blues did drop points against Bournemouth, Leeds and Sunderland earlier this season under old boss Enzo Maresca.

Confusing Cole Palmer

An issue Rosenior will have to contest with is the fitness and attitude of Cole Palmer. The forward has battled with different injuries all season and has missed three months of the campaign already because of it.

Rumors have also began growing in recent weeks that the Englishman is homesick and misses Manchester, which Rosenior had to directly address in his pre-match press conference.

He, of course, denied the gossip. But one thing that is clear is that with only three goals in all competitions since September, whether it is because of injury or unhappiness, Rosenior has to get his star player firing again. Selhurst Park on Sunday would be a good time to start.