Uncertainty and lack of form – Palace’s ‘flat’ end to historic year

Since his appointment in February 2024, Oliver Glasner has won numerous historic FA Cup and Community Shield victories, the club’s first major European campaign, and a record Premier League point total.

However, his team lost to Tottenham at Selhurst Park for the third time in a row to end 2025, which was their longest losing streak under Glasner.

Despite playing eight games in December as they try to balance their domestic and international ambitions, Glasner and his players have been reluctant to attribute their decline in form to an exhausting schedule.

However, after publicly criticizing the club’s summer lack of activity, Glasner made no secret of his desire to see the club add more personnel in January.

The board will have an incentive to do so as Glasner considers whether to stay at the club after his contract expires at the end of the season.

With their side having won five games in every competition, Glasner said, “We need the support.”

Daniel Munoz, Ismaila Sarr, and Daichi Kamada, three players who are always involved in our goals, are missing, he told BBC Sport.

He continued, “I think it was by far the best season in Crystal Palace’s history,” referring to 2025.

Palace has lost three league games in a row, a total of 15 more than they did in the campaign’s opening 15 games.

The club’s supporters will hope for action in the upcoming transfer window to stop a successful season from coming to an end, just like their manager.

They are also concerned about potential consequences if Glasner is not adequately supported by the board.

After a frustrating summer, Glasner, who has a contract until June 2026, wants to see the club’s ambitions match his own.

Alan Pardew, the former Crystal Palace manager, said, “There is that situation with the manager.” Although he’s obviously suggesting that he wants more players, his contract expires this summer and is probably more crucial than anything else to keeping him at the club.

He has done a fantastic job, he said. I would be looking to feed him a player or two if I were the board.

Pardew continued, “They look like the Christmas champagne, they were flat.

A modest squad has been put under even more strain by the injuries to key defenders Chris Richards and Munoz, as well as Sarr’s departure from the Africa Cup of Nations.

While Glasner still depends on newcomers, it’s not yet clear whether Marc Guehi will stay with the team for the rest of the season once he has informed the club that he won’t be signing a new deal and will leave next year.

Premier League champions Liverpool expressed interest in the 25-year-old England international last summer, but Glasner persuaded the board to decline a £35 million offer.

On Sunday, Glasner discussed Guehi’s future and said, “Of course we want to keep everyone.”

Sami Mokbel, a senior football correspondent for BBC Sport, said: “I’m guessing Guehi will likely stay at Palace until the end of the season until his contract expires.”

Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, all of which have shown varying levels of interest in recent weeks. “He has got so many options in the summer,” he said.

After their 0-0 draw against Spurs, Glasner naturally concentrated on Palace’s weaknesses in the attack.

When we produce a lot of goals, nobody ever succeeds, as they say. “This needs to be fixed,” said Glasner.

We simply miss the chances right now, not that we don’t create them. The more anxious we become and the more incorrect choices we make as we approach the goal.

However, a recent failure to defend set-pieces has made those issues even more acute.

In all competitions, Crystal Palace have conceded eight goals in set pieces, including each of the final seven.