Manager Oliver Glasner was furious at his Crystal Palace side after Saturday’s shock FA Cup third-round defeat at Macclesfield, saying his Under-21 side could have done better.
In one of the biggest upsets in FA Cup history, National League side North Macclesfield, founded from the ruins of Macclesfield Town five years ago, started the opening day 117 places below Premier League side Palace, becoming the first non-league team in 117 years to defeat an FA Cup holder – ironically since Palace, then of the Southern League, defeated Wolves in 1909.
While Macclesfield celebrated a well-deserved 2-1 success, Palace manager Glasner appeared stunned to see his side meekly give up the trophy they won in May – the club’s first major accolade – and the Austrian said things needed to change.
“Congratulations to Macclesfield,” Glasner told the BBC. “We lacked any quality today. We conceded a set-piece with a header. We had to do better. The second goal was a slapstick.”
Yeremi Pino scores for Crystal Palace at Macclesfield
“On the other hand, if we can’t create clear chances… it’s just a lack of quality that we showed today. We lost and we deserved to lose.
“We wanted quality from everyone. We brought in more attacking players (at half-time), but I can’t explain what we saw today.”
“You don’t need tactics in this kind of match. You just need to show your ability and show a little bit of pride. Then you will perform differently.”
“But today everything was missing.”
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Macclesfield give jubilant take on historic FA Cup upset against Crystal Palace
“The U21s could have done better.”
When asked what he said to his players immediately after the loss, Glasner told TalkSPORT, “Not much.
“When you play here against a non-league team, I don’t think you need tactics or a manager to be honest.
“I’ve been a player for 19 years so I know these things can happen, but the way we played, the opposition goalkeeper could have been man of the match and we could have been in an unlucky situation, but that wasn’t the case.
“So that’s what disappoints me the most and this is what we have to change and we’ve seen similar things over the past few weeks.
Goalscorer Paul Dawson celebrates Macclesfield’s shock 2-1 win over Crystal Palace with supporters
“We conceded another goal from a set piece, so we lacked timing, attacking power, physicality, pace, dribbling, and we lost a header, which is tough for any team.”
“But on the other hand, I think our U21 team would have done better than today. So things have to change.”
Crystal Palace are currently without a win in their last nine competitive matches.
The team has now lost six games in a row, with its last win coming on Dec. 11 against Shelbourne in the conference league, and Glasner is worried about his team heading into the second half of the season.
Asked if he was worried about the team’s form, he said: “If you asked me right after this game, yes, I’m very worried.
Goalscorers Paul Dawson and Isaac Buckley-Ricketts celebrate Macclesfield’s shock FA Cup win over Crystal Palace
“On the other hand, I know the team and I know that we need the players back.
“The players who got the chance didn’t take advantage of it and probably don’t look like they’re good enough. We saw another team play better a few weeks ago, so that means we need to get all the other players back.”
“When you have five or six new players in the team like today and we haven’t trained in the last month, you know we don’t have structure and our individual quality is not enough to win.”
“The palace was embarrassing.”
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Prime Minister Clinton Morrison slams Crystal Palace being kicked out of the FA Cup by non-league side Macclesfield as ’embarrassing’
Former Crystal Palace striker Clinton Morrison said this on Saturday Football.
“Crystal Palace weren’t good enough.
“Macclesfield were the better team, they were outstanding.
“Palace were embarrassed. I always praise them but they need to speak up. It’s far from enough.
“They thought they could come to Macclesfield and win.
“It has nothing to do with the pitch, it’s about going on the pitch and competing, but Macclesfield wanted more of that.
“It’s an incredible result for Macclesfield.”
