For just over an hour at Old Trafford on Sunday, Manchester United and Crystal Palace cancelled each other out.
Managers Ruben Amorim and Oliver Glasner watched two fairly evenly-matched sides neutralise each other all over the pitch. Both teams had opportunities to score, even if neither was particularly on top. Step forward the difference maker.
Jean-Philippe Mateta, Palace’s in-form striker, was first to react after Maxence Lacroix headed Eberechi Eze’s free kick onto the crossbar, and prodded his side ahead from close range. United huffed and puffed in their attempts to find an equaliser but rarely threatened to score. Then, with a minute of the 90 left, Mateta’s second goal ensured the visitors’ victory.
Returning from Manchester with three points was validation for Glasner as he nears his first anniversary as Palace manager.
The Austrian has a clear vision for Palace and has worked feverishly since being appointed in late February last year on familiarising the squad with his preferred style of play, refining a system to coax the best from them.
Like Amorim, he set his team up on Sunday in a 3-4-2-1 formation. But where United’s head coach still appears to be digesting the options at his disposal while his players adjust to his demands following his arrival from Sporting CP of Lisbon in early November, Palace are showing the benefits of time, patience and having personnel suited to their brand of football.
Glasner and Amorim on the touchline at Old Trafford (Ed Sykes/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images)
That match at Old Trafford was actually the third time Amorim and Glasner have pitted their wits against each other.
“I know Amorim from Sporting; we played them twice with Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League (in the autumn of 2022),” Glasner said in his pre-match press conference. “He played 3-4-3 there, and we played it at Frankfurt. In both games, they neutralised us for many minutes.
“At home, we played 4-2-3-1 and, for 60 minutes, the game was even (and 0-0). Then we got tired because we had to run so much when they switched the play. Playing in an attacking five with the wing-backs, the No 10s and the striker, we couldn’t follow and they found the space. We lost, 3-0.
“In Lisbon, both teams played 3-4-3 in the same structure and both managers expected the same behaviour of players in their positions — for their team to play very intensely. That’s why the game was quite neutralised (Frankfurt ended up scoring twice after the hour-mark to win 2-1). When you go to such a big club like Manchester United, starting with this (outlook) is not easy. But it went his way with determination, conviction, and now you see how he wants to play.
“They look like (they will) get used to it — the positions with wing-backs, No 6s, a front three in the build-up and press.”
Yet Palace’s win on Sunday was a reminder of how far United still have to go.
So what is it that Glasner’s side are doing so well with this formation, where United are struggling?
A significant part of Palace’s improvement over time under Glasner stems from the presence of Mateta up front, but his form and influence mirror the development of the team as a whole.
The French striker has made a habit of successfully running in behind opposition defences. For every 10 runs he makes overall, seven are either in behind or attacking a cross.
This helps stretch defences and invites an incisive pass from either of Palace’s twin No 10s, while also presenting Mateta with opportunities to score. With increased confidence and momentum, he is finding that much easier than before — he has 24 Premier League goals in 12 months, a record many strikers in the division will envy.
Of those goals, all but one have come in his 37 appearances under Glasner.
“Glasner’s system reminds me of the Palace team I played in with (Yannick) Bolasie and Wilf (Wilfried Zaha) on the flanks and me up front,” former Palace striker Glenn Murray tells The Athletic.
“A lot of Mateta’s form is to do with know-how, belief, time at the level, and time with his team-mates building relationships. When you hit the back of the net, the confidence soars — for you and in those around you. He’s (Mateta) really calmed down in front of goal. It takes time to get used to the Premier League; once a chance arrives, it can be gone before you know it. It takes understanding and time to get used to the intensity. When the chance comes he’s supremely confident.
“Regardless of his goals, he’s effective even when he has an off-game, because of his physicality. He’s hard to play against.”
Mateta has thrived in Glasner’s 3-4-2-1 (Ed Sykes/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images)
It should not be a surprise, though, that things are looking up for Palace. It took time to settle at the start of the Glasner era and there was pressure on the new manager before everything clicked into place. The fact they won six of their final seven games last season, many of them comprehensively, suggested the penny had dropped.
This season followed a similar pattern. There was a significant turnover of players at Selhurst Park last summer, and four new signings only arrived on transfer deadline day at the start of September. That, combined with seven Palace players reaching the final of three different international tournaments, and so reporting back later for club duty, meant time to work tactically with the squad as a collective before the games started to count was severely restricted.
Glasner has repeatedly referenced it as a reason for Palace’s slow start. They only got their first win at the ninth time of asking, a 1-0 defeat of Tottenham Hotspur after their worst ever start to a Premier League season. That might have come across as an excuse, but he has subsequently been validated with one defeat in the past eight games and two in 13.
Palace are seventh in the form table since Amorim was appointed as Erik ten Hag’s successor at United during the November international break.
They are now a team who, despite losing defender Trevoh Chalobah halfway through what was meant to be a season-long loan after his recall by Chelsea, look settled. Eight of their starting XI against United on Sunday were at the club last season. Familiarity has been a key part of Glasner’s system.
“When you see the biggest teams, they’re working together,” he also said before that game at Old Trafford. “Liverpool are top with a different manager (Arne Slot having replaced Jurgen Klopp in the summer), but many of the players have been there for five, six or seven years; working together, playing together, knowing each other, understanding how they want to play, understanding their team-mates.
“In my career, I was with one club for four years (Austrian side LASK) and I still think that, when I left, it was the best team I ever managed from the tactical side; 80 per cent of the team stayed together for four years.
Glasner instructs his LASK players in a Europa League qualifier against Besiktas in 2018 (Abdulhamid Hosbas/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
“Then it’s always about improving. You can imagine how difficult it is (to get) 20 players in the squad to have the same thoughts. This is what we’re working on. It’s just not possible within one, two or three months to get all your ideas into the players’ minds. But even now, we can improve in every single part of our game.”
Considering they play in similar shapes, Palace and United have many tactical differences.
Take, for example, the consistency, or otherwise, at the No 9 position.
Mateta has started all but two of Palace’s 24 league games this season, and has scored over a third of their 28 goals in those matches. Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee have made 13 and eight starts respectively for United, with the latter among the most-used substitutes (16) in the division.
Neither Hojlund nor Zirkzee has convinced as United’s No 9 (Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images)
Consistency is important. Mateta scored 16 league goals last season, but 14 of them came in the final 16 matches. His form follows the same trend this time: four in the opening 19 top-flight games, now six in his past five.
From the end of December 2023 to the middle of the following February, Hojlund scored in six successive Premier League games and he has a tendency to score braces, albeit more usually in European competition. But the inconsistency with which he starts, and finishes, matches has impacted his form, and also means the service the creators in the United side need to provide keeps changing when Zirkzee comes on.
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Mateta’s relationship with Eze exemplifies the importance of familiarity.
The England international has created 25 chances and made nine assists for him since the start of last season. “It’s easier sometimes, with Eze dribbling past two or three players and then (he) finds me and I can score with a first touch,” Mateta said in an interview with Sky Sports last season. It is an established partnership built upon their complementary games, neither of which United currently have.
Hojlund and Zirkzee have significantly contrasting profiles as strikers. Hojlund is similar to Mateta — a frequent runner in-behind, and left-footed. Zirkzee’s style belies his size (6ft 4in/193cm), being focused far more on linking play and dropping into pockets facing play than running beyond.
Statistically, he profiles more like Arsenal’s Kai Havertz and Joao Pedro of Brighton, and he runs in behind as much as he drops off, as shown by Skillcorner data.
Amorim did not have this two-striker dynamic at Sporting last season, where Viktor Gyokeres (who plays like Mateta and Hojlund) led the line and shouldered most of the attacking burden. Palace have a clearer hierarchy.
Both these managers arrived at their clubs part-way through a season — Glasner in February and Amorim in November. The value of having a pre-season with your players shows and a lack of it accounts for slow starts, something the Palace boss has been at pains to point out.
Amorim has made 36 changes to his 12 Premier League starting XIs since his debut away at Ipswich Town (from game 12 on the viz below) on November 24. Glasner, across the season so far, has only made 43, though without Palace naming an unchanged XI in recent weeks they have kept the core of the team the same.
Amorim’s rotation owes in part to dealing with match loading, particularly with a young squad and the second half of their schedule of eight midweek Europa League games. In his post-match press conference following the 2-0 defeat by Wolverhampton Wanderers on Boxing Day, he said United had only trained four times in his first month at the club, but the experimentation with players in different positions and roles shows he is still working out how the core of his team should look.
For instance, Amad has played wing-back and behind the striker, Bruno Fernandes is mixing games as a No 6 and a No 10, and academy graduate Kobbie Mainoo featured across the midfield roles before Amorim played him as a false nine on Sunday.
The impact made at Palace recently by Ismaila Sarr, who arrived from Marseille last summer as a winger having not played as a No 10 before, is an example of the time and patience needed when remodelling individuals for system-specific roles.
Palace have more consistency and attacking quality from their wing-backs than United, which is essential in a system that uses them. Daniel Munoz on the right is more attack-minded than Tyrick Mitchell on the opposite flank, although combined they have eight goal involvements and provide the team with ample width.
Munoz wheels away after setting up Mateta’s second goal against United (Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images)
United have struggled without a consistently fit left-footed left wing-back, often being boxed in when the right-footed Diogo Dalot fills in there (They signed two left-footed left-backs during the winter window in Patrick Dorgu and Diego Leon.)
Morocco international Noussair Mazraoui is Amorim’s primary choice on the other side, and is technically secure but he’s more of a defender than an attacker, which increases the burden on United’s No 10s and No 9. Dalot and Mazraoui have just two assists in their 45 combined league starts this season.
Then there is the time that conditioning work takes, particularly given the intensity with which Amorim and Glasner want their sides to defend. This season, Palace are physically outperforming United and are one of the league’s top sides for high-intensity running. United’s efforts to bridge the gap have involved hiring a running consultant.
Palace’s improvement under Glasner has come with his team now accustomed to the 3-4-2-1 system. Reaching that point required patience, understanding and appreciation. Amorim is not likely to be afforded those in abundance at a club of United’s stature, even if trusting the process is the only logical way to succeed.
Yet, even now, Glasner is pushing for more out of Palace.
“As soon as I think I can’t improve anything I will go to the chairman and say, ‘I think you have to find a new manager. If I can’t have an influence on the players, on our game, then you need a new one’, because then it gets boring for the club,” he said.
“But the good thing is I see so many things we can improve and work on, so I don’t have to go to the chairman today.”
Palace will breathe a sigh of relief at that.
United might draw some inspiration from the impact the Austrian has had in south London.
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(Top photo: Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)
