What would a first ever trophy mean for Palace?

Summary

Detailed Summary of "What Would a First-Ever Trophy Mean for Palace?"

Podcast Information:

• Title: The Athletic FC Podcast
• Host: Matt Davis Adams
• Featuring: Matt Woosdam, Reuben Binder, Sam Lee
• Release Date: May 16, 2025

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1. Introduction to the FA Cup Final

The episode opens with host Matt Davis Adams introducing the pivotal match of the season: Crystal Palace's opportunity to clinch their first major trophy by facing Manchester City in the FA Cup Final.

Key Points:

• Crystal Palace’s appearance in the final marks only their third in history, the last being in 2016.
• The significance of this match extends beyond just the victory; it symbolizes a potential transformative moment for the club.

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2. Oliver Glasner’s Transformation of Crystal Palace

Speaker: Matt Woosdam
Timestamp: [02:32]

Matt Woosdam delves into the profound changes Oliver Glasner has instilled within Crystal Palace since his appointment. Glasner's influence has fostered a "quiet confidence" among players and fans alike.

Notable Quote:

"Oliver Glasner has just completely changed the mentality around the club. There's this feeling that you go into every game and you've got a chance." – Matt Woosdam [02:32]

Key Points:

• Glasner emphasizes a winning mentality, contrasting previous managers who focused primarily on defensive stability.
• Under Glasner, Palace has adopted an attacking style, leveraging transition play and tactical flexibility.
• Recent performances, including a decisive win against Spurs, highlight the positive momentum and belief within the squad.

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3. Fan Perspective and Emotional Investment

Speaker: Reuben Binder
Timestamp: [03:49]

Reuben Binder shares his personal experience attending the semi-final, describing it as "the best day" for a Palace supporter, emphasizing the emotional highs and communal spirit among fans.

Notable Quote:

"It was a really, really special day and hopefully we'll create another one." – Reuben Binder [03:55]

Key Points:

• The semi-final victory was not only a tactical triumph but also a significant emotional boost for the fanbase.
• The comprehensive performance against a Champions League team like Spurs has elevated confidence levels ahead of the final.

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4. Premier League Performance and Future Aspirations

Speaker: Matt Woosdam
Timestamp: [05:27]

Matt Woosdam assesses Palace’s impressive Premier League form under Glasner, noting the club is already matching their highest-ever points total for the season with two games remaining.

Key Points:

• Palace's consistency in the league has been remarkable, with Glasner’s strategies playing a crucial role.
• Recruitment underformer Dougie Friedman has been successful, bringing in key players like Ismail Assar and Daichi Kamada.
• Glasner's ability to develop and maximize player potential has been instrumental in the club's successes.

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5. Club Management and Strategic Recruitment

Speaker: Reuben Binder
Timestamp: [07:50]

Reuben Binder praises the club’s management, particularly Dougie Friedman and the executives who have supported Glasner by providing the necessary resources and time to implement their vision.

Notable Quote:

"The club do deserve huge credit for giving him what he needs in terms of time and resources." – Reuben Binder [07:50]

Key Points:

• Contrast with previous managerial appointments that lacked long-term vision and support.
• Emphasis on sustainable growth and strategic player acquisitions that align with Glasner’s philosophy.
• Hope expressed that Palace can qualify for European competitions, further elevating the club's status.

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6. Path to European Competition

Speaker: Reuben Binder
Timestamp: [13:31]

The discussion shifts to what "next level" means for Crystal Palace, with Reuben Binder advocating for European competition as the next milestone.

Key Points:

• Achieving European qualification would not only boost the club financially but also enhance its reputation.
• Emphasis on sustainability and gradual improvement rather than rapid, unsustainable growth.
• Recognition of the financial constraints and the need for efficient squad building to compete at higher levels.

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7. Manchester City’s Performance and Final Preparations

Speaker: Sam Lee
Timestamp: [20:54]

Sam Lee provides an analysis of Manchester City's season under Pep Guardiola, highlighting their tactical resilience and recent turnaround leading up to the FA Cup Final.

Notable Quote:

"They just keep getting the job done." – Sam Lee [21:36]

Key Points:

• City's ability to adapt tactically, especially after setbacks like the loss to Bournemouth.
• The importance of key players returning from injury, such as Erling Haaland, to bolster their attacking prowess.
• Guardiola's strategic planning and the impact of individual players on the team's performance.

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8. Tactical Battle Prediction for the Final

Speakers: Sam Lee and Reuben Binder
Timestamp: [23:29] & [27:10]

The hosts speculate on the tactical approaches both teams might employ during the final. Sam Lee discusses Guardiola’s potential adjustments, while Reuben Binder considers how Palace can leverage City’s tactical uncertainties.

Notable Quotes:

"He just keeps getting the job done." – Sam Lee [21:36]
"It's all about balance." – Reuben Binder [17:44]

Key Points:

• Guardiola may introduce alternative strategies to counter Glasner’s plans.
• Palace’s adaptability and defensive solidity could exploit any tactical lapses from City.
• The unpredictability of Guardiola’s adjustments adds an element of uncertainty, potentially benefiting Palace.

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9. Spotlight on Jean Philippe Mateta

Speaker: Matt Woosdam
Timestamp: [30:45]

The discussion shifts to Jean Philippe Mateta, highlighting his impressive goal-scoring record since Glasner’s appointment and his symbiotic relationship with fellow attackers Eza and Saad.

Notable Quote:

"Both he and Glasner have this sort of positive mindset and it's all about looking forward and being positive and excited." – Matt Woosdam [30:45]

Key Points:

• Mateta has scored 27 goals, ranking him alongside Premier League stars like Mohamed Salah and Erling Haaland.
• His development under Glasner showcases the effectiveness of the manager’s system in enhancing player performance.
• The complementary dynamics between Mateta, Eza, and Saad create a formidable attacking trio.

---

10. Defensive Strategies and Improvements

Speaker: Sam Lee
Timestamp: [35:57]

Sam Lee analyzes Manchester City's defensive improvements, attributing their recent defensive solidity to enhanced midfield stability and tactical adjustments.

Notable Quote:

"If you've got six midfielders in the middle of the pitch keeping the ball, then the defense is going to be better protected." – Sam Lee [35:57]

Key Points:

• Reduced goal concessions in recent matches indicate a stronger defensive setup.
• Injuries have played a role, but strategic substitutions and tactical setups have mitigated defensive vulnerabilities.
• Emphasis on maintaining defensive consistency as City aims for top league positions and European qualifications.

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11. Final Thoughts on the FA Cup Final

Speakers: Sam Lee and Reuben Binder
Timestamp: [37:38] & [38:54]

As the episode concludes, the hosts reflect on what a victory would mean for both Crystal Palace and Manchester City, highlighting personal and club achievements tied to winning the FA Cup.

Notable Quote:

"It doesn't mean it means nothing to City." – Sam Lee [37:53]

Key Points:

• For Palace, winning the FA Cup would be a historic achievement, elevating the club's status and validating their growth under Glasner.
• For City, it would add to their trophy cabinet and signify continued excellence under Guardiola’s management.
• The emotional and strategic implications for both clubs underscore the high stakes of the final.

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12. Closing Remarks

Host Matt Davis Adams wraps up the episode by thanking the contributors and encouraging listeners to engage with future podcasts.

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Conclusion:

This episode of The Athletic FC Podcast offers an in-depth analysis of Crystal Palace's remarkable journey toward their first major trophy, the FA Cup Final. It highlights the transformative impact of Oliver Glasner, strategic player development, and the broader aspirations of the club to ascend to European competitions. Simultaneously, it provides a comprehensive look at Manchester City's tactical prowess under Pep Guardiola, setting the stage for a highly anticipated and competitive final.

Transcript

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[Reuben Binder]

The Athletic FC Podcast Network.

[Matt Davis Adams]

Hello, I'm Matt Davis Adams. Welcome to the Athletic fc. Coming up, Crystal palace have the chance to win their first major trophy on Saturday as they face Manchester City in the FA cup final. So how has Oliver Glasner transformed Palace? And would silverware take the Eagles to the next level? With me today are the Athletics Crystal palace correspondent Matt Woosdam and video producer and palace fan Reuben Binder. Later in the show, we'll be joined by the Athletics Manchester City correspondent Sam Lee. But first, let's pontificate on Palace. So it's just the Eagles third FA cup final appearance, the last being back in 2016 when Manchester United ran out two one winners after extra time. Matt, nine years since then, what's the feeling in South London ahead of Saturday's game?

[Matt Woosdam]

I think there's a quiet confidence about the place. Oliver Glassner has just completely changed the mentality around the club. There's this feeling that you go into every game and you got a chance. That's the way that I think people feel and the club feel and the players feel that actually this isn't a game against huge team that is unwinnable. It's not a hope for the best. It's a we could actually do this. That doesn't necessarily mean to say that they will, but the mood is quite positive. They went into the Villa semi final off the back of those defeats by Newcastle and Man City of course. 52 against City and 5 nil against Newcastle. The momentum this time beating spurs last weekend in a comprehensive win. Palace were really good but. But interestingly Glasner said that they would need to be better if they were to beat Man City. Palisadens are quite confident and the squad are quite confident that it's possible.

[Matt Davis Adams]

Yes, as you say, convincing winners in the semi against Villa. And that was a momentous day for the Eagles.

[Matt Woosdam]

Tielemans dropped by Nkatja. No foul. Saarov down the middle. Ismay Sarr.

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[Matt Davis Adams]

Ruben, you were in the stands for that one. Was that the best day of your palace supporting life to this point?

[Reuben Binder]

Probably, yeah. It's interesting because obviously we were promoted in 2013 at Wembley which was also an incredible day. But you know, the quality of football that day maybe less impressive. And the FA cup semi final that palace won in 2016 against Watford. I wasn't able to attend. So personally it absolutely was the best day that many of us have had supporting Palace. You know, there were tears around me at the stadium as the third goal went in. And even before that to be honest because the performance was just so comprehensive. The atmosphere was incredible and it was really a statement victory against a team who have been playing in the Champions League this season. Which gave us huge confidence as Matt alludes to going into the final against a great team. But there's a difference in mentality this time. It really feels like fans believe not only that we might do it, but that we have a really strong chance of beating a slightly weaker, albeit very big team. So yeah, it was. It was a really, really special day and hopefully we'll. We'll create another one.

[Matt Davis Adams]

Turning back to the Premier League. Last season palace finished strongly under Oliver Glasner. They equaled their highest Premier league finish of 10th place and joint highest points total of 49. They're already on that now with two league games to spare. So they got the chance to to beat that total. They play Wolves and Liverpool. How Much credit Glasner deserve for the impact he's made since coming in because it's been massive.

[Matt Woosdam]

Yeah, he's been transformational for Palace, I think, again. So come back to that mentality. He's not only has he changed mentality, changed the way that they play and he goes into every game wanting to win, looking to win, talking about being able to win, whereas previous palace managers haven't always felt like that or given that impression across either to the fans or to their squad. And he wants to play attacking football. He loves to play on the transition. Excellent tactician and I think we've seen that. I think it was really interesting how he said after the defeat by City.

[Sam Lee]

Yes, I said to Pep afterwards, if we meet again, you can't play in.

[Reuben Binder]

This system because we will solve it.

[Matt Woosdam]

And obviously we'll see how that comment goes down on Saturday. But I just think it's been incredible for palace to have a manager who. Palace tends to go for firefighting managers who try and keep them out of the relegation zone, keep them stable, focus on being solid at the back and defensive. And actually this a manager who is happy to do that, but actually wants to play attacking, exciting football. Doesn't matter. Possession isn't particularly important. You've got trigger pressing, you've got that mid block. And even with the slow start to this season, he always believed that they would improve. You know, didn't win for eight games and now look, they're within a point of beating their best ever points total and in an FA cup final. No one would have thought that the start of the season. But Glasner has managed to turn it around and some credit should also go for the recruitment. There's been some really good players come in. Ismail Assar in particular, I think has been outstanding. Max Hong Saquoi, who Blasna worked with before and pushed to sign, even Dache Kamada has come good lately. But I think also Glasner gets the best out of players. He develops players, he improves them. And that's what's helped palace is that these are players who maybe wouldn't have been as good, but Glasner has improved them. And that's really the key, I think, is that he molds them into the way that he plays and he does it successfully.

[Matt Davis Adams]

So if we're giving Glassner a lot of credit, and rightfully so, Ruben, we probably ought to give some to the people who not just appointed him in the first place, but then managed to keep him. We heard that Bayern Munich were interested last summer. Are you full of praise, therefore, for Parish etc, and those who managed to persuade him to come to South London.

[Reuben Binder]

Yeah, absolutely. Because it's an ambitious appointment, which everyone was pleased to see at the time, but didn't come without risk. The last time Crystal palace tried to evolve their playing style with a more progressive manager, I suppose you could put Vieira into that category, although it wasn't really clear what his philosophy was. That season seemed to be very reliant on Conor Gallagher. So if we rewind even further, you go back to Frank de Boer in 2017, which lasted four league games and one cup game, and the club were a bit burnt by that. The playing squad really wasn't necessarily suited to what he wanted to do, or maybe the manager didn't have the tools to implement it, maybe a bit of both. But this time the club do deserve huge credit for giving him what he needs in terms of time and resources. And the players, like Daniel Munoz has obviously thrived under Glasner. He did arrive just before Glasner took over, actually, in that January window and in his debut against Brighton in a humiliating defeat at the Amex, which was really at the end of Hodgson's reign, didn't look particularly exciting in a different system. But like Matt alludes to, he improves players and he develops them and Munoz is a great example of that. So, yeah, they've spent wisely, which, at the start of the season, that window wasn't necessarily widely praised among neutral fans of other Premier League clubs, but it's come good. So, yeah, Friedman deserves a lot of credit and Paris deserves a lot of credit as well. And Glasner, you know, we should be appreciative of how much he's bought into the club and how it doesn't seem like he's trying to use palace as just a stepping stone just yet. He will inevitably, in the future go on to manage bigger clubs. You know, interest from the likes of Bayern and there's, you know, whispers in Germany about RB Leipzig. He will eventually manage at a higher level, but hopefully that higher level is next season in the Europa League with Crystal Palace.

[Matt Davis Adams]

Well, we're going to have a look ahead to the possibility of that when we come back.

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[Matt Davis Adams]

So Palace's average league finish over the last eight seasons is exactly 12th, which incidentally is where they currently sit. So they've been 11th, 12th, 14th, 14th, 12th, 11th, 10th and 12th in and around the same position for a long time then, Matt, it's good to have stability. They need to get some silverware to help move them on to the next level.

[Matt Woosdam]

I think it would help for sure, but I don't think necessarily that palace would have to win a trophy, win the FA cup in order to go to that next level. You've seen teams, you know, you've seen Brighton, Bournemouth, Forest this season. You know, I think for palace, it has to be about a gradual build. They always look to ensure they don't get relegated at the start of the season. That's always going to be their aim, I think, for as long as the current owners are there. And that's not a criticism in any way. I think it's completely understandable and I think the fans are comfortable with that. But at the same time, you do need to look higher as well and be optimistic and hope to get to that next level. But in the past, when they got promoted to the Premier League, that was unexpected. They weren't really ready for it. But 2013, they've stayed there ever since. They weren't ready for it. Are they ready to go into Europe with the squad that they have and the finances they have relative to other teams? Their transfer budget is the lowest of the established Premier League teams, so it would massively boost their finances. Would it take them to the next level? Absolutely. It would just expedite the process.

[Matt Davis Adams]

So if we're going to define next level, then, Ruben, is that kind of just finishing in the top half of the Premier League for a couple of seasons, or is it looking at the Conference League or you got grander ambitions than that?

[Reuben Binder]

I think the next aim should be getting into European competition and the important thing is to not rush that and do it in a sustainable way. If you look at Palace's form this season after the first win in late October, then if you average that out over a long period of time, they're definitely at that required level. Fulham, Brighton, Brentford. It's those teams that we're really competing with for those places. Just that this season there were. There were some teasing issues in terms of, you know, settling in, new signings at the start of the season. Walton had that injury. They were still kind of working out how to incorporate SAR and Kamada into the 3, 4, 3 shape. So if there's less chaos and just more consistency in terms of selection and the recruitment continues to kind of put round pegs and round holes, then I think we will see that incremental improvement that Matt talks about. The important thing is to do it sustainably and just keep that curve on the graph moving upwards and remain solid, as has always been the kind of core principle of our Premier league team post 20 2013.

[Matt Davis Adams]

So consistency, Matt, I guess, would be easier to achieve whilst keeping hold of star players, but sustainability might mean that that's not a possibility. Do they need to keep hold of Ezra, Wharton, Gay, etc to keep pushing for European football? Or is one or more of those likely to leave?

[Matt Woosdam]

I don't think necessarily that they have to keep all of those players. I don't think that they'd expect to keep them all. I think they've done a great job of identifying that talent, Dougie Friedman in particular, who's obviously left now, but as sport, he was instrumental in picking those players and Glass has then done a great job of improving them and moulding them and shaping them. But, you know, I think that obviously Marc gates our contract next summer. Eze has a couple of years left on his contract. Palace are a club that, you know, I know a lot of Premier League clubs are doing this now, but palace are a club that need to develop these players to then sell on. But they need to learn to sell at the right time. They haven't always done that. Wilfried Zaha, perhaps you could make an argument that they should have sold him to Arsenal, what, five, six years ago and made the most of that opportunity to make a significant profit and then invest that in the squad. But clearly these are very important players. But again, I come back to Glasner. I think I've obviously praised Glassner a lot here, but again, Glassner is the key to this. Under Glasner, it's not about an individual, it's about the collective. And you don't necessarily need superstars under Glassner to be able to be an effective team. And Eze has been absolutely outstanding the last couple of months. Sar's been great this season. You know, Gail's been an absolute rocket at the heart defence, but you look at like Max Aunt Saquoi, he's been brilliant. As long as you've got faith in the club to reinvest and pick out those players to replace them successfully, then I don't think you necessarily need all of these star players to stay. Obviously you need some of them. Wharton, I don't expect him to leave this summer given his injuries, missed a lot this season. If he had played every week this season, then I think we'll be in a different discussion about him potentially leaving to a much bigger club. But I think he is an absolutely fantastic player and he's still very young, still very inexperienced in the Premier League, but I'd almost say that he's up there as possibly even the most important in this team and in this system. Bladsner always talks about something that he calls his pre orientation, his ability to see the pass or see what he's going to do before he receives the ball. And I think in a team that plays on the transition and is all about moving the ball quickly, that's absolutely crucial. But I think in terms of keeping the best players, it depends who you're selling, but they can afford to sell one or two as long as they get it right in terms of reinvesting in the squad.

[Matt Davis Adams]

And clearly, Ruben, if we're basing it off this season, you don't need to be that good to go far in the Europa League see 16th place Manchester United and 17th place Spurs. Teams at palace are beaten this season, meeting in this season final. If they are in European competition next season, they'll need to beef up the squad. Right. Depth will be key.

[Reuben Binder]

Yeah, 100%. And you know, you see I, I did actually write in my notes, look at the Europa League this season we've beaten both finalists in the league. Why couldn't we go quite far? But as you, as you say, depth is really key there. That's what's quite impressive when, when you think about it, about how the teams that remain at the top of the league and also go far in Europe, that's the most impressive thing about it because you look at Aston Villa and Newcastle at the moment almost taking it in turns to be in the Champions League and then drop down in the league when they are and they both clearly benefited or were hindered by the absence or being in Europe. So if we were to qualify for Europe more depth would be required. But having said that, it is much better than it was. Now the bench now might include players like Wilhuis Kamada Nketiah Ben Chilwell obviously is here on loan from Chelsea which are, you know, players that can make a difference off the bench and have slightly different profiles to the players that might start. Whereas in the past looking at the bench has quite often been quite bleak when you need a goal, you know, maybe Jordan IOW is on there if he's not starting a few years ago and you know, Jeffrey Schlup might be able to inject a bit of pace but that was it for a long time. So we'd need to beef up the squad a little bit, especially at the back. We've been quite fortunate not to have more defensive injuries. You know, Chalabo have been being recalled and he wasn't replaced. So Richards went into the, into the starting 11 and thankfully has remained fit. But in the game against man city which we lost 5, 2 in the league, Mark Gaye was suspended which meant that Jefferson Lerma by Trader number eight had to fill in at left centre back and he has done that in the past but it's not his natural position. And you know Chadi Riyadh came in last season as a left footed center back clearly with the intention of playing in that role or as backup to Gehe and potentially eventual successor. But he suffered quite bad injuries so we'll have to, I think defence, wing backs, those are the positions that we would probably need more depth in because the consistency of that selection has been key to our progress this season. But, you know, with those more games, injuries become more likely. You need to keep everybody fresh, so it would be a quite difficult task. And you know, West Ham, when they went to the Conference League final, they slid down to 14th. And if we slid down to 15th or 16th but got to the knockout rounds of European competition, I think palace fans would accept that trade off because of the unique and novel adventure that it would be. It's all about balance and I would have complete faith in the likes of Paris and Glasner to manage that challenge, especially given how he's dealt with the kind of selection dilemmas in the build up to this Cup Final.

[Matt Davis Adams]

All right, well, they will need to beat Manchester City if they are to qualify for Europe next season. We'll find out how City are shaping up next. Well, joining us now is the Athletics Manchester City correspondent, Sam lee. Sam, incredible 21st trip to Wembley for City under Pep Guardiola. He knows a little bit about how to get it done at the National Stadium.

[Sam Lee]

Well, how to get done everywhere, really. That's, that's kind of why they're there. He always makes the point that they've always got to play lower league teams. You know, the, the places you've got to go where you might get an upset. The kind of couple upset everyone loves. And I think that's been one of the things about the last few rounds. Like all the big teams, the other big teams have dropped out. And going into the quarterfinal weekend, everyone's like, oh, if City get knocked out, the semi finals are going to be great. It's going to be four teams who haven't won it ever, or haven't won it in 100 years or whatever. And then City beat Forest and everyone's like, oh, it doesn't mean anything to them. But yeah, they just keep getting the job done. Even this season when obviously they win, like, like, well, rubbish for about half of it. But they're, they're doing, they're doing all right at the minute. But that Southampton result last weekend, it adds a few extra doubts going into the weekend.

[Matt Davis Adams]

A few extra doubts. But it has been a decent turnaround, hasn't it, since the, the crisis period of the campaign. And it's pretty typical, isn't it, for City to, to finish the season as strongly as they are here?

[Sam Lee]

Yeah, it is typical, obviously, in a, in a different way to now with much more up for grabs because normally it would be a Premier League title. Now they still need to get that top five place because that Southampton draw did dip those hopes a bit. But, yeah, obviously the Cup Final, this is kind of familiar territory. Three years in a row that they've been in the final. But, yeah, in terms of that turnaround, it started in that quarterfinal weekend at Bournemouth, I think, because the Bournemouth game was the first Premier League game they'd lost in November, right at the start of the run. And when it came to facing them again, they all looked at the tape and the analysis and Guardiola and the coaches were like that. We were miles off it then. This has been the problem. And obviously they kind of knew that going along, but I just think so much time had passed, it allowed for a bit of perspective. Actually, he was talking about this recently because you might have seen that Neil Warnock's been at City and there's this kind of bromance between Guardiola and Warnock. Unlikely bromance, but Guardiola was saying. I don't know if he was just kind of humoring the question, but he was like, look, English football belongs to these guys. And some of our tactics are the same. Sometimes you just gotta kick and you've just gotta run. And it's like he might've just been humoring them, but. But there was a lot of truth in that. In terms of their recent turnaround. It was just about, obviously, the tactical side. Everybody in the middle of the pitch. You can't get counterattacked through so easily if everyone's just in the middle of the pitch trying to keep the ball well positioned to counter press if you do lose it. And that's something they missed. But it was just the duels and the battles and the individual battles and things like that that they weren't able to do so well. And all those things have kind of come together over the last few weeks and they've put them into this position where, yeah, they're looking pretty good for top five. There's still work to do. And obviously they're in the Cup Final after a couple of difficult, difficult games against Bournemouth and then Forest in the semis. So, yeah, they have. They have tightened up considerably.

[Matt Davis Adams]

And Warnock, of course, a former palace manager. The current incumbent is Oliver Glasner. We mentioned earlier about his quote following City's win against palace in April, that I told Pep after the game, he can't play this system again because we will beat it. Knowing Guardiola like you do, I kind of feel that there's a Michael Jordan and I took that personally mood here and. And that he will come up with a plan B, C, D and E for, for Saturday's final, or is this going to be another Pep overthinking it in a major final?

[Sam Lee]

Well, that is. He has kind of tempted him to, to do that, hasn't he? Like to. To come up with something different. But I mean, I know I talked like loosely about this recent formula for, for getting back back on track and everybody in the middle, because it's broadly that they haven't had a striker, they haven't had Haaland. He got injured in that Bournemouth game. So for the seven or eight games since then, it was just easier to play with loads of midfielders, which is Guardiola's kind of go to if in doubt. But when he's got Haaland, you know, even when Aguero was at City in Guardiola's early years, Guardiola was like, okay, well, I'm just going to drop you and I'm going to play a false nine instead. But with Haaland, he never gets dropped. Even if they might need a false 9. The recent one hasn't really been about false nines. They just haven't had a striker whatsoever. That was what they did against Forest in the semi final. But even with that kind of broad framework of like six, loosely speaking, midfielders in the middle, fullbacks high and wide providing the width, it still has changed quite a lot game to game against Forest. I think one of the reasons City did so well early on was they completely caught Forest out. Like I said, they had no strikers at all. City. So the Forest defenders didn't really know what to do. It is tempting even for me to say this whole thing works better without Haaland in it. But he'd come back for the first time in five, six weeks, presumably to get fitness for this game against Palace. So he wasn't looking that sharp. City themselves weren't looking that sharp. I feel like he can have a part in it, but it's just to what extent Guardiola adapts things. Is there a little tweak or does he just do something completely different?

[Matt Davis Adams]

Yeah. Haaland yet to score at Wembley. Do you think there's any way that we see both him and Mahmouche in the same starting 11, or is that unlikely?

[Sam Lee]

I think so. I was kind of hypothesizing about how they might do it the other week when they beat Wolves and that kept up the kind of winning run. I mean, they're still unbeaten, obviously, with that Southampton draw, but it wasn't good. And I think there is A way to do it. They need to go Back to Nico O'Reilly at left back and Matthias Nunes at right back to provide the width and get up and down, which, to be fair, they did last week with Guardiola and Lewis. But the first two have been the most successful in those roles recently. I do think there is a balance to do it, but it depends because like I said before, if Guardiola wants to change it completely, then he is fully going away from the formula that's worked. Six men in the middle, everything's controlled. So I think he'll kind of stick to that rather than just go completely back to what they might have done, because they don't have the. The consistency and the confidence to change things quite as dramatically as they used to. You know, they haven't got Rodri to call upon. They haven't got the best Gundogan, the best De Bruyne, even the best Haaland because of his form. They haven't got the best Foden to throw in. I didn't even mention him as an option a minute ago. So they kind of do still have to make sure they are very stable with what they're doing. Because I think if you take away the stability that that recent tactical change has given them, it might expose the old problems that we've seen from the end of Octo up until the middle of March.

[Matt Davis Adams]

Is everything Sam's saying there, Ruben, giving you some confidence? I mean, obviously 2 nil up in that game at the Etihad in April. Guess that portion of the game might give palace belief, but I'm thinking maybe more what Sam's saying about players being either unfit out of form, tactical questions. It feels like maybe this is going to be Palace's day.

[Reuben Binder]

Well, my overarching thought, listening to sound there was what a nice problem to have is thinking do we play Haaland or do we not? But yeah, that league game, you know, it could have been three if Eze had held his run a bit better. Obviously, then there was a collapse. But the uncertainty of how City will approach the game does somewhat give me confidence, but also, you know, that will make it really difficult for Glasner to predict what they're going to do. And in the way, like Sam mentioned, the absence of a striker against Forest left their centre backs kind of uncertain as to what to do. And palace obviously played three centre backs. So if they go for the kind of dual false nine, with the fullbacks providing the wits and Mahmouch kind of floating with out to win runs, that could cause us some problems because if Lacroix doesn't have anybody to pick up centre backs, like having that kind of reference point, and then you wonder the Wharton and whoever plays next to him, or even if Wharton starts, do our two number eights in the middle, do they get overrun by that numerical superiority, which is what Guardiola's football is all about? So, so in some ways, yeah, it's encouraging that they're not on a consistent run of winning, constantly playing the kind of slickest football that Guardiola's teams ever have. But in another way does drive the fear up because you just don't know what to expect.

[Matt Davis Adams]

All right, we're going to take one last break. When we come back, we're going to talk about Jean Philippe Mateta.

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[Matt Davis Adams]

Chase Banking NA member FDIC subject to credit approval. So you can read John Philippe Mateta My game in my Words. Out on the Athletic today, Mateta spoke about how he is obsessed with scoring goals. And with 27 since Oliver Glasner's appointment as manager last February. Only Mohamed Salah, Erling Haaland and Alexander Isaac have scored more in that time. Matt, tell us a bit more about the piece and particularly how Glasner and Palace's style of play seems to suit Mateta's game so well.

[Matt Woosdam]

Yeah, so it was really interesting to sit down with Mateta and I interviewed him last year and he said that he could be one of the best goalscorers in the Premier League. And at that point there was quite a lot of sort of surprise at that comment and a bit of disdain from some people because he wasn't scoring goals. He was an average striker. Whereas ever since Glasner came in, really, he's been absolutely outstanding for Palace. And we didn't touch too much on it in the piece, but we did touch on it a little bit. But it's not just his goals, it's his all round play that's really improved. And I've been really impressed with the way that he carries the ball and his mentality and his attitude. Both he and Glasner have this sort of positive mindset and it's all about looking, not looking forward too much, but being in the moment and looking forward a little bit and being positive and excited. And yeah, I think it's really interesting to hear him and see him talk about how he approaches this game, the runs he makes in behind, the runs that he makes to sort of draw defenders out. One of the really interesting things I found was that he speaks to Dean Kiley, the Palace goalkeeping coach, about what the goalkeepers will do. And now maybe in football that's something that, that a lot of strikers maybe do, but it's not something that I considered that they would do. So I found that really interesting in particular. But he also obviously speaks about Oliver Glasner and the system. And Mateta was brought into palace from Mainz, so he was playing in the Bundesliga. I think that was in 2021 that he signed. And he talks about how he understands Glasner's ideas because they both came from the Bundesliga. And he talks about how direct it is. You know, Glassner likes his striker to be in the middle a lot. And obviously Mateta thrives when he is in the middle of the pitch. So there's a lot of things that he discusses in that interview and I'm sure I'd like to think that if you read it, then certainly you'll find it interesting and insightful.

[Matt Davis Adams]

Yeah, it's an excellent piece. He's not just doing it all by himself though, is he? Reuben? He's got some really informed players either side of him in Eza and sa. How well do they complement Mateo?

[Reuben Binder]

Yeah, it's turned out to be a really coherent front three this season, which, you know, given the disappointment of losing Michael Elise to Bayern Munich last summer is a really nice, not necessarily surprise, but, you know, it's really positive to see that as Matt puts in his piece, you know, EZ has created 21 chances for Mateta and assisted him eight times under Glasner. They all have a slightly different profile. So while Michael Elise was and will be, you know, one of the top attackers in world football, Ismail Asar is a lot more of a direct runner. He run in behind the last line a lot more, which helps Ezza, who likes to drift in from the left, pick up the ball in pockets of space and, you know, try and find those creative passes. They all offer a bit of everything, but they specialize in different things as well. Mateta, he's huge. He's like 6 foot 4, but you know, he's quick. He's not a target man. Sar in particular has been brilliant this season, which not a lot of us expected at the start of the year. SAR's first full 90 minutes came in October against Liverpool. And before then he was coming off the bench a lot for Eddie Nketiah who was playing that forward role. Daichi Komada was playing there as kind of like another number 10 as well as EZA. And that was another contributing factor to the slow start to the season, was trying to work out that balance in the narrow front three. But as soon as Sar kind of got a run of games in that right sided attacking role, it all started to click. And you saw it in the semi final, especially the first goal that Ezra lashes in from outside the box comes from Sar and Munoz. Sars pressing together and panicking the Villa defense a bit. And then Saad plays a cutback before that. The disallow goal is Mateta, you know, going shoulder to shoulder with Ezri Konza. And Sar's pace, like I say, the direct running for the third goal, everyone is knackered and he just bursts through seemingly twice as quick as everybody else on the pitch. So that balance has been really good, the consistency has been really good. And in the last few weeks, as Matt mentioned earlier, Eza has come on hugely in terms of output. This is his most productive season. He's one goal contribution away from Mateta's record of last season. And you know, for, for periods earlier on this Season. A lot of palace fans are quite frustrated with EZ's output. There was groans whenever he would maybe slow down a counterattack. Whether that was instruction from the manager, I'm not really sure. But the, the fast breaks are a lot more coherent now and Ezzer has been a lot more decisive, especially in the FA Cup. You know, you see his, his goal against Fulham, his goal against Villa earlier in, in the round against Stockport. Very similar goals where, you know, he cuts inside from a narrow left position and shoots, but you can't really stop him.

[Matt Davis Adams]

Plenty of goal threat then for Palace, Sam, but it's not going to be easy for them to get past this City defense, which has looked much better in recent weeks. Just one goal conceded in the last five games. What have they done to change things around at the back and be more effective?

[Sam Lee]

It's that stability in midfield. Like, like I say, if, if the problem is for four or five months was City's kind of old, basically. Guardiola said they were an old team in January, so only mentioned kovacic, who's only 30, but I guess at that point was playing like he's old. And Gunderwin and De Bruyne. Obviously, if you've got problems like that in terms of physicality, pressing high, but you haven't got the, the fitness to do it, you're gonna, you're gonna go up the pitch, you're not gonna be able to make the jewel and then you've got a big space behind you. And then they had loads of problems with injuries and defense as well. Loads of injuries in defense. So if you've got an exposed defense that's, that's also weak, it's, it's a recipe for disaster and that's what we've seen. But recently the injuries have still been quite bad. Stones is still out. Akanji, just back from eight weeks out. Ake is still out, but having Nico O'Reilly come in at left back in that game against Bournemouth has pushed Gal into the middle. Dias is now back and he's playing well. So you've got a good partnership with Guardiol and Diaz, so they're strong. Matus Nunes, he's playing right back at the moment. It's not a sustainable long term situation, but he's got the broad traits to be able to do it, especially one that gets high. So in terms of the back four, it works. They've all got pace. O'Reilly's really good going forward because he's actually an attacking midfielder. So it's not just putting crosses in and getting wide. He looks comfortable in the final third, so that helps. But then like I say, if you've got like six midfielders in the middle of the pitch keeping the ball and pulling the other team around, not getting pulled out of position, not allowing counterattacks through them so much, then the defense, whoever it is, is going to be better protected anyway. So the reason they've had such an uplift is both of those things have improved dramatically over the last five or six weeks.

[Matt Davis Adams]

All right, final question as we wrap things up then. We've spoken a lot about what winning the FA cup would mean for Crystal palace and the answer is everything pretty much. What about City? What would it mean for them? Sam? It would be their eighth which would put them level with Liverpool, Chelsea and Spurs on the all time winners take table.

[Sam Lee]

I mean it's de Bruyne, his last game at the Etihad on, on Tuesday night, you know, there's loads of fans who don't want him to go at all. So for him to get the FA cup obviously City would have to win it, but for him to get it would mean so much to like everybody at the club and the fans. Edison's probably going to leave in the summer. One more trophy for him. I mean this is basically what it is as well as like obviously a football team wants to win a trophy whether they win it all the time or not. And I obviously it would mean more to palace just because they've never won it and they don't win trophies all the time. So I get that completely. But it doesn't mean it means nothing to City. I know that a lot was made about the attendance at the semi final against Forest, but like you said at the start or the start of my bit, 21st time City have been at Wembley over the last however many years. You've got to kind of pick and choose. The game sold out, the finals, the main event, all the fans are going, it'll mean loads to them, mean loads to the players. Talk about Guardiola getting the job done because he loves playing. Win it, it'll mean loads to him. Like there's, there's, there's plenty of, plenty of value in it for City.

[Matt Davis Adams]

All right, It's a fascinating final in prospect. Half past four on Saturday, UK time it kicks off. That's where we're going to leave things for today though. Many thanks to Sam, to Matt, to Ruben and to producer Jay for putting it all together. Enjoy the final and the podcast will be back on Monday. You've been listening to the Athletic F FC Podcast. The producers were Guy Clark, Mike Stavro and Jay Beal. The executive producer was a moorhead. To listen to other great athletic podcasts for free. Search for the Athletic on Apple, Spotify and all the usual places. The Athletic FC Podcast is an athletic media company production.

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