Crystal Palace: Oliver Glasner praises 'great' recruitment strategy as Eagles reach FA Cup final | OneFootball

Crystal Palace reap the benefits of scouting in the Championship as the likes of Eberechi Eze, Ismaila Sarr and Adam Wharton starred in the FA Cup semi-final win over Aston Villa

Delighted: Oliver Glasner

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Crystal Palace’s 3-0 hammering of Aston Villa to reach the FA Cup final was “100 per cent” a testament to the Eagles’ recruitment strategy, manager Oliver Glasner has insisted.

Palace are into an FA Cup final for just the third time in their history, having lost both previous finals to Manchester United in 1990 and 2016.

They will face either Nottingham Forest or Manchester City in next month’s final.

Palace have established a reputation for buying players from the Championship and making them into established Premier League stars in recent years, including Marc Guehi, Eberechi Eze and Adam Wharton — all of whom started — as well as Michael Olise, brought from Reading for £8m and sold to Bayern Munich last summer for £51m.

“Not to just to the players’ profiles but also the character of the players. It’s a great group to manage, to coach. It is great recruitment.

“The new players who came in this year, like Maxence Lacroix, like Daichi Kamada, showed an outstanding performance today and also at the Emirates. Nketiah. He won the ball for the third and passed to Sarr at the right moment.

Adam Wharton has impressed since joining Crystal Palace from Blackburn

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“It’s all about recruitment and talent and character. Then we can build a group. Now we’ve got the first small reward, that we can come back in three weeks and play here in this really fantastic stadium again.”

Glasner said everyone had delivered at Wembley, saying: “Yes, from every player who started, from every player who came in and from every player on the bench and behind the dugout.”

He was asked what the celebratory scenes in the dressing room were like after the match, revealing Jean-Philippe Mateta — who missed a second-half penalty — was among those in fine spirits.

Not to just to the players’ profiles but also the character of the players. It’s a great group to manage, to coach. It is great recruitment

“We will release it [a video clip] and you will see the big man dancing in the middle of the dressing room,” Glasner said, referring to Mateta.

Asked if he himself had danced, Glasner said: “No. It’s better not to. And with all the happiness and pride, it was not the last step. It was one more step, but an important step. When you play the final you want to win it. I’m really proud.

“I enjoyed walking in front of the stands seeing how happy people are. In the dressing room, it’s a great mood. I think when I started dancing, I destroyed this moment.”