The Crystal Palace Eagles are soaring under Glasner

Oliver Glasner celebrates Crystal Palace's historic FA Cup victory.

In February 2024, when Crystal Palace announced that Austrian Oliver Glasner would be replacing Roy Hodgson as the club’s first-team manager, the news attracted little attention outside of a small corner of South London and an even smaller group of British football fans who had been following the Bundesliga closely.

For most of the English footballing public, the appointment seemed to fit a familiar pattern, one they felt they already knew the ending to. A young, highly rated coach arrives from abroad in the Premier League, yet, despite his innovative methods and deep tactical knowledge, the league promptly chews him up, spits him out, and leaves his once-burgeoning reputation in tatters.

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For every Arsène Wenger, José Mourinho, or Mauricio Pochettino who enhanced their reputation in England, there have been dozens of Frank de Boers, Christian Grosses, or René Meulensteens who have wilted under the Premier League’s intensity and quickly disappeared, tails firmly between their legs. (If you needed to look up any of those names, please don't be concerned—that's precisely the intention.)

Despite the press releases extolling Glasner's achievements, particularly his time at Eintracht Frankfurt, where he won the Europa League, advanced to the Champions League knockout stage, and led the club to a German Cup Final, it was equally true that Frankfurt had terminated his contract a year before it expired due to a disappointing end to the 2022–23 season.

All this is to say that even after a strong start to his career at Selhurst Park—six wins in Palace’s final seven matches of the 2023–24 season, securing a then club-record-equalling 49 Premier League points—even the most optimistic of Palace fans would not have predicted what was to come.

Such has been Glasner’s impact at Palace that it now feels fair to ask: Is Oliver Glasner the best manager in the Premier League?

Following Palace’s impressive run at the end of 2023–24, Glasner continued to elevate the club. The 2024–25 season brought a record 53 Premier League points and a respectable 12th-place finish, but the true milestone came with Palace’s historic FA Cup Final victory over Manchester City—their first-ever major honor. Glasner followed that by defeating Liverpool in August’s Community Shield to add another trophy to the cabinet.

The fact that this historic season started with Palace failing to win any of their first eight Premier League games, coupled with the departures of Michael Olise and Joachim Andersen, makes it all the more remarkable.

Even after delivering silverware and European football, Glasner faced another blow at the start of this season, with star midfielder Eberechi Eze departing for Arsenal. Yet Palace’s rise under the Austrians has barely faltered.

After this weekend’s outstanding display to beat previously unbeaten Liverpool, where one pundit remarked Palace should have been five goals up by halftime, the club sits third in the Premier League. Without a doubt, the Eagles are legitimate candidates for a Champions League spot.

Glasner not only produces results. Palace is playing fast, high-intensity, entertaining football, while also remaining well-organized and difficult to beat. This makes them a match for any opposition and suggests that another cup triumph, either at home or in Europe, is a real possibility.

So, is Oliver Glasner the best manager in the Premier League? Considering his achievements, the methods he used to achieve them, and the challenges he has faced, he may indeed be successful.

And while Palace fans won’t thank me for saying it, his accomplishments will not have gone unnoticed at Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge, or the Etihad—three clubs that could well be looking for a new manager before too long.