Crystal Palace: Oliver Glasner reveals Ben Chilwell had individual meeting on defending after debut | OneFootball

Eagles boss is keen for the on-loan defender to understand the “demands” at Crystal Palace

Oliver Glasner and his assistants held a meeting with Ben Chilwell this week with a focus on improving his defensive positioning.

Glasner must decide whether to start Chilwell or Mitchell at left wing-back when Palace host a rejuvenated Everton at Selhurst Park in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.

“We played Monday evening. We came back quite late, so Tuesday was recovery and Wednesday was off, so we’ve only had two sessions,” Glasner said.

“He [Chilwell] had an individual video [meeting] with my assistants, where we showed him how we defend. The player starts and he has to do this, and all the other players know what they have to do now. But if player Number 1 doesn’t do what the others expect, it drops like a card house.

“This is just how we are doing it. I’m not saying it’s good or bad. It’s just how we want to do it. Especially with our wing-backs, they’re one of the highest in building pressure on opposition teams. This is what we demand.

“If this player doesn’t do what the others expect, then we give the opposite teams space. This happened in a few situations at Doncaster, and that’s why it was so useful and necessary that he got this 45 minutes.”

Ben Chilwell made his debut in the FA Cup against Doncaster

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Glasner was asked whether he would prefer one of Chilwell or Mitchell to be the clear first-choice in the position just as Daniel Munoz is on the opposite flank, or whether the pair might share game time for the remainder of the season.

“It depends on the performance of the players,” said Glasner. “If a player performs great game by game then it’s a clear situation and the other one has to show in every single training session that he’s ready if something happens and wait for the minutes.

“But I never hope that a player is performing terribly. We’re in a good situation now, having players in a good shape. It’s always better to choose between two players who are in good form than the opposite.

“It doesn’t mean that Daniel Munoz plays every single game, but he performs well, scores goals, gets assists, is very consistent and does his job which he has to do for the team. That’s what we expect from every single player.”

20-year-old winger Matheus Franca has endured injury hell since arriving in England, but the Brazilian made his first appearance of the season late in the game against Doncaster.

Rather than make the squad against Everton, the Eagles plan to give him match minutes for the Under-21s in Monday night’s Premier League 2 clash against Aston Villa.

“We stick to our usual plan now,” Glasner revealed, when speaking about Franca.

“He trained the whole week, and did very good. We’ll talk to him today, because he won’t be in the squad tomorrow. He’s preparing for more minutes on Monday evening with our Under-21s.”