After just 16 games, the Pierre Sage experiment at Crystal Palace is over, and Thomas Frank is already being lined up as his replacement.
Sage has been relieved of his duties at Selhurst Park after winning just five matches across all competitions. In the Premier League, it’s been worryingly bad, the Eagles sitting bottom after 10 games, with just two wins and seven points on the board.
Palace cannot afford to get this next appointment wrong. Rather than an ideological gamble, they’re going with an immediate injection of Premier League experience and pragmatism, from a manager who still has the promise to do great things in the game — despite his failed spell with Tottenham Hotspur.
On paper, it’s a partnership with high potential for success, and Frank could be the perfect man to get Palace out of trouble.
Sorting the defensive mess
Palace have had the heart ripped out of their defence over the last two windows, with Marc Guehi joining Manchester City in January and Maxence Lacroix going to Chelsea in the summer. That’s without mentioning right-back Daniel Munoz joining Nottingham Forest.
The Londoners have brought players in to replace those star names, signing Takehiro Tomiyasu, Axel Disasi and co. But Sage was unable to foster an understanding between the new arrivals and remaining cornerstone Chris Richards.
As a result, Palace have leaked a whopping 24 goals in 10 Premier League games, which is at least four more than any other team. They’re also the worst performers for shots conceded inside the box (137) and goals conceded from shots inside the box (22), and are the only team in the English top flight to exceed the 20-mark for expected goals against (23.37).
Outgoing transfers, a lack of understanding between replacements and pesky injuries mean this is a defence crying out for strength in numbers. Luckily for Palace, Frank is an expert in three- and five-man defensive systems.
Frank’s Brentford often switched between 5-3-2 and 3-5-2 formations depending on game state, while still being capable of morphing into a more traditional 4-3-3 when they were on top. That structural discipline showed in the numbers: across their Premier League campaigns under Frank, Brentford averaged just 1.47 goals conceded, 1.26 goals conceded from inside the box, 9.12 box shots faced and 0.28 errors leading to a shot per game — a stark contrast to a Palace side currently shipping 13.7 box shots and committing 1.2 errors leading to a shot per match.
The Dane can stick with the three-man centre-back set-up that Sage attempted, but demand far more defensive awareness from wing-backs like Tyrick Mitchell, Ben Chilwell and Oscar Mingueza — even holding the option of putting Tomiyasu out wide as a pure stopper.
And in front of the backline, Palace have more than enough options for high-energy midfielders with bite. Adam Wharton is 11th among Premier League central midfielders for tackles (20) and Daichi Kamada is sixth for possessions won in the middle third (30), while both are in the top 20 across all positions for distance covered.
With Jefferson Lerma capable of providing the disciplined anchor screen in the Christian Norgaard mould, Frank can unleash Wharton, Kamada, Quinten Timber and Will Hughes to replicate the tireless shuttling and half-space work he got from Vitaly Janelt and Mathias Jensen at Brentford. It’s this defensive focus that could be the difference between Palace falling through the trapdoor or surviving.
Maximising set-pieces
Palace have been chronically bad at defending set-pieces so far this season, conceding five goals from such situations — the second-worst record in the Premier League. The Eagles have been poor in the air, winning just 12.9 aerial duels per match, while losing 16.
By contrast, even when Brentford battled relegation in 2023/24 — finishing 16th — they still only conceded nine set-piece goals throughout the entire campaign, with the top two of Man City (3) and Arsenal (7) among the only four to boast a better record. The following campaign, the Bees conceded just two set-piece goals all season — at least three fewer than any other side in the division.
Under Frank, Brentford won more aerial duels than they lost at a ratio of 17.53-16.77, while the contrast is particularly stark at corners. Palace’s xG against in such situations is currently at 0.54 per game, compared to just 0.18 for Frank’s Bees.
But it’s not just defending set-pieces that is a problem for Palace. The Eagles have scored just one set-piece goal so far this season, averaging 0.27 set-piece xG per match and 0.1 big chances created from such situations. By comparison, Frank’s Brentford averaged 0.32 set-piece xG per match and created big chances in these situations at a rate of 0.24. Even during his ill-fated spell in north London, Frank’s Tottenham were eighth for set-piece xG (0.34 per match).
Frank is a manager who has always looked to leverage long throw-ins to create goalscoring opportunities, while on the floor, the likes of Adam Wharton and Yeremy Pino are capable of dangerous deliveries.
Palace need to stop the bleeding from dead balls in their own box and become far more effective at the other end. Frank is an expert here and would look to utilise the height of the likes of Jean-Philippe Mateta, Jorgen Strand Larsen and Axel Disasi in a much more focused way.
Getting a tune out of the attack
Palace’s defensive record is woeful, but it’s no prettier at the other end. The Eagles have scored just 10 goals so far, with only Nottingham Forest (9) and Sunderland (8) managing fewer.
Tyrick Mitchell is the only player at the club with more than a single Premier League goal to his name so far, and both of his strikes came in a 3-2 win at Fulham back in early September.
There is a service problem at Selhurst Park, with Palace 17th in the Premier League for chances created (82) and penalty area entries (256), and 18th for crosses attempted (138). But they’ve still underperformed their xG by 2.1 and missed 22 big chances — the third-most in the English top flight.
Palace’s cause hasn’t been helped by Jean-Philippe Mateta’s absence with a hamstring injury, followed by a red card at Tottenham in late October, all of which has limited him to 167 Premier League minutes. Ismaila Sarr has also been battling a groin issue.
But in their absence, Strand Larsen, Dwight McNeil and cfo. have utterly failed to produce.
Frank’s time at Brentford could make him one of the ideal managers to come in and get a tune out of Palace’s strikers, however. The Dane helped turn Ivan Toney, Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo into ruthless Premier League goalscorers during his spell at the Gtech Community Stadium — the trio netting 123 Premier League goals for Brentford combined. That’s all before mentioning his conversion of Ollie Watkins from a winger to an England international striker, or Said Benrahma’s vital role in helping Brentford to promotion.
Verdict
Frank is a Premier League-tested manager with tactical intelligence, adaptability and a calm manner.
The Dane has proven that he can instil the sort of defensive discipline, commitment to the basics and offensive output that Palace are desperately craving right now, and of all the managers available, he feels best-equipped to get a tune out of the players at Selhurst Park and deliver them from this desperate position.