Glasner explains Uche’s limited game time at Palace
German tactician Oliver Glasner has explained why he did not give Super Eagles midfielder Uche Chrisantus enough playing time during his loan spell from Spanish club, Getafe.
Recall that in his farewell message to Palace fans, Uche opened up on his lack of playing at Selhurst Park under Glasner, which yielded 14 appearances for Crystal Palace in the English Premier League, all of which came as a substitute.
Uche, who needed just 10 league starts to trigger an obligation to buy contract signed between Crystal Palace and Getafe FC, admitted in the message to fans of the club that he doesn’t feel the support of Glasner.
“I may not have much playing time, but I am grateful for the fans who continue to support me and the team,” he told Read Crystal Palace.
“Your dedication and enthusiasm mean a lot and I hope to make you proud whenever I do get the chance to play but I know maybe it won’t happen again because the coach doesn’t like me.”
Read Also: ‘Glasner doesn’t like me’ – Uche reveals in farewell message to Palace fans
However, Glasner has now taken time to defend why Uche did not have enough playing time in the Premiership and the UEFA Conference League where the player scored two goals in the first part of the competition.
Glasner, speaking to the press ahead of his team’s Conference League semi-final second leg tie against Shakhtar Donestsk, said that he had to drop Uche due to the rules of the competition.
Glasner who declared that he likes Uche as a person said that the player was dropped from the competition because of Eddie Nketiah who was recovering from injury at the time but the former Arsenal star did not turn the corner as scheduled.
“For me, I never blame the player for somethings. This stays internal. Uche wasn’t registered for the second part of the Conference League. I had a conversation with him, he wasn’t pleased with it,” Glasner declared.
“I had to take a decision due to the rules. We had new signings coming in. Honestly, If I had known that Eddie Nketiah wouldn’t get fit, Uche would have been registered.
“But at that moment, we thought Eddie was close to returning. We had Strand Larsen, Brennan Johnson, Mateta, and Eddie Nketiah. This was the reason, and from that day he felt that I don’t like him.
“There was nothing personal. I like him as a person, but again I had to take a decision,” the coach concluded.
