Oliver Glasner finds himself with a ‘mini pre-season’ after three games in charge, as his Crystal Palace side have jetted off to Marbella for a warm weather training camp.

The Eagles have had a mixed bag of results since the Austrian took over, with a 3-0 win over Burnley, a 3-1 defeat by Spurs and then a 1-1 draw with Luton. 

But Glasner has already shown signs of improving his new club's fortunes for the long term, with some clear changes already implemented.   

Here are three things that have changed since Glasner joined the club.

Three at the back

The most noticeable change to the naked eye would be a tactical one. Under Roy Hodgson this season, Palace had predominantly played with a back four, bouncing between a 4-2-3-1 and a 4-3-3. They only operated with a back three/five away to last season’s top two teams, Manchester City and Arsenal.

Since Glasner’s arrival, Palace have moved away from the back four into his preferred back three.

The 3-4-3 is a formation that Glasner enjoys using; it has been his go-to system since his arrival at Frankfurt, in a period where the German side won the Europa League.

The instant change in formation shows that he is not interested in going against his principles, and that his players will have to do the adapting. This break that the club are on can only strengthen the players' understanding.

Going for goals

Under Hodgson, it was no secret that Palace struggled going forward. They had only scored 28 goals in the first 25 games of the season, before Glasner took charge.

In the three games under Glasner, they have scored five goals, three against Burnley, and one in each of their last two, versus Tottenham and Luton.

Breaking down the statistics makes it even more impressive. The Eagles' last fixture against Luton saw them attempt 20 shots, the first time they have hit this total since the opening day against Sheffield United.

Their xG has also drastically improved. In Crystal Palace’s matches under Glasner, they have a total of 5.4 xG, compared to just 2.8 in their last three matches under Hodgson. Impressively, their highest two xG of the season have come in Glasner’s two home games in charge, boasting 2.4 and 2.7 xG respectively.

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Defensive improvement

The switch to three at the back has also improved the side defensively. Two of the sides' four lowest xG against has been in the last three matches, including just conceding 0.1 xG against Burnley in his first game in charge.

Adding to this, they are yet to concede before the 75th minute, however, a problem for Glasner to conquer is the fact they have conceded four times past this point.

While on their training camp, Glasner will have time to work closely with his players. His side are today (March 14) playing a behind closed doors friendly against Norwegian side Bodø/Glimt, who have won three out of their last four league titles.