OLIVER Glasner said Romain Esse knew why he was taken off just fourteen minutes after coming on as a substitute in their 1-1 draw against Liverpool at Anfield last Sunday.
Ismaila Sarr gave the Eagles a ninth-minute lead before champions Liverpool levelled through Mohamed Salah’s 29th league goal of the season six minutes from time.
Esse, a £14.5million signing from Millwall in January, has struggled for game-time at Selhurst Park. He scored on his Premier League debut after coming on against Brentford, but has started just once in the league since then.
Esse came on for Will Hughes in the 79th minute before being replaced by Matheus França in the third minute of stoppage-time.
Glasner was quizzed about the move afterwards.
“He knows why, that’s enough,” Glasner said.
“I’m not really pleased with our performance. Not in general but a few players didn’t play 100 per cent for the team (in) how we want to play. I didn’t like to see this.
“That’s why we got the draw, there were so many situations we could have won this game. I don’t forget our start to the season where it was similar, we missed our chances because of a lack of determination and this is [the same against Liverpool].”
FA Cup winners Palace broke their Premier League record for points with 53, after winning none of their opening eight games before beating Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 at Selhurst Park.
“On the other side, it’s an unbeaten end to the season, a points record, and winning the FA Cup,” Glasner added. “It’s a fantastic season over all but hopefully we learn from this game that when we meet for pre-season we don’t make the same mistakes again.
“We always can find excuses, it’s easy to find excuses and we would have been relegated if we [had done]. There’s always a reason for something but we prepared in a professional way and arrived [the day before the game]. If someone doesn’t want to play, [then] tell me and he could have stayed at home.
“When we go to Liverpool and play at Anfield I expect 100 per cent focus determination and commitment, this was not every single player here. A few things today I don’t accept.
“It’s maybe a bit unfair when you see it in the big picture over the season I know now why we are where we are and if we have the mindset from today next season we will struggle again.
“Not everybody played 100 per cent for the team. A little bit of ego trips and a few situations. That’s what I don’t like. We have definitely not reached our ceiling as a team.”
