Pierre Sage conducted his first press conference as Crystal Palace manager on Thursday, outlining his tactical philosophy and confirming key players will remain at the club ahead of Saturday's Premier League opener against Everton.
The 40-minute media session followed a summer refurbishment of Palace's press suite, where rows of leather seating replaced plastic classroom chairs and staff removed a wall photograph of former manager Oliver Glasner celebrating the club's FA Cup victory. Glasner departed Selhurst Park during the close season to join new rivals Nottingham Forest.
Sage arrived at Palace after securing Champions League qualification and winning the French Cup with Lens last season. The French coach presented a calm and transparent approach that contrasted with Glasner's spiky interactions with the media and club hierarchy.
Addressing reporters, Sage described his personality as quiet and reserved while expressing confidence in his leadership. "I'm quiet, shy, maybe," Sage said. "But when I speak and I'm hungry, they know."
Unlike many top-flight managers, Sage did not have a professional playing career and worked his way up from amateur football. He also spent 10 years lecturing on sports mentality at Claude Bernard University in Lyon.
"Four or five years ago, my dream was to become a member of staff - not a manager - at a pro team... I did it," Sage said. "But I did it in a way I didn't consider and I became a head coach. It works well. That's why I told myself I needed a new dream, and two years ago that dream became coming to the Premier League. Now I am here. I have to build another dream."
Sage said he views himself as a role model for coaches from non-professional backgrounds. "I'm a flag bearer of the amateur coach and for young coaches to give them hope to become a head coach of a good team, a professional team," Sage said. "You need to work every day. To have an opportunity, you have to be an opportunity yourself. I came from the bottom. Now I'm here, I just want to give my best. I have no pressure. For me, the pressure is giving the players the best session I can give every day. Sometimes there will be a gap between what we did in game and what we chose before the game. But our job is to make the gap as small as we can, improve the way we play and develop our game."
Tactical approach and pre-season preparation
Sage acknowledged that implementing his full tactical system would take time, as 13 Palace players returned late following their involvement in the World Cup. Although he plans to retain elements of Glasner's formation, Sage outlined his own strategy built around three core principles.
"We have to consider the late arrivals of the players and accept what the players are able to do collectively now," Sage said. "But we want to implement our principles because that will give us more options to win games. We will do that session after session, game after game. The most important thing is to play as a team, respect every moment of play and every moment of the game because we want to play as a unit."
Explaining his framework, Sage detailed his expectations on the pitch. "I always speak about three pillars," Sage said. "The first is about pressing, we want to recover the ball as soon as we can because we want to play with the ball and be efficient in build-up, creating good possession conditions in the opponents' half. At the end, we want to attack the depths (high areas) and put pressure, psychological pressure and space pressure on the opponents in games. We are able to do that in transition and by having the ball in possession. We want to be able to play in a lot of contexts to compete. We have a focus on set-pieces because they're important to win games and make a difference in some moments."
Transfer window updates on key squad members
Addressing transfer speculation, Sage insisted that midfielder Adam Wharton, winger Ismaila Sarr, and right-back Daniel Munoz will remain at Palace beyond the closure of the transfer window.
Palace recently rejected an inquiry from Manchester City for Wharton, maintaining that the midfielder is not for sale while valuing him in excess of £100 million. "We did it (sold players) and now it's not the moment to do that," Sage said regarding Wharton. "He is able to play in another club, a big club, here or anywhere in Europe. But one year with us and a new dynamic will be good for him. We need him and that's why he will stay with us. I hope he continues his improvement."
Palace also turned down a bid exceeding £30 million from Galatasaray for Sarr this week, valuing the Senegal international significantly above his market value. "We will, we will," Sage responded when asked if Palace would retain Sarr, noting that the winger returned from the World Cup three weeks ago and is available for Saturday's match. Meanwhile, Everton evaluated Munoz but are pursuing alternative right-back targets, with Sage stating: "I hear the noise but he is happy to be with us and we are happy he is here."
While Sage explicitly stated that attacker Romain Esse is not part of his plans, Palace are seeking to add two centre-backs and a midfielder before the window closes. Palace are negotiating a loan move for Chelsea defender Axel Disasi to bolster a backline missing Maxence Lacroix, who joined Chelsea, and Marc Guehi, who left seven months ago. Sage urged the recruitment team, led by chairman Steve Parish, to secure a defender with Premier League experience while maintaining patience for the right signing.
Updates on Matheus Franca and Cheick Doucoure
Sage also evaluated forward Matheus Franca, who signed for Palace three years ago from Brazil for £17 million and took the number 11 shirt previously worn by Wilfried Zaha. After managing only 14 league appearances and spending last season on loan at Vasco da Gama, Franca scored four goals in pre-season while playing as a central striker.
"He had a good pre-season with four goals," Sage said of the Brazilian. "It was difficult for him as he began here, that's why he went on loan to Brazil last year. He has to adapt to European football because it's really different to South American football. He's shown really good things and we will see what we will do with him. We have to build the best context for him to improve because he's young but he has talent."
Midfielder Cheick Doucoure is also available after missing 18 months of competitive action due to a ruptured ACL, which followed an earlier Achilles injury. Doucoure, previously linked with a £70 million move to Liverpool, completed pre-season training and is ready to feature in the Premier League.
Sage praised Doucoure as an incredible player while explaining that his return will be managed carefully to rebuild his confidence. "He's able to start," Sage said. "He didn't play much during the last two seasons so we have to consider him within this situation. He needs time to come back and we will take our time to let him in a good context, particularly on the psychological side. When you play, you have to be confident, understand this moment is only a step and in a few moments you will be the player you were two years ago. That's why we will take our time with him. He understands that. He walks a lot around the session but he's really happy to be on the pitch and we are happy to see him on the pitch because he's an incredible player."
