Pierre Sage believes that character will be an important aspect if Crystal Palace want to become a high-level team. The Eagles head into their UEFA Europa League for the first time in the club’s history, beginning against the current Poland Ekstraklasa champions, Lech Poznań.
Palace head into the game having lost 3-2 to Ipswich Town in the Premier League, though Sage’s side displayed their character to level the game at 2-2 through Jørgen Strand Larsen with 15 minutes to play.
When asked about the importance of character considering the high level of opponents in the Europa League, the Frenchman explained why it was so vital.
“The beginning of everything for me. When they ask the question, "Are you ambitious in this European Cup? Could you win it?" If you don't have character, you cannot reply yes.
“I think to be a high-level team as we are, we need people with character.
“That's why we choose the players in this way, and we manage it daily because if you want to compete, you need this kind of thing.”
Lech Poznań have been in good goalscoring form during the early stages of their new season, scoring 12 in seven league games.
They were knocked out of contention to make it into the UEFA Champions League after blowing a 4-1 first-leg aggregate lead to AGF in Denmark, losing by the same scoreline on the night and falling short on penalties.
There were no such issues in the Europa League qualifiers though, as they thumped Klaksvik from the Faroe Islands 6-0 on aggregate and Swiss side Thun 9-2.
Despite the fact that Palace have conceded 12 goals from five games in all competitions, Sage found it difficult to compare the games, but also knew the areas which Palace needed to improve on defensively,
“It's difficult to compare because they're really different games. We know what we need [to improve on]. That's not especially for this game; this is from the beginning of the season.
“We struggled defensively. We managed some things, but we need to improve other things now. It's a consequence of the first thing: when we close better inside, now we push the team outside.
“We have to prevent the crosses and defend the box better, because we've conceded five goals like this from the beginning of the season in the Premier League. We know that, and as I said, we worked on that, especially this week.
“Sometimes you know the problem, you know the solution, and actually there's a little gap between the good response and the pitch. But we need it as quickly as we can.”
A big boost for Sage is that Ismaïla Sarr could potentially be involved in the matchday squad for the first time this season.
The Senegal forward has been managing a groin issue, which has seen him miss all of the five games so far, and he was also heavily linked with a move to Liverpool during the summer transfer window, but remained at the club past the deadline.
“He [Ismaïla Sarr] could be in the team tomorrow because he started to train with us this week”.
“I think the situation is behind him now. He looks normal. We will see each other on the pitch during the competitive games, but I think now the idea is to make a big deal with us.:
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