When Glasner took charge at Selhurst Park in February 2024, Palace were 15th, having lost 10 of their previous 17 games under Roy Hodgson.
They finished 10th at the end of the season, winning six of their last seven games, beating Liverpool, Manchester United and Aston Villa.
He used a back three, something he used successfully at Frankfurt, but it’s not something Glasner immediately promised at Forest.
“We’re not here to be Palace 2,” he said.
“What’s important are habits and patterns, how to attack and defend, the spirit you create to create a common way of playing and an understanding of what we want to do.
“I told the players that I don’t know if we play four or three, we will find the players where they feel comfortable and it is important that they all play in their best positions.”
“Meet the players and find the right system, but the patterns and habits will be the same as previous clubs.”
However, Glasner appears to have the right players in the likes of Ola Aina and Neco Williams who are ideal at full-back, leaving Murillo, Nikola Milenkovic and Morato as senior options in central defence. Zach Abbott is highly respected but lacks experience at the top level.
Nuno has played with a back three from time to time, but this team does not play regularly.
In Palace’s attack, Glasner inherited a forward line of Jean-Philippe Mateta, Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise. This time he has Chris Wood, Igor Jesus, Omari Hutchinson, Dan Nodai and Dylan Bakwa.
Add in Morgan Gibbs-White and James McAtee and he has players to suit his style. Expect Glasners Forest to take the field sooner.
His Palace team had the fastest attacking time (2.00 m/s) of any team in the Premier League last season, while Forest finished 13th in that table (1.80).
Although Forest have scored more goals and taken more shots than Glasner Palace, they can still improve under his leadership.
Both teams struggled to take chances as Forest created poor chances – only Burnley and Tottenham created worse on average. Palace created good chances under Glasner but failed to capitalize on them, finishing the season with -17 xG.
Under four managers, Forest played the highest percentage of back passes in the Premier League last season with 17.1% of their total, while Palace had the lowest return on this front with just 14% of their 14,920 passes.
There will be clear changes in the style and methods of attacking the Forest. They attempted 628 crosses, the second-highest total, while Palace completed just 417, the third-highest total in the division, ahead of only Manchester City and Burnley.
Palace haven’t made many passes in the final third – more than 500 fewer passes than Forest did last season – but Glasner’s philosophy is to waste no time when his teams get close to goal.
The Eagles created 29 more big chances (98) than Forest (69). However, Forest still scored more: 32 points to Palace’s 30. Their conversion rate was 43.5%, better than Palace’s 32.7%.