LONDON -- Oliver Glasner launched a furious tirade at the Crystal Palace hierarchy for not strengthening the squad over the summer.
Palace suffered a 2-1 defeat at home to Manchester United despite taking the lead and dominating proceedings in the first half. A nine-minute second half spell saw United turn the game on its head, with goals from Joshua Zirkzee and Mason Mount.
A win would have provisionally taken Palace into the top four, but now they lie one place behind sixth-place United. It was the south London side's second defeat in four days, following their 2-1 loss to Strasbourg on Thursday in the Conference League.
It's Palace's first season in Europe and the defeat to United means they have now failed to win each of their three league games that have followed a Conference League match.
Glasner said their second half collapse was down to mental fatigue, and how the squad is being challenged by the relentlessness of their schedule.
"I think it's also now time to mention it ... That is clearly our fault. We missed [the chance] to strengthen the depth of the squad in summer," he told a news conference post-match.
"We knew the schedule, we knew that Ismaïla [Sarr] would go to AFCON. Nothing happened surprisingly, but again, I just think personally [that when] you play the first time [in] your history, European football ... Let us invest instead of [being] safe. We [played] safe and that's what we're facing now.
"But these players, this group of players are giving everything. So no blame for the players because they're leaving their heart on the pitch. Even today at the end you see in the stoppage time they tried and tried to get the equaliser. But there are moments when the legs don't do what your head wants them to do."
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The club sold talisman Eberechi Eze in the summer to Arsenal while signing five players. However, only one of them -- Yeremy Pino -- made the starting XI against United.
When pressed on if he felt let down by the hierarchy, Glasner said: "We all would've wished a little bit more backing."
Palace's squad is set to be tested further with Glasner suggesting that Sarr might not feature until he departs for AFCON due to the ankle injury he picked up in the first half.
The FA Cup holders face a brutal December, with eight games across all competitions. However, Glasner is unwilling to use that as an excuse for a dip in performances.
"Sorry to disappoint you, patience is not something for me. We want to succeed and we want to win games in every competition," he said.
"We could say now when we play Arsenal in the EFL cup 'not an important game for everybody, for the club, nothing to win.' But I don't want this, I don't like this attitude. So for us it's to compete every single game and the club has to get the resources to get this done because this is the progress.
"And if we don't want progress, okay, let's stop playing. So we knew this schedule will come and this group of players is prepared and we will go through it. But there is nothing to be patient [about], it's just for us to keep the heads up to stay positive in the way we are doing.
"Maybe again, I'm always thinking what can I change first? And so it's my responsibility to find the right answers for the schedule."