De Boer hired to manage Crystal Palace

Former Netherlands defender Frank de Boer was hired as manager of Crystal Palace on Monday, taking his first coaching job in English soccer seven months after getting fired by Inter Milan.

De Boer signed a three-year deal, saying his priority was to make Palace a “solid Premier League club” after its recent battles to avoid relegation from England’s lucrative top division.

De Boer led Ajax to four straight league titles during his time at the Dutch club from 2010-16 before joining Inter, where his reputation was damaged by lasting only 14 matches and 84 days in charge.

When asked what went wrong at Inter, De Boer said at his presentation as Palace manager: “A lot, especially at the start of preseason. I learned a lot. Hopefully I can bring that experience here to Crystal Palace.”

De Boer, who is Palace’s fifth manager in the last four years, said he was close to taking over at Everton last year only for compatriot Ronald Koeman to get handed the job.

Palace, whose owners are American, has been without a manager since Sam Allardyce quit last month after keeping the team in the Premier League following a flurry of late-season wins.

Palace played a direct, counterattacking style under Allardyce, whereas De Boer favours a possession-based approach that got results in Dutch soccer.

De Boer takes over a squad that is widely regarded to be too strong to be languishing near the bottom of the Premier League. The expensively assembled front three of Andros Townsend, Christian Benteke and Wilfried Zaha was particularly impressive at the end of last season.

De Boer said he would work with the existing squad while adding “one or two signings that I think is necessary.”

A cultured left-footed centre back, De Boer made 112 appearances for the Netherlands from 1990 to 2004 and played for Barcelona during his career before retiring in 2006.

He was assistant coach of the Netherlands when the country reached the World Cup final in ’10.