De Boer’s sticking to his football principles
CRYSTAL PALACE manager Frank de Boer is adamant he will not make the same mistake as close friend Louis van Gaal and will stick to his principles as he looks to turn round the club’s nightmare start to the season.
After three defeats, De Boer knows another loss against Burnley today could signal the end of his short career in the Premier League.
Despite arriving in south London after four Dutch titles with Ajax, de Boer has struggled to get his Palace squad to adapt to his preferred 3-4-3 formation. There have been calls for the Palace manager to change his system, but the 47-year-old points to how Van Gaal changed his system after just one game at Manchester United and it came back to haunt him.
De Boer said he had spoken to Van Gaal before arriving at Crystal Palace. ‘The only thing he said he regretted was that he played 3-4-3 all pre-season and then he lost the first game and changed it to 4-3-3. He regretted that and that’s why you stick to your own philosophy.
‘Always stick to your own ideas and philosophy. That’s a very important lesson, I think.’