The reason why Crystal Palace youngster Romain Esse was spotted crying at Anfield following the Eagles’ final day 1-1 draw against Liverpool has been revealed after footage emerged of Mohamed Salah consoling the forward. The 20-year-old joined Palace in January and was part of the squad that won the FA Cup against Manchester City, being named on the substitutes’ bench at Wembley without coming on.
He has so far been limited to seven Premier League appearances, scoring on his competition debut against Brentford and making just one start in the final game of the campaign at Selhurst Park against Wolves. He also made a short cameo at Anfield, with the main talking point being his emotional reaction at full-time. Now, more details have come to light over what may have caused it.
Esse Spotted In Tears After Anfield Draw
The player was consoled by Salah and departing Palace captain Joel Ward
In the footage posted to social media, Esse could be seen in deep conversation with Salah. There was also a short snippet of him talking to Joel Ward, who will be leaving Palace after more than a decade at the club come the end of the season.
The young forward’s reaction is believed to have stemmed from a dressing down he received from manager Oliver Glasner for his performance during the 11 minutes he was on the pitch at Anfield. Esse was brought on in the 79th minute, but was then replaced by Matheus Franca in stoppage time.
GIVEMESPORT Key Statistic: Esse has averaged 21 minutes per appearance since joining Crystal Palace.
While Glasner did not specifically comment on the reason why he opted to replace the sub, he did say after the game that Esse had been made aware of the reasoning, while also criticising his side’s overall performance, as per The Athletic:
“He knows why, that’s enough,” the Palace boss stated. “I’m not really pleased with our performance. Not in general but a few players didn’t play 100 per cent for the team (in) how we want to play. I didn’t like to see this.
“That’s why we got the draw, there were so many situations we could have won this game. I don’t forget our start to the season where it was similar (with Palace failing to win any of the first eight games), we missed our chances because of a lack of determination and this is (the same) today.”
