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Ronald de Boer: My brother Frank's sacking by Crystal Palace was 'sour'

Ronald and Frank de Boer
Image: Ronald de Boer (left) says twin brother Frank should have had more time

Ronald de Boer says his twin brother Frank's sacking by Crystal Palace was "sour" after he was told he would be given time to change the club's football philosophy.

De Boer was dismissed on Monday after four Premier League defeats in four matches without scoring - the worst start from a top-flight side since 1924 - with Roy Hodgson set to succeed him in the coming days.

Writing in a column for Voetbal International, Ronald believes Palace should have followed the lead of Manchester City, who knew even Pep Guardiola would need time to mould his squad in his image.

Frank de Boer leaves with his Dutch assistant Orlando Trustfull
Image: De Boer was sacked after defeat at Burnley despite his side dominating the game

De Boer said: "In the previous days, the English newspapers had firmly dealt with the importance of the match against Burnley on Frank's future. Even though this was never said to him by the club leadership. Either way, you know: where there is smoke, there is fire.

"On Sunday evening I had Frank on the phone. He was still positive after what happened. He said he had heard nothing from the chairman and was focused on training the next day.

"It's very sour when you think about the original plan. Crystal Palace wanted to play football in a different way. Frank would have the time to sharpen the game that Crystal Palace wanted in the future. The club emphasized in his presentation that he would get the time in that process.

BECKENHAM, ENGLAND - JUNE 26:  Frank de Boer and Steve Parish during a press conference at Beckenham training ground on June 26, 2017 in Beckenham, England
Image: Steve Parish brought in De Boer to change the club's way of playing

"Crystal Palace could have taken an example of Manchester City. Of course, expectations were high, after Guardiola's previous successes at Barcelona and Bayern Munich. But Manchester City's club leadership also realised that even Pep could not win (all the time).

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"Manchester City ended in Guardiola's first season in third place in the Premier League, with fifteen points behind Chelsea championship. In the Champions League, they fled in the eighth finals against AS Monaco. Manchester City's ambitions go far beyond that and the commercial and financial interests are immense."

Ronald also says he expected Palace to make more changes in the transfer market and Frank was unlucky to have the likes of Wilfried Zaha, Ruben Loftus Cheek and Yohan Cabaye injured, and not have Mamadou Sakho match fit.

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