Who Is Michael Olise?
With Crystal Palace allowing a number of last season’s squad to run out their contracts this summer, as well as with the departure of Roy Hodgson, they represent one of the more interesting teams to keep an eye on this summer.
Ex Borussia Dortmund manager Lucien Favre was all but set to be named their manager (which would have been a fascinating pairing), but the Swiss coach pulled the plug at the 11th hour.
Instead, Patrick Vieira was named as the successor to Hodgson, in a move that raised a few eyebrows, and only makes Palace even more of a team to watch this season and see what occurs.
Marc Guehi’s signing is a signal of intent, and with the signing of Michael Olise, they are clearly paving their way to build a club around young talent with both Eberechi Eze and Tyrick Mitchell already at Selhurst Park, alongside the figurehead of the club, Wilfried Zaha.
This tactical analysis and scout report provides an analysis on 19-year-old Michael Olise, who after a breakout season with Reading in the Championship, has taken the step up to Premier League football.
His £8.37m transfer fee could well leave him as one of the frontrunners for the bargain of the season already.
Michael Olise Position
Olise is an attacking midfielder who can play as a number 10, or either side of this position as a left or right-sided attacking midfielder.
Olise can play as an inverted winger, however this can limit his impact.
At Reading, he had the freedom to stay wide if he so wished, but also to move inside and explore the half-spaces, central channel, or swap over to the left side.
He will drop deep to receive the ball too, and given his dribbling ability on top of his prowess as a passer, he is talented at progressing the ball forwards.
Michael Olise Heat Map
This variety in his positioning is clear to see if we look at the image below of Olise’s heat map from 2020/21.
His quality on the ball and positional sense even saw Reading use him as a pivot in some games, a role he is unlikely to play in at Palace, however, his flexibility provides a number of options.
Eberechi Eze’s presence makes it unlikely Vieira will play both together as attacking midfielders and Olise is likely to go in as a straight swap for the departing Andros Townsend when Eze is selected, albeit with a different role assigned to him in this position.
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