Michael Olise: position and style of play

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Michael Olise’s performances for Crystal Palace earned him a new four-year contract in the summer of 2023, amid interest from Chelsea. The France Under-21 international had developed into one of the most exciting young players in the Premier League, but chose to continue his development at Selhurst Park. It was not the first time he had slipped through Chelsea’s net.

London-born Olise was part of Chelsea’s youth system for seven years, but left the club in 2016, aged 14. Following a brief spell with Manchester City, he opted to join Reading’s academy in 2017, and it proved an excellent path to becoming a professional. By 2019, he had made his first-team debut in the Championship and received a France Under-18 call-up, qualifying via his French-Algerian mother. Two years later he was EFL Young Player of the Year, at which point Palace activated his £8.37m release clause.

A healthy 26 Premier League appearances in his first season with Palace — including his first Premier League goal, at 19 — led into 37 more run-outs in an impressive second campaign. At 21 years and 118 days old, he also became the youngest player in Premier League history to assist three goals from open play, in a single game — a 5-1 win for Palace at Leeds.

While injuries have reduced his appearances in 2023/24, in just nine games he had already achieved his highest Premier League goal tally (five) of his career to date. And it would seem that there is much more to come.

Below, our UEFA-licensed coaches have analysed Olise’s position, as well as his technical and tactical capabilities…

Technical analysis

Olise is a left-footed attacker who has predominantly played as a right winger, with some game time as a number 10. He is confident and creative, capable of carrying the ball forward, dribbling through traffic and delivering penetrative yet delicate passes and crosses.

When operating from the right, as a left-footer he looks to cut inside and deliver bending, dropping crosses to teammates attacking the centre, or more commonly the far side, of the penalty area. Olise has an impressive ability to lift the ball over his closest opponents, with enough topspin to work the ball into runners. His disguise on the ball, allied to a drop of his shoulder, makes it difficult for his direct opponent to predict when he will choose to cut inside. This gives him the momentary space to deliver inswinging crosses (below).

Olise can deliver accurate crosses with minimal backlift, making them difficult to stop. He has also improved his ability to work around and deliver crosses from his weaker right side — mostly low, driven efforts.

His agility, shown in an ability to shift both the ball and his body weight, helps create crossing opportunities and assists his 1v1 attacking in general. A strong dribbler, he can break lines with his ball-carrying.

Able to attack both ways, he naturally looks to shift to his left side, cutting in from the right. The timing of his shoulder drops and the way he carries the ball often encourages his direct opponent to lunge for possession. His reactionary touches, coupled with that drop of the shoulder, enables him to evade any such opposition. The result, as shown below, is that he is more than capable of working past his direct opponent.

Creativity and goals

To cross, receive and combine as regularly as he does, Olise holds the width well and is disciplined in possession. He stretches the opposing back line in receiving switches of play and aiming to isolate and attack the left-back. He shows intelligence in when to release the ball after receiving wide or attacking via a dribble. One particular strength here is his delicate, sliding passes in behind for central runners.

There is room for Olise to add more goals to his impressive attacking displays, however. He could work more shooting opportunities for himself, especially cutting in as a wrong-footed winger. The quality of his ball-striking means he can score goals after cutting inside, as well as when he attacks left-side deliveries at the back post.

When his teammates are building an attack, Olise will sometimes drift inwards to receive in the inside channels. From there, he can drive centrally and shoot when within range – or slide runners in behind, penetrating the space between the opposing centre-back and full-back (below). These types of passes and central actions, breaking the last line, have been an asset in the rare moments he has played as a fixed 10.

Right-winger

For the majority of his career, Olise has been used as a right-winger. At Crystal Palace — under Patrick Vieira, then Roy Hodgson — he has taken up the right-wing role in either a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3 attacking shape. In both formations, he has regularly worked 1v1 moments, dribbling at his direct opponent.

After 21 rounds of games in the 2023/24 season, Olise had the second-most dribbles (8.93) per 90 minutes in the Premier League, having registered the second-most overall dribbles (243) the previous season. Along with the likes of Wilfried Zaha, Jordan Ayew and Eberechi Eze, Crystal Palace have focused on creating 1v1 moments in attack, especially via their wingers and number 10.

Olise has mostly been supported on the right side by full-back Joel Ward and, on occasion, Nathaniel Clyne. They have overlapped around Olise when he has dribbled forward, or when he has moved into a narrowed position to receive. Ward and Clyne’s forward runs have not necessarily been about working opportunities for them to cross, as neither offers consistent quality in that area. Rather, their runs have assisted Olise’s 1v1 moments, disrupting the positioning of the opposing left-back. This has also allowed Olise to supply his bending, inswinging crosses — he was the 10th most prolific crosser in the 2022/23 Premier League, with 110, and had delivered the 17th most crosses per 90 minutes (3.48) after 21 game weeks in 2023/24.

During the 2022/23 season, Olise combined particularly well with Eze as the 10, with either Ayew or Zaha moving in from the left into the right inside-channel. Palace then had three creative, agile, dribbling threats, who could all beat players individually or combine through lines and create from central positions.

In the first half of the 2023/24 season, Olise made more number-eight movements, especially as Hodgson preferred a 4-3-3. From here, the likes of Eze, Will Hughes or Jefferson Lerma have made runs through the inside channels, working around a single central-forward — Jean-Philippe Mateta or Odsonne Edouard. Left-winger Ayew has also rolled inside, adding to Olise’s options as he cuts inside to cross, combine or slide teammates beyond (below).

Number 10

In the 2022/23 campaign, Olise also played as a central number 10 in a 4-2-3-1. In this role, he received in between opposing central midfielders, developing closer connections with the centre-forward — either Ayew, Edouard, Mateta or, on occasion, Zaha. Olise worked the most key passes for Palace in the Premier League that season, with a significant number coming as a central number 10.

When he received centrally — often between the lines — Zaha, Eze and Ayew supported, but also rotated with Olise. Palace were fluid between the lines, supporting underneath and protecting from behind, via a double pivot (below).

Clyne or Ward overlapped from the right side, with Tyrick Mitchell operating similarly on the left. Despite this, Palace were the 17th lowest crossers in the 2022/23 Premier League. Instead, they tended to work the ball inside, with Olise combining with the narrowed wingers and single central forward.

Olise would also provide his own overlapping runs from this central starting position. Working and rotating around inverted wingers, he could still attack against opposing full-backs despite starting as the central 10. Here, he provided similar crossing and 1v1 support as in his role on the right wing.

For a player still relatively early in his development, Olise has impressed in these different attacking roles. There is no doubt he is an exciting player, and it would seem he has an exciting future, too.

To learn more about the technical and tactical aspects of football, and gain insights from coaches at the top of the game, visit CV Academy

Author: The Coaches' Voice