After a star performance off the bench in the New Year's Day defeat at home to West Ham, Brian Matovu wonders what the rest of the season looks like for Michael Olise at Palace.
When Michael Olise signed for Crystal Palace earlier this summer, Eagles fans were excited to see how the 20/21 Championship Young Player of the Year would fare in the best league in the world. However, the transition to the top flight hasn’t been as smooth as he may have hoped.
Since joining the south London side from Reading, first-team opportunities have been limited for Olise. Nonetheless, it is still very early on in his Palace career, so there should be no cause for concern at this point from both sides. Although we are yet to see the best of Olise, he has shown glimpses of his quality in the final third when given the chance.
Royal Background
Olise, like many others before him, started his youth career with Chelsea. He then had a stint at Manchester City before joining Reading where he progressed through the ranks at the Berkshire club.
Olise very quickly impressed at the Royals, and due to his breathtaking ability, he was handed his first-team debut in March 2019 against Leeds United at the age of just 17. He enjoyed more minutes in the 19/20 season but it was the 20/21 season where Olise would become a regular starter and engrave his name as one of the Championship’s best players.
At just 19, Olise played 44 of the 46 Championship games, accumulating 7 goals and 12 assists in the process and he was just one of six players to reach double figures in assists. Additionally, he was the leading player under the age of 21 for most chances created across Europe’s top five leagues plus the Championship that season.
His eye-catching dribbling ability, dead-ball quality and flair combined with an eye for a killer pass in the final third is what made Olise stand out from the rest. Due to his impressive performances, the promising youngster collected a trio of accolades: EFL Young Player of the Season, and inclusion in the Championship Team of the Season as well as the PFA's Championship Team of the Year.
Olise is unreal… pic.twitter.com/JBuMF1aa40
— Eli (@elikennedy88) January 1, 2022
Move to Palace
After his superb breakthrough season, there was interest from a host of clubs for his signature but Palace were the ones to trigger his £8m release clause. An absolute steal for a player of his level of talent.
The move had added significance as it marked the first signing of Patrick Vieira’s tenure at the club. The former Arsenal captain spoke highly of Olise’s ability and said: “We have the tools in our football club to make him a better player, and we’ve known him quite well because he’s a player the football club have been following for a long time.”
Limited Minutes
The step up from the Championship to the Premier League is always a challenge and although Olise has looked comfortable adapting to the physical demands of the Premier League when he has played, he has only managed to start one game this season with all his other minutes coming off the bench.
Olise, who is an attacking midfielder by trade, can also play on the flanks which is where he has been primarily used by Vieira this season. Given that Wilfried Zaha generally occupies a starting spot on the left, Olise’s best route into the squad seems to be on the right-hand side where Jordan Ayew has played for much of the season.
For large parts of the season, Ayew has come under heavy scrutiny due to his lack of end product with calls for Olise to get more game time. Ayew, who has played 1,013 more Premier League minutes than Olise, has only registered one goal and two assists. Whereas Olise has contributed to two goals and three assists meaning that he has been involved in a goal on average every 63 minutes, the best return of any player in the Premier League with at least 300 minutes played, which begs the question as to why Olise has been struggling to accumulate more minutes this season.
Although Ayew has struggled for form at times this season he has arguably been Palace’s best player throughout December. Vieira has continued to show faith in the Ghanaian and has commended his work rate to help the team out defensively:“He is sacrificing himself for the team, he is working hard and that is what we need” said Vieira.
As impressive as Olise looks, defensive work rate is arguably a key weakness in his game. Additionally Ayew is a very intelligent player and is good at winning free kicks that relieve pressure and create dangerous set piece opportunities. This is evident through the Ghanaian being the second most fouled player in the league this season only behind team-mate Zaha.
Slow and steady
After Olise made his debut coming on as an 86th minute substitute in the 3-0 win over Tottenham in early September, the Palace boss said: “He’s a really good talent, a really special talent. We know at the same time though that talent is not enough. He will need to express that talent around a collective.”
"We need a lot of time to keep developing him. He did really well in the Championship, but the Premier League is a different level. He will need time to adapt himself and he will need time to understand the level.”
It seems as though Patrick Vieira is taking the slow and steady approach with the talented youngster, similar to how predecessor Roy Hodgson slowly embedded in Ebere Eze after he made the move from QPR, also in the Championship, to Palace in the summer of 2020.
However, every time Olise has come on he brings excitement when he gets on the ball and has the intelligence to pick out killer passes.Derby County’s Curtis Davies, who came up against Olise in the Championship, said: “This lad has got so much ability. His individual ability to take the ball past people, to run with the ball, close feet, [he has got] everything.”
Zaha has recent added: “He is technically ridiculous, so I know when he gets the ball, I’ve just got to get into space and he’ll find me. That makes a massive difference knowing there’s players like that we can bring on.”
In his limited amount of minutes, he inspired the comeback against Leicester where he notched his first goal for the Eagles. Also, he has racked up two assists setting up Edouard and Conor Gallagher against Arsenal and Manchester City away respectively, and of course grabbed a goal and assist in the New Year's Day 3-2 defeat to West Ham off the bench.
It is clear that Olise may still have some learning to do but I believe that a player of his ability should be starting sooner rather than later. It is evident that from his Reading days and his early spell at Palace that he has an abundance of talent and will cause any defence serious problems when they come up against him.
However, the Eagles do have a very talented young squad where there is fierce competition for starting places. Olise, whose prefers to play centrally, has seen that position occupied by Gallagher, who has arguably been Palace’s player of the season so far. Also, with Eze back to full fitness he’s also another extremely talented player who will be vying for that starting central spot.
Palace fans would love to see more of Olise, his talent is undeniable. With adaptation to the rigorous demands of top flight football and further application on the pitch, it is only a matter of time until he establishes himself as a regular for the Eagles. His time will surely arrive soon as Ayew and Zaha head off to the African Cup of Nations with Ghana and Ivory Coast respectively. The Palace starlet will be relishing the challenge at SE25, now it’s down to him.