After the great adventure, the great void. Star of the French team, Olympic vice-champion this summer in Paris, Michael Olise knew the mountain that stood in front of him when joining Bayern Munich, a titan of Europe with disproportionate demands. Quickly, however, the former Crystal Palace player had dispelled any doubts about him, piling up goals, assists, and classy actions between September and October. In the German press, we even went so far as to wonder if the recruitment of the Frenchman for the sum of 53 million euros (the 4th biggest transfer in the history of Bayern) was not the business of year.
Today, when browsing the major German sports sites, the tone used is very different. Because Olise is no longer the executioner of the German defenses in the fall, and his influence in the game, like his statistical impact, has been reduced to nothing. It is enough to observe its use by Vincent Kompany to understand that it is today more of an option than an obvious choice in his eyes. Substitute against PSG in the Champions League (1-0) ten days ago, he was again during the Classic against Dortmund last weekend (1-1). This week during Bayern’s defeat against Leverkusen in the German Cup (1-0), Vincent Kompany offered him an opportunity to express himself in the absence of Kane, this time in a role of false number 9, but the Frenchman did not grasp the outstretched pole.
A first period of turbulence
“He was already celebrated as a new star but there is not much more to see at the moment (…) Olise was first rightly celebrated as the best new recruit – but in recent weeks he suddenly lost his temper. Against Leverkusen, he started, but almost nothing came of it“, writing BILD. To support its remarks, the German daily evokes the unbalanced figures of the Frenchman between his debut and his last matches. “In his first 9 matches, he scored 6 goals and 3 assists. In Bayern’s last 10 matches since mid-October, there has been just one goal and two assists.”
“Also at Bayern, the shy Frenchman (who almost never speaks in public), made his name mainly through his lack of shin guards rather than through goals and assists…”we can also read, in reference to the episode of the match against PSG, when Olise tried to come into play without shin guards, before being caught by the fourth referee. At the heart of this troubled period, we cannot say that the French team was an austerity cure for him either. Bad against Israel in October, he again went through the return match in the shade, at the Stade de France, last month. A rebound is now expected.
