Дэлхийн аваргын шөвгийн наймд Марокког 2:0-ээр хожсон тоглолтод Майкл Олисе онцгой тоглолт үзүүлж, Францын довтолгоог удирдан чиглүүллээ.
Редингийн академийн ахлах ажилтан Брендан Фланаган өөрийн шавь асан Олисегийн талбайг харах өвөрмөц мэдрэмж, дамжуулалтын нарийвчлалыг өндрөөр үнэлэв. Тоглолтын эхний хагаст Олисегийн Килиан Мбаппе руу илгээсэн төгс дамжуулалт торгуулийн цохилт авах гол шалтгаан болсон юм. Тэрээр энэ удаагийн ДАШТ-д оролцсон зургаан тоглолтод таван гоолын дамжуулалт өгөөд байна.
Өмнө нь Челси болон Манчестер Ситигээс хасагдаж байсан Олисе Редингэд ирснээр өөрийн авьяасаа бүрэн нээж, улмаар Кристал Пэлас руу шилжсэн түүхтэй. Фланаган түүнийг бусдаас ялгардаг, тайван зан чанартай, зөвхөн хөлбөмбөгт төвлөрдөг тоглогч хэмээн тодорхойлсон. Тэрээр ногоон өнгийн гутал өмсөхөөс эхлээд талбай дээрх шийдвэр гаргалт хүртэл бүх зүйлээрээ өвөрмөц нэгэн юм.
Хоёрдугаар хагаст Францын баг давамгайлалаа улам бататгахад Олисе голлох үүрэг гүйцэтгэв. Тэрээр Мароккогийн хамгаалалтыг нэвтлэн Мбаппед боломж үүсгэж, улмаар Усман Дембелегийн гоолын эхлэлийг тавьсан дамжуулалтыг гүйцэтгэсэн юм. Францын төлөө тоглох шийдвэрийг залуу наснаасаа гаргасан Олисе өдгөө дэлхийн хэмжээний од болж, багаа ялалтад хөтөлсөөр байна.
Дэлгэрэнгүй эх сурвалжийг харах
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“Look at the ball by Olise and the weight of the pass: it’s inch-perfect.”
Brendan Flanagan, Reading’s head of academy recruitment, is waxing lyrical about Michael Olise’s through ball that set Kylian Mbappe clear in the first half, and resulted in a France penalty.
“Michael just sees things differently; he always seems to be in space, and his passing ability is exquisite,” Flanagan added.
Olise is a player well-known to Flanagan.
A decade ago, he persuaded Reading to take a chance on Olise after he had been released by Chelsea and Manchester City.
Ten years on and Flanagan is watching Olise — who has become one of world football’s outstanding players — turn in another impressive performance (illustrated in his dashboard below). Olise has registered five assists in six matches for France at the World Cup.
Sat alongside The Athletic for France’s 2-0 victory over Morocco in Thursday’s quarter-final, Flanagan said he felt pride at seeing Olise’s success.
“I look at videos from when he was in Reading’s first team,” he told The Athletic from the living room of his house in Oxford. “Some of the things he used to do were just ridiculous. And he’s got better and better, which is a credit to him.”
It was summer 2016 when Olise came on Flanagan’s radar, after Chelsea and then City let the teenager go.
As The Athletic previously detailed, Olise’s footballing ability and talent were never in doubt, but there was a feeling that he could be challenging to manage.
After leaving Chelsea, Olise spent a period at City, and he was signed up to St Bede’s, the independent school that many of the club’s graduates attend.
He found the adjustment difficult. Olise was living far from home. He was then let go by City and returned to London.
It was around that time that Flanagan remembered taking a call from Darren Richards, a friend and scout who used to work for Tottenham Hotspur, who suggested he give Olise a chance at Reading.
Flanagan said he faced resistance, given Olise had failed to stick at two clubs.
“I was like, ‘Just get him in, let’s make our own opinion’,” Flanagan said. “And we did. The first morning he came in, he rang me up at Reading train station, and he was the most polite kid.
“The coaches were honest: they sat him down the first morning and said, ‘Look what went on at City, what went on at Chelsea, you start with a clean slate here. There’s the line: up to it, you’re fine, over it, we’ll be on you. And to be fair, we didn’t have a single problem with him.
“He was quiet, reserved and wanted to play football. He’s not driven by money; he just wants to play. That’s him as a character.
“Michael was just a freak of nature. You’d see him do things in training that you wouldn’t see first-team players being able to do.”
What makes Olise so different to other footballers?
Christopher Hamill, Alexander Barker
Olise’s talent was never in doubt, but it took him some time to stamp his authority on Reading’s first team. In his first season of regular senior football, the 2019-20 campaign, he did not score a goal and provided just one assist in 19 league games, 13 of them starts.
However, Flanagan said that didn’t tell the full story.
“If you’re all looking at stats, you’re looking for goals and assists, and they weren’t there,” he said. “But if you’re looking for things he did in the game that were exciting, you could see that natural flair, that ability to dictate games.”
It all started to come together the next season as Olise scored seven goals and registered 12 assists for Reading in the Championship. He won the league’s young player of the year award, attracting a move to Crystal Palace in the Premier League.
Back to France’s World Cup match against Morocco, and Flanagan commented on Olise’s boot colour.
“Nearly everyone else is wearing pink boots, but Michael has got green ones on,” he said. “That’s Michael. He doesn’t like to be the same as everyone else. Michael’s Michael, he is unique.”
In a cagey first half against a Morocco team sitting deep, Olise was always keen to get on the ball and make his influence felt.
Flanagan remarked on his ability to keep hold of the ball. Midway through the first half, Olise tried a nutmeg that didn’t quite come off, but still kept possession.
Minutes later, Olise threaded a perfectly weighted pass into Mbappe’s path, leading to a penalty that the France captain missed.
At the tournament, Olise has developed a strong understanding with Mbappe.
“They’ve linked up really well,” Flanagan said. “At Reading, I remember he had something similar with Ovie Ejaria, who came from Liverpool.”
Flanagan said that there was always a sense of excitement when Olise got on the ball, harking back to his Reading days.
“It’s that feeling of, ‘What’s he going to do next?’. You know he will do something, and he very rarely gives (away) the ball.
“When he’s running at a player, he’s got this ability to almost go to a walking pace, then he drops his shoulder and goes the opposite way, and bursts. It’s that five-yard acceleration he uses to get away from players, which is quite scary. He slows the whole game down and then takes off. He’s always had a picture.”
After a tight first half, Olise came alive in the second as France turned the screw.
One of the highlights was a magnificent run through Morocco’s defence, during which he shifted the ball effortlessly from his left foot to his right in one movement, before playing in Mbappe.
“What an amazing turn,” Flanagan said, with a big smile on his face. “That was a different gear. Look at the way he shifted it with his feet, the left-to-right pass.
“Some of the things he’s done at the World Cup, some players wouldn’t do in their whole career.”
After Mbappe put France 1-0 up with a sublime finish, Olise was instrumental in their second goal.
He started the move by playing a smart ball round the corner into Mbappe, who laid it off for Ousmane Dembele. Dembele ran at Morocco’s defenders before finishing with his right foot.
With Olise, born and bred in west London, starring for France at the tournament, it feels like the one that got away for England.
How did that all come about?
“France were the ones that called him up at under-18s level for the Toulon tournament (a youth tournament in June 2019),” Flanagan said. “They got wind of him having a French Algerian mother (Mina), and they called him up. England didn’t come in until it was about under-20s level — but he’d already been selected by France. The fact was, France chose him first, and he was very proud of his family’s heritage as well.”
In the closing stages against Morocco, Olise showed his calmness and composure under pressure. “He just doesn’t panic with players around him,” Flanagan said.
Olise almost got on the scoresheet himself, cutting back onto his left, but it sailed wide.
“I’d love Michael to start getting on the scoresheet, to round off his performances, as he’s been so good this tournament,” Flanagan said. “He’s probably been France’s best player again. He makes them tick.
“He might save a goal for the final, but hopefully not if England are in it!”
