Ex-Reading boss reveals why Michael Olise is thriving with trait Diego Maradona never had
Michael Olise’s ability to not get too emotionally involved is one of the qualities that have made him one of the stars of the World Cup.
That is the verdict of former Premier League manager Alan Pardew, who believes the ‘level-headed’ France attacker has great character.
Olise, who was born and raised in London, is the one who got away for England, having been developed through the EFL pyramid.
The 24-year-old spent time at Chelsea’s academy and then came through the ranks with Reading, making his senior debut in 2019.
He claimed the EFL Young Player Of The Year award in 2020/21, which saw Crystal Palace trigger his £8million release clause that summer.
Olise registered 41 goal involvements in 90 games for the Eagles to continue his epic rise by earning a £60million move to Bayern Munich.
The attacker has now taken his debut World Cup by storm off the back of a season in which he recorded 25 goals and 28 assists.
Pardew, who began his managerial career as caretaker boss at Reading in 1998 before taking full charge a year later, can’t believe his incredible development from the Royals to football royalty.
He told talkSPORT’s Hawksbee and Jacobs: “I remember him at Reading, and he was always that outstanding technical talent.
“But obviously, sometimes when I see him, when he went to Crystal Palace and started producing these match-winning displays, he certainly looked a class apart, really, in a very good Crystal Palace team.
“But you’re still not sure whether the big step to one of the big clubs is going to launch him to another level or maybe be too much for him and find himself out of the team.
“And obviously it’s been the opposite. He’s grasped it. Going to Munich and wow, what a player he’s become.
“He’s got super, super uber confidence about him to try things that other players can’t even technically do,” Pardew continued.
“So he is one of the players of the tournament.
“He’s been put into that number 10 position, which really sort of seems to suit him in this French team.”
Olise ‘very level-headed’
Pardew also hailed Olise’s ability to avoid getting into ‘any kind of shenanigans’ that have plagued some of the World Cup’s best No.10s.
Paul Gascoigne’s tears were one of the defining images of Italia 90, while Diego Maradona succumbed to the red mist on the big stage.
However, Olise’s only infringement this World Cup was his controversial yellow card received in the feisty 1-0 win over Paraguay.
The Hammersmith-born star was cautioned following an altercation with Matias Galarza, in which the latter went down holding his face, but replays showed Olise only holding his shirt.
“He’s got a great kind of character,” Pardew added on talkSPORT. “He’s very level-headed, I think, when he’s playing.
“He doesn’t seem to get emotionally involved too much. And that is always really important for an offensive player.
“You look back to Gazza [Gascogine] and Maradona, for example, they were fighters. They would get emotionally involved in the game.
“That sometimes affected their performance and made them do things in games that put them at risk of being sent off or a problem for the team. But at least he’s the complete opposite of that.
“He never seemed to get involved in any kind of shenanigans, just looks to produce quality on the pitch.”
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