Michael Olise: Crystal Palace's Orchestrator on the Flanks

Michael Olise may have been famed for his blunt post-match interview last weekend, but the 20-year-old certainly doesn't lack character on the pitch. One of the brightest young wingers in the Premier League. It seems only a matter of time before Olise becomes the latest Championship prospect to take his club form to the country. He first grabbed the spotlight at Reading before becoming an integral part of Crystal Palace’s sharp transition-heavy counter-attacking style under Patrick Vieira. Olise is technically outstanding. No one touch is wasted.

Palace have been earmarked for their lack of precision. For a team with such fluent back-to-front ball progression, they don’t have many finishers. Olise could be braver in this regard, and it’s certainly not for lack of ability that his winner against West Ham was his first league goal of the season. Olise’s talent, though, is best harnessed through his creativity. 

Ravaged by injury last season, Olise and teammate Ebereche Eze are taking the Premier League by storm this season. After a stop-start year, Olise has gone from strength to strength - averaging 4.74 shot-creating actions this season. Olise is the orchestrator. Only four players averaged more assists per90 last year. The Englishman glides with the ball, drifting through challenges before cutting in off the right and floating crosses to the back post.

Impact sub-turned-instigator, Olise doesn’t need 90 minutes to make himself known. He plays on his own time. Playground Panna, he draws defenders in before rolling past them, leaving straggling masses in his wake. The Hammersmith-born wide man enacts Houdini levels of deception on a weekly basis. Square up the defender, shimmy, then shake. Call it the Selhurst sleight of hand. The ball hasn’t moved, but the space has opened up.