“The Olympic Games allowed people to get to know me,” said Michael Olise, who grew up in England but announced himself for France last summer as Thierry Henry’s side earned a silver medal at the Olympics. A few weeks after Paris handed the Olympic torch to Los Angeles, Olise received his first senior call-up from Didier Deschamps and, unbeknown to almost everyone, there was another passing of the torch.
The September international break, during which Olise made his debut for France’s senior side, was ultimately Antoine Griezmann’s last. The Atlético Madrid forward’s chapter with Les Bleus, which spanned over a decade, was coming to an end. Olise was given the daunting task of replacing a man who had accumulated 137 caps, 84 of which came in consecutive matches, an omnipresence that stretched back over half a decade.
In Olise’s debut, a 3-1 defeat to Italy, the shirt seemed to hang heavily on his shoulders. “When I saw my name on the shirt, I was more excited than afraid,” said Olise but it didn’t look that way. His manager was more realistic. “At the start, it was a bit difficult for him. Sometimes it takes a little bit of time,” said Deschamps. The boots to fill were considerable given that Griezmann had been the creative fulcrum in the midfield.
Olise, like Griezmann, is expected to compensate for a technical deficit in France’s midfield. The mix, composition and shape of Deschamps’ midfield has long been a point of contestation, including during the Euros last summer. It is no coincidence that these questions grew in pertinence as the competition progressed, just as Griezmann’s impact waned.
Deschamps deployed a hybrid, messy version of a midfield diamond in Split last week to disappointing results as Francelost 2-0 to Croatia in the first leg of their Nations League quarter-final. “What we lacked was technical precision,” said Deschamps. It is not a new issue. France’s academies are rightly touted as some of the best in world football but they tend to produce midfielders who are more athletic than technical, which is why Deschamps has opted to play an attacker deeper. Enter Olise.
For Deschamps, diamonds are not for ever. In fact, the system he used in Croatia was ditched for the return fixture on Sunday night in favour of a 4-4-2. The key in the system was Olise. The Bayern Munich forward was given a free role, coming off his right flank and often occupying central positions, dropping deep and trying to bridge that technical deficit in midfield.
Even an imperfect display from Olise at the Stade de France showed how important he could be for the team. Olise touched the ball more than any of France’s other forward players, a testament to his ability to find spaces and his willingness to drop deep to help in buildup. But he was also the player who lost possession the most. Over the course of his 105 minutes on the pitch, he lost the ball on 28 occasions. Granted, he was audacious in his distribution and that naturally lends itself to losing the ball but at times, but there was a lack of synchronicity with his teammates.
It is a question of building relationships and also perhaps breaching the language barrier. Having grown up in England to a Nigerian father and Franco-Algerian mother, he has been exposed to the French language but, as he recently noted, he always responded in English as a child. At times he needed translation help from Loïc Badé during his first press conference as a France player back in September. And his monosyllabic responses after the match on Sunday saw his interviewer describe him as a “man of few words”.
The language barrier has at times been an issue for Deschamps, who does not speak English but wants to form a “deep bond” with Olise, who he sees as integral to his plans. Olise’s timidity – at least publicly – plays a role too but, the intent is there; speaking in a language that is not his mother tongue in press duties and on TV is highly commendable and, given the French presence at Bayern Munich (Dayot Upamecano, Kingsley Coman, Sacha Boey, as well as Paris-born Raphaël Guerreiro), it will become less of an issue over time.
Time is very much on his side after his performance against Croatia. His sumptuous free-kick showed what France have been missing – for nearly 18 years. His direct free-kick was the first scored by a France player since Jérôme Rothen against the Faroe Islands in October 2007; famously, Kylian Mbappé has never scored a direct free-kick. Having scored his first goal for France, Olise then picked up his first assist, teeing up the prolific Ousmane Dembélé to finish first time.
Such a performance was necessary given the calibre of players knocking on the door behind him. Désiré Doué made his France debut on Sunday and had an impact. The PSG man has shown himself capable of playing in midfield as well as on the wings. Then there is Rayan Cherki, who has 26 goal contributions for Lyon this season. He leads the assists charts in Ligue 1 and the Europa League. Cherki’s display against the England Under-21s last week will not have done his chances of a first call-up any harm either. Maghnes Akliouche is also in contention; his manager at Monaco, Adi Hütter, believes he is already “an international-level player”.
But Olise’s performance keeps the others on the outside looking in. Deschamps described Olise as “radiant” as France beat Croatia on penalties to progress to the semi-finals of the Nations League. “His direct free-kick, his technical touch … I am happy for him and it has a bearing on other matches because he will be confident,” said Deschamps.
As Deschamps notes, this is a young France side after the retirements of Griezmann, Olivier Giroud, Hugo Lloris and Raphaël Varane since the 2022 World Cup. The manager’s tenure will end after the next World Cup so this is his last chance to conjure a team in his image. He has issues in other parts of the pitch but Deschamps can at least be relieved that, with just over a year to go before the start of the World Cup, he has found a replacement for one of his former cadres, Griezmann, as Olise takes the torch.
This is an article by Get French Football News
Source: theguardian.com
