“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 a Michael Olise through ball that sets Kylian Mbappe clear, and results in France being awarded a penalty.
“Michael just sees things differently; he always seems to be in space, and his passing ability is exquisite,” Flanagan adds.
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 both Chelsea and Manchester City.
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Ten years on and Flanagan is watching Olise — who has become one of world football’s outstanding players since a 2024 move from Crystal Palace to German giants Bayern Munich — turn in another impressive performance (illustrated in his dashboard below). He has registered five assists in six matches for France at the ongoing World Cup.
Sitting alongside The Athletic for their 2-0 victory over Morocco in Thursday’s quarter-final, Flanagan says he felt pride at seeing Olise’s success.
“I look at videos from when he was in Reading’s first team,” he tells The Athletic, in 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 academy kids attend.
He found the adjustment to England’s north-west 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, based a short drive beyond London’s western outskirts.
Flanagan says 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 says. “And we did. The first morning he came in, he rang me up from 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?
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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 in the second-tier Championship, he did not score a goal and provided just one assist in 19 league appearances, 13 of them starts.
However, Flanagan says 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 admits, “but if you’re looking for things he did in the game that were exciting, (then) 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, again in the Championship. He won the division’s young player of the year award, earning a move up to Premier League level with Palace.
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 green ones on,” he says. “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 is always keen to get on the ball and make his influence felt.
Flanagan remarks on his ability to keep hold of the ball. Midway through the first half, Olise tries a nutmeg that doesn’t quite come off, but still keeps possession.
Minutes later, he threads a perfectly-weighted pass into Mbappe’s path, leading to a penalty that the France captain misses.
At the tournament, Olise has developed a strong understanding with Mbappe.
“They’ve linked up really well,” Flanagan says. “At Reading, I remember he had something similar with Ovie Ejaria, who came to us from Liverpool.”
Flanagan says that there was always a sense of excitement when Olise got possession.
“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 comes alive in the second as France turn the screw.
One of his personal highlights is a magnificent run through Morocco’s defence, during which he shifts the ball effortlessly from his left foot to his right in one movement, before again playing in Mbappe.
“What an amazing turn,” Flanagan says, 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 puts France 1-0 up with a sublime finish, Olise is instrumental in their second goal.
He starts the move by playing a smart ball around the corner to Mbappe, who lays it off for Ousmane Dembele. Dembele runs 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 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 (an annual youth event held in the south of France) in 2019,” Flanagan says. “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 shows his calmness and composure under pressure. “He just doesn’t panic with players around him,” Flanagan says.
Olise almost adds a third himself, cutting back onto his left, but the shot sails 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 says. “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!”
