Michael Olise has long been one of FC Bayern’s top performers. The 24-year-old has also earned a permanent spot on the French national team. National team coach Zinédine Zidane is impressed by the qualities of his star forward.
But it’s not just Olise’s extraordinary skill with the ball that impresses Zidane. The French national team coach even sees him as a leader—even though the Bayern pro rarely wants to be the center of attention off the field.
“Off the field, he’s a bit reserved and shy. But that’s perfectly fine, because on the field he’s not shy at all—with his style of play, he’s a natural-born leader,” Zidane explained in an interview with Téléfoot.
Zidane sees Olise as a leader
It’s now well known that Olise tends to be introverted off the field. The Frenchman usually keeps interviews brief, and public appearances aren’t exactly among his favorite activities. For Zidane, however, that doesn’t play a decisive role in his assessment of the player.
What matters much more to the 54-year-old is the impact Olise has on the field. There, the winger takes charge and shapes the team’s offensive play with his creativity and individual skill.
“He shows his full talent on the ball. He’s been a fixture here for some time now and is doing very well at his club,” Zidane gushed.
This isn’t the first time the French national team coach has publicly expressed his enthusiasm for the Bayern star. Just recently, Zidane had emphasized how much he likes the 24-year-old’s style of play.
Olise is putting up impressive stats at Bayern
The Frenchman’s development is also evident in his stats. In 114 competitive matches for FC Bayern so far, Olise has scored 50 goals and provided 58 assists. That means he has been directly involved in 108 goals.
Olise has also established himself with Les Bleus. In 28 international appearances, he has scored nine goals for France.
It is precisely his combination of goal-scoring threat and creativity that makes Olise so valuable to Bayern and France. For Zidane, there’s also a quality that’s harder to measure with statistics: Olise doesn’t need big words to lead the way on the field.
While the 24-year-old remains rather reserved off the field, Zidane has long seen him in a different role on the field. For the 1998 World Cup champion, Olise is a “natural-born leader”—and thus much more than just an exceptionally talented offensive player.