FC Bayern paid €53m to sign Michael Olise from Crystal Palace this past summer.

In the current football transfer market, that outlay is already looking like a bargain for the Bavarian giants.

The attacker, who’s currently valued at €65m by Transfermarkt, has made 22 appearances for Bayern at this point in the 2024/25 campaign.

In those 22 games, 14 of which were in the Bundesliga with six in the UEFA Champions League, Olise has scored nine goals and made seven assists.

This equals an average of a goal contribution in roughly three of every four games.

Last week, the France international scored two and assisted one in a stellar Champions League performance as Bayern Munich cruised past Shakhtar Donetsk with a 5-1 win.

This tactical analysis and scout report aims to highlight Olise’s qualities and how Bayern have been getting the most out of the 23-year-old this term.

First and foremost, Olise is a world-class dribbler.

His dribbling skills have helped him make an impact on the German side in ball progression and chance creation—both for himself and others.

Our scout report will explain Olise’s role in Bayern’s tactics and the key qualities of the winger’s game that Vincent Kompany is maximising this term.

Michael Olise Data Analysis Overview

Before getting into the video analysis of Olise’s game, let’s start with some data analysis to provide a broader overview of Olise as a complete package.

Michael Olise 2024/25 Heat Map

Figure 1 shows Michael Olise’s 2024/25 heat map in all competitions.

As the viz reflects, Olise has occupied the right-wing position in Vincent Kompany’s 4-2-3-1 at Bayern this term.

As you’d expect, he’s been most present inside the final third but also around the halfway line — going back to his impact in both the chance creation and ball progression phases.

Michael Olise 2024/25 Pizza Chart

Figure 2 displays Olise’s 2024/25 performance in several key metrics visualized via a pizza chart

Our pizza chart visualises Olise’s impact via percentile ranks in each metric.

The percentile rank correlates with Olise’s standing in that particular metric compared to all right-sided attacking midfielders in Europe’s top-five leagues this term.

The Bayern man is an all-rounder with impressive numbers in the attacking, possession, and defending sections.

The volume of output is the main takeaway from the attacking metrics, with Olise’s dribbles per 90 and shots per 90 both landing over the 90th percentile.

Still, Olise performs better than the vast majority in each of the listed attacking metrics — the aforementioned two, as well as goal contributions per 90 (88.95), xG contributions per 90 (85.25) and touches inside the opposition’s penalty area per 90 (83.1).

It’s a similar story with the possession metrics, with the lowest of the five shown being pass accuracy % at a respectable 79.4.

Looking at the possession and attacking metrics, we can say that Olise is heavily involved in Bayern’s attacking play and is a risk-taker in possession, happy to take defenders on with dribbles and try to create chances.

Crucially, Olise has also succeeded with those chance creation attempts this term, resulting in the impressive goal contribution numbers mentioned.

Olise has a low volume of defensive duels per 90 and aerial duels per 90 but performs quite well in defensive positioning (a combination of tackles and interceptions) at 73.1, aerial duel success % at 61.6 and, most impressively, defensive duel success % at 90.6.

Michael Olise 2024/25 High Regains Map

Figure 3 displays Michael Olise’s high regains map from the 2024/25 campaign to date.

Olise has made 15 high regains in 2024/25 thus far, further highlighting his impact without the ball.

The majority of Olise’s high regains are counterpressing recoveries, with one dangerous recovery and four regular high regains from settled defensive phases in the shaded semi-circle around the box; four counterpressing recoveries are also visible on the map outside the high regains zone.

Olise’s defensive contribution helps his side launch counterattacks from threatening areas, and the winger’s dribbling ability enhances those opportunities for chance creation.

Michael Olise Goalscoring Abilities

It’s the 93rd minute of the Champions League.

You’re up by three goals with one minute of stoppage time left.

What do you do?

If you’re Michael Olise, you decide to dance through the opposition’s defensive structure from midfield to backline, progress all the way to the penalty spot and tuck the ball away neatly into the corner of the net.

Figure 4 shows how Michael Olise capped off Bayern’s UCL win over Shakhtar Donetsk last week in style.

This passage of play demonstrates Olise’s 1v1 ability, ball progression and, crucially, his ability to craft goalscoring chances for himself against high-level opposition, even when they’re organised in a settled defensive shape.

The Frenchman picks up the ball on the edge of the final third, positioned between Shakhtar’s left-winger and left central midfielder.

From there, the winger uses his incredible balance, agility, and fast reactions to quickly change direction to the left when the opponents close in on him.

This enables Olise to keep hold of possession under intense pressure from two opponents, completely breaking the midfield line and setting him up to charge at the last line of defence.

As soon as a defender charges out to close Olise down, he changes direction sharply again.

Being able to pull off this movement at pace requires a great level of skill, ball control, agility and balance, all of which the ex-Crystal Palace winger has in abundance.

The move ends with Olise in prime goalscoring territory, essentially 1v1 with the goalkeeper.

The 23-year-old demonstrates his composure by calmly finishing at the near post, sending the ‘keeper the wrong way to end a mesmerising passage of play and, essentially, the game.

Michael Olise 2024/25 Shot Map

Figure 5 displays Michael Olise’s 2024/25 shot map in all competitions.

The winger has scored eight non-penalty goals from 5.2 non-penalty xG so far this term — a result of Olise putting away a few low-percentage chances quite efficiently.

Overall, the shot map also displays plenty of goalscoring opportunities from high-percentage locations.

This occurred in part due to the winger’s off-the-ball movement to reach those desirable locations but also largely due to the 23-year-old’s dribbling quality in the chance creation phase, as demonstrated by Figure 4.

Michael Olise Chance Creation & Ball Progression

As mentioned earlier, seven of Olise’s 16 goal contributions so far this term are assists, so he’s not just carving out chances for himself but also for teammates.

The winger likes to cross from wide at times but is at his most threatening from a playmaking standpoint when dribbling down the wing towards the byline from where he can perform a cutback for a teammate in a good, more central goalscoring position inside the penalty box.

Michael Olise 2024/25 Penetrating Carries Map

Figure 6 displays Michael Olise’s penetrating carries map from the 2024/25 campaign thus far.

Olise has completed 108 penetrating carries—dribbles which allowed his side to break into the opponent’s penalty area—so far this term.

His 108 penetrating carries are shown by figure 6, with the majority resulting from Olise’s desire to get towards the byline and cross and plenty also seeing the winger move into more central areas from where he might be able to take a chance on for himself.

Figure 7 shows an in-game example of Olise breaking into the opposition’s penalty area and performing a cutback cross, which found a teammate inside the box who could convert to score Bayern’s third of the game.

This image shows the aggressive creator carrying towards the opposition left-back before darting towards the byline.

Before the defender is able to get in position to stop Olise, the winger drives the ball into the danger zone low and hard, finding a teammate who can convert from a high-percentage shot location just on the edge of the six-yard box.

This is exactly the type of chance creation the Bayern man has made a staple of his game, from which Bayern are benefitting significantly this season.

Figure 8 shows Olise’s contribution in the ball progression phase.

Here, Olise picks the ball up deep inside his team’s half of the pitch before turning inside and outside.

He uses his elite agility, reactions, balance, and ball control to retain possession despite several opponents challenging for the ball.

Little flicks, sharp directional changes, and alterations of his dribbling pace, combined with the aforementioned physical and technical skills, are key components of Olise’s dribbling, contributing to his effectiveness in both chance creation and ball progression.

These attributes also contribute to the player’s confidence, which is evident in his style of play on the pitch.

His ability to pull off the type of dribble past several defenders assists him.

We can see this in the image above, where he’s helped his team get out of a tricky situation inside the opposition’s half to a very useful position at the halfway line, where they’re almost certain to progress to a dangerous place inside the final third.

Conclusion

To conclude, Olise is evidently an all-around elite final third playmaker with the ability to contribute to his team’s ball progression as well.

As a dribbler, Olise can be defined as a dynamic, aggressive creator who loves to challenge defenders and produces chances at a high rate.

Vincent Kompany’s tactics and system, which you can read more about via some of Total Football Analysis’ match analysis pieces from this season, have successfully got the most out of Olise in the early part of the season and at 23, there’s still plenty of room for even further improvement in the young attacker as he continues to develop himself at Allianz Arena.