How many times do you hear Sunday footballers shout at left footers ‘’He’s only got one foot.’’ As if they’re like skilful inside out wingers. And there’s plenty of one footed pros. How good is wilts left footed shot for example? Softer than a back pass.

Olise needs to switch on with his defensive responsibilities.

COYP

Olise showed some good skills, but by 60 mins, and more so when we were protecting a lead looked spent. Tried to get back, press and help the defence, but mostly was 2nd best to a pressing Wolves team.
No dishonour in that.

He uses his agility well to make space, tried to get past his defender a couple of times, without much success. That lead to a Few times in the 2nd half he did seem to Check back when he could/should have tried to get past his defenders and stretch the wolves backline. It gives him a yard or two of space, but it allows the oppo to recover position, and I'd wager the defender would rather him do that than be forced backwards.

Overall, a good game. Saw and tried some great cutting passes - which wolves cut out mostly - but rather him try these than not.
was probably subbed 10 mins too late for me.
Would have loved to have seen Ebiowei come on for him at 70 mins to see what damage his more direct running could cause.

"It was a Team effort, I guess it took all players working together to lose this one"

To return to the OP regarding Olise best position...

When we signed him I looked at some youtube compilation thing of his goals and assists for Reading.

I appreciate he was playing at a lower level then, and in a different system probably, but the thing that stood out was not so much his dribbling and shooting, but rather his control, vision, and weight of pass.

I had presumed Olise was a skillful young winger playing with his head down, focused on beating his fullback like was Zaha at that age. In fact, the video showed a kid gliding around the pitch with his head up, picking forward passing options, and using clever close control to wriggle away when pressed. Seeing him in the flesh supports the initial impression: He is a good wide player, can beat a man, can cross, and can shoot, but he's not a winger really, he's more a creative, elegant attacking midfielder.

In other words, another Eze: Lazily labeled as a tricky, fast attacking/wide player when in fact he is an old-school, unhurried, velvet-touch playmaker, who isn't even all that fast, and who will get better the more he has runners around (and especially ahead of) him.

Like most, I thought playing Olise and Eze in the same three-man central midfield was, if exactly what Man City would do, unrealistic at Palace. Seeing Vieria try it was a surprise, firstly because it is so bold, and secondly because in fact when Olise has played as a no10 for us (I am thinking of the Stoke FA Cup game last year, but once or twice in league games too) he has really struggled. Whereas we get far more out of Eze in the centre, we seem to get less out of Olise at the moment.

None of which means a midfield of Olise, Eze and Docoure can never work. I can see a time when Eze runs the show to such an extent that he collects the ball from our centre-backs to start moves, goes where he wants, and the others rotate to fill in the spaces around him. Few players warrant that kind of treatment, but Eze is unique - he takes lovely care of the ball, slips away from pressure like he's made of water, and sees forward runs, so the more the play goes through him, the better.

He isn't ready to do it just yet, but I can imagine Olise also operating as a central playmaker. If he can do it, that allows us the tantalising prospect of Eze, Olise, plus one hardworking bruiser all rotating positions during open play, so that one collects the ball deep, one offers options, the other gets himself forward. We could be far more fluid than ever before, use the ball better than ever before, and have less need of a fixed defensive midfielder (or two) than ever before.

I don't wish for a post-Zaha Palace to come soon, but if we do lose Wilf I would focus on using fast forwards or wide attackers who want to run behind the opponent's back line, rather than those who come short and take the ball to feet. A faster, more mobile forward line would get the best out of Eze and Olise I think, as they would have a better range of forward passing options.

For now, Wilf on one wing, Olise on the other, and Eze in the middle make perfect sense. Longer term though, I'd really like to see us build the side around Eze and Olise in the middle.

Edited by TheBigToePunt (20 Oct 2022 5.05pm)