Olise underwhelms with France: Ménès critical, Lizarazu defends him

Michael Olise divided pundits after France’s victory in Turkey (0-1) on Friday evening in the Nations League. Started on the right wing by Zinedine Zidane, the Bayern Munich winger provided the assist for Kylian Mbappé’s goal, but his overall influence on the match drew radically opposing assessments.

For Pierre Ménès, the performance was clearly insufficient compared to the level he displays at club level. “Olise, we’re really far from the brilliant player we see at Bayern Munich when he’s with France,” he said on his YouTube channel. The former pundit points to a lack of responsibility and authority in the game, despite an interesting shot in the first half and the assist: “The rest of his match against Turkey is pretty poor.”

Bixente Lizarazu disagrees. Questioned on Téléfoot on Sunday, the former international instead named Olise as the most effective of the three forwards who started. “For me, Olise was the most effective, the most creative, the hardest to stop,” Lizarazu said, also praising Ousmane Dembélé’s impact as a false nine, particularly on the pressing that led to the goal.

On Kylian Mbappé, the 1998 World Cup winner is more measured: while the captain deserves credit for scoring, Lizarazu notes that he “no longer has his bearings on the left wing” and his dribbles seemed “a bit forced”. An attack that can improve according to him, but one he wants to see again: “We can do better.”

The debate reflects the high expectations surrounding Olise since his transfer to Bayern Munich, where his performances quickly made him one of the season’s revelations in the Bundesliga. With France, the former Crystal Palace player has not yet reached that same level of consistency, even if an assist and a few promising sequences speak in his favour.