Michael Olise is a phenomenal footballer. His technical ability, creativity, and knack for deciding games are unquestionable. But that talent does not give anyone a free pass when a selfish decision costs Bayern Munich points.
Olise has earned plenty of praise for his performances, and deservedly so. The Frenchman could easily be considered the best player in the world at the moment. However, there is a distinct difference between making a physical mistake—like Manuel Neuer did on Saturday vs. FC
Augsburg—and Olise getting himself tossed simply because he wanted to throw the ball at Viking FK captain Zlatko Tripić.
So here is the question: Will Bayern fans jump on Olise the same way they did Manuel Neuer?
The answer: Probably not, because it’s not the cool thing to do.
While many in the fanbase cannot wait to hit X and bash Neuer, Joshua Kimmich, or Serge Gnabry (let’s not even mention Leon Goretzka, who was treated like Dr. Frankenstein’s monster), there was surprisingly little discourse involving Olise.
Hmmm.
Neuer was heavily criticized after his costly blunder against Augsburg in the Bundesliga, and there was no shortage of outrage over the goalkeeper’s contribution to Bayern dropping points. Fair enough—mistakes have consequences. But accountability cannot depend on whether a player is a goalkeeper making a technical error, or an attacking star making a selfish decision.
If we are being fair, Olise should not be immune from that scrutiny simply because he is one of Bayern’s most exciting players.
Olise was hardly the only player who disappointed against Viking, either. Lennart Karl was really poor, struggling to make the impact expected of him. There should be a lot of discussion on why he is regressing and has drifted away from all the things that made him great.
Jonathan Tah was not good enough, while Nathaniel Brown had a very bad outing of his own. Overall, Bayern Munich had multiple players who failed to deliver, and those performances deserve to be discussed honestly.
But Olise’s situation stands out because it was a choice that put his own impulse ahead of what was best for the team—and it directly led to a situation that ultimately helped Bayern drop points.
Bayern Munich’s stars will always be judged by their ability to produce match-winning moments. That comes with the territory. But when poor decisions contribute to dropped points, the criticism should come with them, too.
If Neuer deserves the heat for his mistakes, Olise should be prepared to take his share of it.
Or… maybe the first move shouldn’t be to break out the flamethrower for either guy.
Sure, criticism is fair, and poor play should absolutely be discussed and debated—that is what fans do (and what they should do). But the online and social media outrage directed at Neuer completely dwarfed what was said about Olise—and Olise’s faux pas happened on a much bigger stage than the WWK Arena. It was in the Champions League and helped prevent the Bavarians from securing three crucial points.
It just meant more.
In the end, it is curious to wonder why Olise’s gaffe hurt the team far more than Neuer’s mistake last weekend, yet generated significantly less vitriol.
Maybe the fans are going soft? Maybe they have seen the error of their ways for being so hateful toward the team’s captain?
Nah.
Maybe it’s just way cooler to fire up an X burner account and bash Neuer.
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