Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner revealed a pep talk in the shower at Craven Cottage was the catalyst for Michael Olise to score twice in a 4-0 home win over Manchester United.
Olise was at his scintillating best on Monday night and made it 13 goal involvements – nine goals and four assists – in 12 Premier League starts this season with a classy brace.
It had been a different story a week earlier when Olise cut a frustrated figure after the 1-1 draw away to Fulham, but words of wisdom from his manager made the difference.
This 🫶
🦅 4-0 🔴#CPFC | #CRYMUN pic.twitter.com/5aWEFKZDHn
— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) May 6, 2024
The 22-year-old left Casemiro sprawled on the floor as he fooled the Brazilian by the centre circle before racing to the edge of the box and rifling into the bottom corner to open the scoring in the 12th minute.
A second for Olise arrived after 66 minutes after he curled beyond Andre Onana, which sparked a touchline embrace with Glasner.
Glasner revealed: “We spoke after the Fulham game when he was under the shower.
“He was a little bit disappointed because he had three or four shots and the shots were blocked or he hit straight at the keeper. We spoke and very often he shoots far post.
“I said, ‘maybe try near post and maybe the goalkeepers are surprised,’ and in this situation he shot near post and scored. This started after the shower at Craven Cottage.”
Speculation over Olise’s future occurred long before this dazzling display versus United, one of several teams linked with him in recent months.
While Glasner has acknowledged it will be a challenge for Palace to keep all their best players this summer, he is not ready to think about next season yet.
He insisted: “Not the moment to talk about next season. It is May and still very cold.”
This latest impressive performance by Hammersmith-born Olise was in front of England manager Gareth Southgate.
While Olise has seemingly signalled his intention to play at senior level for France, he is able to represent England as well as Algeria and Nigeria.
A late push to be part of the England squad at Euro 2024 this summer seems unlikely for Olise, but may not be out of the question for Palace team-mate Adam Wharton.
Wharton, 20, has flourished since he moved to Selhurst Park from Blackburn in January and played a key role in the third goal for Tyrick Mitchell against United.
At half-time, Wharton could also be seen talking with Jean-Philippe Mateta and appeared to give the experienced forward a number of instructions.
“Second half was an excellent performance,” Glasner said of Wharton.
“It shows his mentality and character that a 20-year-old guy talks to JP Mateta, but also on the other side that JP is listening to him.
“This is the environment that I really like as a manager.”
