Michael Olise's nonchalant interview schtick is rude, tiresome and boring - sort it out

Another post-match interview featuring Bayern Munich winger Michael Olise has gone viral across social media for all the wrong reasons.

Once again, football fans have been treated to the painful spectacle of awkward silences, and a player doing everything he can to make life harder for the person holding the microphone.

What started as a quirky, meme-worthy gimmick as a young player has officially crossed the line into something far more grating. Olise’s nonchalant media routine isn’t clever or cool - it is rude, tiresome, and paints young footballers in a really poor light.

Michael Olise's interview gimmick is a bad look - and it's getting old

For a long time, I was willing to afford the Frenchman the benefit of the doubt. I even defended him.

'Does he suffer from social anxiety? Is he just painfully shy?' It's not easy being a teenager thrust into the limelight, so it was a fair question to ask.

However, recent refcam footage shatters that narrative. On the pitch, Olise is the antithesis of stage-fright, his apparent communication issues deserting him when arguing the toss over a decision with a match official. He is vocal, animated, and - compared to his post-game media debriefs - uninhibited.

This sullen, disengaged persona reserved exclusively for post-match broadcasters is a choice. The cold one-word responses and the air of casual arrogance suggest he knows precisely what he’s doing with his non-answers.

Watch these viral clips closely and you will see broadcast journalists - often asking questions in a second or third language with commendable poise - maintaining total professionalism while receiving complete apathy in return.

This isn’t merely a case of one journalist instinctively standing up for another; it is a matter of fundamental workplace decency. Does Olise offer up the silent treatment to the staff at Bayern's training ground? To those who serve his meals, those on the security desk and reception?

The golden rule ought to apply even in elite football: treat people as you would wish to be treated yourself.

In an era where access to players is restricted to the absolute extreme, reporters are given minutes to glean something meaningful. Questions can admittedly feel repetitive or like lip-service to the interviewee, but that is the reality of heavily sanitised media zones. The least a player can do in return is show basic courtesy.

Most professionals understand the implicit contract between sport and media - they remain cordial, polite, and cooperative, even if their answers are steeped in generic PR drivel and we, the journalists, go back to our editors with the currency: quotes.

Olise, by contrast, treats the microphone like a burden and the person holding it with visible disdain, at least he does in this most recent clip.

It also begs the question: why do Bayern Munich’s press officers keep putting him in front of the cameras?

How it works is, after a match, broadcasters, journalists and rights-holders will request to speak to specific players based on how the 90 minutes have unfolded. Ultimately though, it is the club’s communications department that decides whether to grant those requests or put forward someone else.

Continuing to parade Olise in front of rights-holders when everyone knows he will deliberately stonewall the interviewer benefits nobody. It produces a deeply uncomfortable watch, disrespects broadcast partners, and damages the club's image.

To be clear, the sports media landscape is hardly a saintly entity. Invasive headlines and unfair coverage in the past may well have left Olise feeling distrustful of reporters.

If that is the case, then his cynicism towards the press is entirely understandable - Sir Alex Ferguson refused to engage with the BBC for years after deeming their questioning of fellow manager and son, Darren, not to his liking.

But taking out those grievances on an innocent broadcast journalist who is simply doing their job after a match is misplaced anger. Being a world-class footballer comes with immense privilege, but talent, status and riches don't make you exempt from basic manners.