Antoine Griezmann

[DonAK]

I think Atletico reporting us and then their CEO Gil Marin confirming contact between the club and his parents might have sealed it. But like khaled might have suggested, this seem like an opportunity for the Catalan press to bring up an old story again just to destabilize Atletico before the game on Sunday lol.

Btw, I came across this thread: http://www.redcafe.net/threads/anto...t-with-griezmann.432140/page-43#post-22229906

Guys there trying to comfort themselves with the thought of them signing Dembele so we can balance our books

Not only that, but also playing the 'We rejected Griezmann for Alexis' narrative. As if Man Utd didn't know he rejected them and was nearing a move to us lol.

Whatever happens with this, I hope it doesn't screw over Dembele. Valverde will need to give him enough chances and minutes and balance it all.

 

[Ousmane Dembélé]

If Dembele struggles the rest of the season and doesn't really show much like we're all expecting considering his age and injury record it will be pretty easy for Griezmann to walk into the starting XI and bench Dembele in the short term.

But what if Dembele establishes himself in the next three months? In that case we're going to have a very tricky situation on our hands.

 

[xXKonan]

If Dembele does establish himself in the next three months, then all eyes are on Suarez.

Suarez is unpredictable with his performances. You never know if he's going to show up and play as the best striker in the world or play like a guy who should have been taken out behind the Barn and be put out of his misery type of performances.

 

[Co0ter]

Griezman has always been a player that is quiet for half of the season but pops up with great performances now and then. He's also gone missing in almost every big game he's ever played.

If I had to choose I'd take Dembele over him any day.

 

[ronniecro]

i cannot see suarez and griezmann in the same squad,unfortunately this could mean that suarez will be packing in the summer

 

[henias]

Going for Griezmann is a risky move. There's no way he's gonna be benched and it's going to cause a massive load of problems. His arrival would threaten the likes of Suarez and Dembele.

 

[BarçaBarça]

We will have a great need for him - not next season, but the one after that - due to Suarez' inevitable decline. Why are people complaining that we have some foresight for once? We can't sign someone like him next year..

 

[Ursegor]

Most likely a knee-jerk signing during Suarez' bad spell at the start of the season. Suarez could very well go on and play like he does now for another 2 seasons and his bad start to the season was simply down to injury. Then what?

 

[BarçaBarça]

Most likely a knee-jerk signing during Suarez' bad spell at the start of the season. Suarez could very well go on and play like he does now for another 2 seasons and his bad start to the season was simply down to injury. Then what?

Then we have a luxury problem in attack with primetime players, youngsters, experienced ones. Valverde is a great man-manager, so rotation can be a solution.

We can figure out our best start-11 when we are in the CL-final.

People might have forgotten: Real Madrid just won CL by having the best squad and nothing else.

 

[Alik]

Then we have a luxury problem in attack with primetime players, youngsters, experienced ones. Valverde is a great man-manager, so rotation can be a solution.

We can figure out our best start-11 when we are in the CL-final.

People might have forgotten: Real Madrid just won CL by having the best squad and nothing else.

Really?

 

[henias]

Then we have a luxury problem in attack with primetime players, youngsters, experienced ones. Valverde is a great man-manager, so rotation can be a solution.

We can figure out our best start-11 when we are in the CL-final.

People might have forgotten: Real Madrid just won CL by having the best squad and nothing else.

Based on how Valverde manage his players, I wouldn't bet on that. I wouldn't be surprised if he plays Griezmann as a RW, because he has to keep Suarez happy but if Dembele manage to prove himself the next few months then it's going to be a problem.

Real Madrid has a very good squad depth but that doesnt mean their attack are packed with superstars. Their bench are mostly homegrown and are all still very good as bench players.

You expect them to spend 100 mil just for Griezmann to sit on the bench? We will have problems. Better foresight would be find a young replacement for Rakitic or Busquets. Our attack are already loaded with the likes of Messi, Coutinho, Suarez and Dembele.

 

[Ursegor]

Real Madrid did not overstack attacking players. They won the CL with Bale in the hospital bed and Benzema scoring 1 knockout goal against Napoli in the R16 and 0 assists during the whole competition.

Griezmann is a very experienced player and a much bigger goal threat so when push comes to shove the kid Dembélé will always be the one to sit out in meaningful games as a 70 minute pace substitution. Wouldn't be surprised if he gets loaned out next season.

These fantasy constellations of too many world class attackers of which 1 is always willing to sit out and come off the bench while retaining a high level and staying happy only exist on Fifa.

 

[Messi983]

Better foresight would be find a young replacement for Rakitic or Busquets.

We are doing that with Arthur incoming and interest in Fabian, De Jong...

Real Madrid did not overstack attacking players. They won the CL with Bale in the hospital bed and Benzema scoring 1 knockout goal against Napoli in the R16 and 0 assists during the whole competition.

They won the league with backups like Morata, James, Isco,... so "starters" could concentrate more on the CL.

Wouldn't it be good if we could rest Messi in let's say 8-10 league games without worrying to lose points like they did with Ronaldo?

 

[Ursegor]

They won the league with backups like Morata, James, Isco,... so "starters" could concentrate more on the CL.

Wouldn't it be good if we could rest Messi in let's say 8-10 league games without worrying to lose points like they did with Ronaldo?

And consequently they've lost both Morata and James as they were both not happy with those backup roles.

It would be good if Messi could be rested but that can be done already with the squad we have.

Coutinho-Suarez-Dembélé
Iniesta-Rakitic
Busquets

This is not enough to beat the likes of Las Palmas or Girona or Getafe at home?

Messi would not rest even if we signed Lewandowski, Mbappe and Neymar back. He wants to play every game no matter what and no one can do anything about it. Even Pique plays through injury unnecessarily. The competitiveness of these high profile professionals is insane, they don't roll like: "Oh, yeah, we have enough great players, let me chill today."

 

[Messi983]

Morata and James are at their peak right now so it's obvious they wanted more minutes and decided to leave. And well, James was extremely ignorated by Zidane (wasn't even on the bench for CL final) so I don't think Suarez/Griezmann would get a similar treatment from Valverde. Zidane also keep favouring his countryman Benzema over Morata although it was obvious Morata is better.

Messi and Suarez are both over 30 and Messi himself has admitted he's aware he needs to rest more and wouldn't have any problems to accept rotations. It's obvious he always wants to play but I think his main goal is to win as much as he can for the rest of his career. And if that means him playing "only" 50 games instead of 60 every season I think he would agree to that as long as the team stays competitive and win titles. We could also prolong his career at the top level for another season or two by doing that. The same with Suarez.

I know that signing Griezmann could cause us problems and that we would probably have to make some decisions after next season if some players will become unhappy. Most obvious decision would be Suarez to leave but I think he would accept lesser (possible backup to Griezmann) role to stay here with his wife's family and Messi.

To be fair, I'm still a bit torn about signing AG but I think it will eventually happen so I would rather think about positive things he could bring to the team instead of worrying about potential problems way before those might happen.