Antoine Griezmann
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What type of young men do you hang out with?
i_bleed_blaugrana
Senior Member
I am sorry but my patience with Antoine is running very thin. It is not necessarily his fault we overspent and paid 120 for him (but then again, it kinda is if you really think about it) but the fact of the matter is that he simply is not having enough of an impact on our play. He has had the time now to adapt, he is playing in more natural positions now yet his play continues to stutter.
I want to be clear that I do recognize the work he puts in off the ball and defensively. Positionally, he is not the worst and I appreciate his willingness to run in behind and try and stretch opponents defense. That said, overall I think the initial fears of his profile fitting our style are at the core here. I just have not seen enough from him to convince me that he can play without having space to run into, a problem he never had with Simeone or Deschamp with the tactics they use. We did not spend 120 on him for him to work hard off the ball and bring energy. Martin does this already and we spent about 100 million less on him than we did with Antoine. We bought him for that much to put the ball in the back of the net, finish our moves and take some of the creative pressure off of Messi. The fact of the matter is that for too long, this has not been the case.
Especially from a style/tactical perspective, he is still struggling to understand things in terms of decision making. He seems to lack patience, especially when we are playing teams that pack it in and crowd out the middle. On the ball, he often forces passes or dribbles that aren?t on and off the ball, he struggles to recognize the triggers from the opponent that dictate whether to show to the ball or make the run in behind. A perfect example of this is the chance that he got right after missing that open net tap-in last night. To his credit, Antoine makes this run frequently but the problem is that he often makes it too early and he does not wait for the moment when his teammate has a passing lane to successfully complete the pass. This time however, Frenkie recognized the run and plays a world-class through ball to release him in. Yet again, Antoine wastes the chance and especially as a 9, you have to be clinical with the clear cut chances you get, especially with how we play.
If Antoine was struggling with everything else still but was putting chances away and at least clinical, I would feel a lot more comfortable with him. But he seems to need at least 4-5 chances to score. Especially when we are struggling offensively, he needs to be a player who can provide us solutions and too often he not only is not providing that, there are times when he seems somewhat lost on what he needs to do out there. That is not entirely his fault but if you compare him to Frenkie for example, Frenkie had less catching up to do so to say in this regard because of his profile and where he came from. Frenkie is not perfect yet but he has a lot more clarity on what his role is, what he provides to the team and what he needs to do on the pitch than Antoine does currently, and they both have had a similar experience since arriving (adaption period, amount of playing time, lack of continuity in role/position, etc.)
I think this is a textbook example of what happens when you are short-sighted with your signings, and there is a lack of clarity on what a new signing brings, where they are playing and why they are being signed. It cannot be just a big name, the flavor of the month and we expect them to magically adapt. It is why we are arguably the most difficult club in Europe to sign for, because the technical and mental profile we need a player to have to be successful here is so specific.
In sum, from what I have seen from Antoine and the things people praise about him, we could have spent that money on a proper midfield playmaker, like KdB just to throw out an example. Or Joao Felix, a player who I wanted us to go for back when Atleti demanded 120 for Greizmann, if you want to compare apples to apples and keep the position the same.
I have not even touched on his attitude, which I think is playing a role too. Another specific example I can name was the shit he did against Levante before the 2nd half. I am never one to fault a player for having fun, relaxing, having a laugh and bringing positive energy. Dani Alves was a prime example of what I think is the ideal here. But making faces in the camera after your team just had one of the worst halves of the season and you are contributing fuck all to improve our play is just not it. There is a time and place for that sort of thing and when we are 0-0 in the situation we are in, it is neither the time nor place. Things like this makes me question his professionalism and his focus. If I was Messi, that sort of shit would really piss me off and say what you will about Neymar but in a similar situation, he stays focused and stands up to be counted when his team needs him to.
I?d also say this extends to what Antoine does on the pitch as well: too often I see him trying the flashy, one-touch finishes or make a cheeky effort when the simpler option is on. In the first half yesterday, the chance he rang off the post comes from him trying to be cute and round the goalkeeper and that made the angle harder rather than just going for a clean finish, down and in the corner. Situations like that are why I say what I am saying here.
Football has taught me to never say never but barring a dramatic turnaround, when I take everything into consideration, I am just not seeing enough to warrant the thinking that Antoine is a player that we can plan around and count on after this season.
I want to be clear that I do recognize the work he puts in off the ball and defensively. Positionally, he is not the worst and I appreciate his willingness to run in behind and try and stretch opponents defense. That said, overall I think the initial fears of his profile fitting our style are at the core here. I just have not seen enough from him to convince me that he can play without having space to run into, a problem he never had with Simeone or Deschamp with the tactics they use. We did not spend 120 on him for him to work hard off the ball and bring energy. Martin does this already and we spent about 100 million less on him than we did with Antoine. We bought him for that much to put the ball in the back of the net, finish our moves and take some of the creative pressure off of Messi. The fact of the matter is that for too long, this has not been the case.
Especially from a style/tactical perspective, he is still struggling to understand things in terms of decision making. He seems to lack patience, especially when we are playing teams that pack it in and crowd out the middle. On the ball, he often forces passes or dribbles that aren?t on and off the ball, he struggles to recognize the triggers from the opponent that dictate whether to show to the ball or make the run in behind. A perfect example of this is the chance that he got right after missing that open net tap-in last night. To his credit, Antoine makes this run frequently but the problem is that he often makes it too early and he does not wait for the moment when his teammate has a passing lane to successfully complete the pass. This time however, Frenkie recognized the run and plays a world-class through ball to release him in. Yet again, Antoine wastes the chance and especially as a 9, you have to be clinical with the clear cut chances you get, especially with how we play.
If Antoine was struggling with everything else still but was putting chances away and at least clinical, I would feel a lot more comfortable with him. But he seems to need at least 4-5 chances to score. Especially when we are struggling offensively, he needs to be a player who can provide us solutions and too often he not only is not providing that, there are times when he seems somewhat lost on what he needs to do out there. That is not entirely his fault but if you compare him to Frenkie for example, Frenkie had less catching up to do so to say in this regard because of his profile and where he came from. Frenkie is not perfect yet but he has a lot more clarity on what his role is, what he provides to the team and what he needs to do on the pitch than Antoine does currently, and they both have had a similar experience since arriving (adaption period, amount of playing time, lack of continuity in role/position, etc.)
I think this is a textbook example of what happens when you are short-sighted with your signings, and there is a lack of clarity on what a new signing brings, where they are playing and why they are being signed. It cannot be just a big name, the flavor of the month and we expect them to magically adapt. It is why we are arguably the most difficult club in Europe to sign for, because the technical and mental profile we need a player to have to be successful here is so specific.
In sum, from what I have seen from Antoine and the things people praise about him, we could have spent that money on a proper midfield playmaker, like KdB just to throw out an example. Or Joao Felix, a player who I wanted us to go for back when Atleti demanded 120 for Greizmann, if you want to compare apples to apples and keep the position the same.
I have not even touched on his attitude, which I think is playing a role too. Another specific example I can name was the shit he did against Levante before the 2nd half. I am never one to fault a player for having fun, relaxing, having a laugh and bringing positive energy. Dani Alves was a prime example of what I think is the ideal here. But making faces in the camera after your team just had one of the worst halves of the season and you are contributing fuck all to improve our play is just not it. There is a time and place for that sort of thing and when we are 0-0 in the situation we are in, it is neither the time nor place. Things like this makes me question his professionalism and his focus. If I was Messi, that sort of shit would really piss me off and say what you will about Neymar but in a similar situation, he stays focused and stands up to be counted when his team needs him to.
I?d also say this extends to what Antoine does on the pitch as well: too often I see him trying the flashy, one-touch finishes or make a cheeky effort when the simpler option is on. In the first half yesterday, the chance he rang off the post comes from him trying to be cute and round the goalkeeper and that made the angle harder rather than just going for a clean finish, down and in the corner. Situations like that are why I say what I am saying here.
Football has taught me to never say never but barring a dramatic turnaround, when I take everything into consideration, I am just not seeing enough to warrant the thinking that Antoine is a player that we can plan around and count on after this season.
Neeraj
Senior Member
It's one thing to pull off that ridiculous look when you're setting the world on fire. Game after game after game this guy misses sitters and then inflicts his haircuts upon us. The guy has no shame whatsoever. La Decision proved that he is a clown, and clearly, he isn't maturing anymore.
ronniecro
Active member
the only clowns here are us since we signed him after all. also guy has GOAT PR department,people talking more about his hair than about his shit performances
Potroh
Member
Yeah, his PR is definitely good, specially that the media considers him a world class player, which he has never actually been.
He played with France at the right time, when after scoring a few penalties and easy goals, he became the hero, but he is not due to the lack of his capabilities.
He is strongly one footed, can't dribble at all, slow and he is most definitely not a Suarez when it comes to "feeling" the goal.
Hence he is a sort of media-creation, who played those long years at Atletico, the most defense-oriented team among the elite Liga clubs, scored penalties and free-kicks, but he has no talent to be an outstanding world-class player.
His creativity is very limited (learnt while counter-attacking) and that is the main reason Messi can't really do anything with him, because he is just not good enough for any meaningful partnership.
This is the sad truth, regardless what the coach or media tries to disseminate.
Gnidrologist
Senior Member
He's a clown and he looks the part.
Fati_Future_BallonDor
Well-known member
He was definitely worldclass 2016. His dribblings, passes and finishing were waaay better than now.
Fati_Future_BallonDor
Well-known member
Thats the only logical consequence...
feggydinho
Senior Member
He's actually quality and makes the current team better, he just misses too much
messi2140
6racies Xavi
Bulgroz
Senior Member
Nah, apparently he ended up twice in the Ballon d'Or top 3 just because he "scored a bunch of penalty" and has "a good PR team". That's also how he ended up being the most important offensive player or a NT who played a Euro final and won the WC. All that thanks to his ability to score penalties. Well, I guess Bruno Fernandes is now going to win the next 10 Ballon d'Or then...
The fact that he's not playing well with Barca shouldn't drive people to rewrite history and forget that Griezmann was one of the best players in the world. Clearly not Ronaldo/Messi level, for sure. But up there. If he never was "wordlclass", then almost no one was except for those two.
JamDav1982
Senior Member
His all round game is better last couple and seems to be settling into a role finally on the LW with helping keep shape and making late runs into box.
Not looking lost and unconfident on the ball.
Needs to finish better though.
Not looking lost and unconfident on the ball.
Needs to finish better though.
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