Antoine Griezmann

[Jombi]

The big issue would be that Griezmann is the bird in the hand almost for 100m. If you are suddenly in a position in which you need to replace Suarez for a starter you might spend a lot more to sign someone who might even be not as good, and not as available as Griezmann. Not to mention that Suarez and Griezmann are perfectly capable to complement each other as they are pretty different. And if you add Dembele's age and his injury problems, it becomes a pretty great transfer to make. Forget about the midfield controller. Don't need that. With a Coutinho added in midfield and with Griezmann and Dembele in the offensive areas, we've made the transition for years. At least 4.

That right there the best team in the world on paper.

But why do you think this will work as well as the 4-4-2 we play now with 2 forwards? Its a huge change from the current setup. And keep in mind, Griezmann's wage over the course of his contract is likely to be higher than the transfer fee we pay for him. Dembele, a 150m player rotting on the bench is not really ideal either...

 

[FCBfan22]

The big issue would be that Griezmann is the bird in the hand almost for 100m. If you are suddenly in a position in which you need to replace Suarez for a starter you might spend a lot more to sign someone who might even be not as good, and not as available as Griezmann.

That right there the best team in the world on paper.

That is the thing with Griezmann right now. The deal is almost too good to be true, with Luis slowly making his way to the bench, year by year, to become a super-sub.

Perhaps, the only alternative for Griezmann that is on roughly on the same level right now is Aubameyang (if he stays with Dortmund), who is more and more unhappy at Borussia. But, he is too wasteful with his chances (Dembele would have 20+ assists last season if he scored everything) and I think Dortmund doesn't want to do business with us for a while... Another would be Firmino, but if that happened Liverpool's fans would migrate to Barcelona in masses to kill Bartomeu .

I also read somewhere that Monaco want Andre Gomes... Offer him, Denis + 30 million for Lemar. Promote Alena and Oriol. Midfield sorted.

Unless, we want to become a full on cross merchants and go for Giroud.

 

[serghei]

But why do you think this will work as well as the 4-4-2 we play now with 2 forwards? Its a huge change from the current setup. Dembele, a 150m player rotting on the bench is not really ideal either...

It's more like a return to a 4-3-3 and Messi as false 9, or even no '10'. And with forwards instead of wingers, meaning we let the fullbacks push up a lot. Coutinho, Busi, and Rakitic Roberto have enough defensive discipline to make it work in defense imo. We need one of the 3 up front to occupy a 4th midfielder position in defensive transition to allow Coutinho and Rakitic/Roberto to move wide and stop the other team's running fullbacks, without leaving Busi alone to cover that huge central space.

This would be a pretty great big match home first 11 where we play on the front foot a lot and make other teams play our game. The threats in a line-up like that would be so vast (basically have dribblers, passers, great penalty area presence, speed, imagination, everything, assuming players are on form obviously) that teams would have issues keeping up. You can even play crosses from wide with a lot more success. You just have more attacking options.

 

[Nothanks]

i think the idea is, dembele will rotate with all three forwards, as messi and suarez turn 31 they'll need to be rested more.. we already see this from messi being subbed off in the copa for example or rested for some games like juve?
dembele can play the 10 and forward role so he is flexible, nevermind if one of the three gets injured.

although if all our stars are healthy and it's a semi final game i'm sure there will be some complaints if demebele is in the bench chilling.

 

[Jombi]

It's more like a return to a 4-3-3 and Messi as false 9, or even no '10'. And with forwards instead of wingers, meaning we let the fullbacks push up a lot. Coutinho, Busi, and Rakitic Roberto have enough defensive discipline to make it work in defense imo. We need one of the 3 up front to occupy a 4th midfielder position in defensive transition to allow Coutinho and Rakitic/Roberto to move wide and stop the other team's running fullbacks, without leaving Busi alone to cover that huge central space.

This would be a pretty great big game home first 11.

You're going to let the full backs provide the width in attack as well while playing 3 forwards? I just dont see how this can work with Coutinho in midfield as well. What we are doing now seems to be working. And with Coutinho here, I'd much rather play Coutinho as the 4th midfielder/forward on the left, giving him freedom in attack as he is a goal scorer. He has to be shackled in order to play in midfield with 3 forwards in front of him and two attacking full backs.

 

[serghei]

You're going to let the full backs provide the width in attack as well while playing 3 forwards? I just dont see how this can work with Coutinho in midfield as well. What we are doing now seems to be working. I'd much rather play Coutinho as the 4th midfielder giving him freedom in attack as he is a goal scorer.

Having two of the fastest if not the fastest fullbacks in the world helps with that. We're doing great, but there's room to improve our attacking strenght. We still don't create as much as in the past, and if we have a day where we're not as sharp with finishing we can be shut out.

The main assets of the team atm are defensive stability, good team work, dedication, and good conversion. Other than the Celta home game, I think we did great turning our chances into goals.

 

[FCBfan22]

i think the idea is, dembele will rotate with all three forwards, as messi and suarez turn 31 they'll need to be rested more.. we already see this from messi being subbed off in the copa for example or rested for some games like juve?
dembele can play the 10 and forward role so he is flexible, nevermind if one of the three gets injured.

although if all our stars are healthy and it's a semi final game i'm sure there will be some complaints if demebele is in the bench chilling.

I think it will all depend on the performances. If Dembele keeps racking up assists like he did at Dortmund (even here he has 0,67 assists per 90) and Griezmann keeps performing like he does this season, Dembele would soon be before Griezmann in the pecking order. However, it's important to note that Dembele rarely played the full 90 at Dortmund.

 

[Gilberto]

We finally seem to have found a good balance. Having a 3-man midfield, with one of those midfielders being coutinho, would disrupt the balance in the force.

 

[serghei]

We finally seem to have found a good balance. Having a 3-man midfield, with one of those midfielders being coutinho, would disrupt the balance in the force.

Doesn't mean that it will last for long. Don't expect Paulinho to score at this rate for long, and if Suarez' gets off form again, we'll depend on Messi again mostly. Griezmann would pretty much improve our attack and make it even less dependent on one player. We can even rest Messi and field a superb team.

 

[Ousmane Dembélé]

[tw]954504302218784768[/tw]

This deal looks as good as done.

 

[Givenchy]

Dembele coming in off the bench for a season might not be that bad of an idea.. especially with the way this season has gone, although he cost a shit ton hes still young. if we could phase Suarez out next season (he'll be 32) we could end up with Dembele-Messi-Griezmann for the remainder of Messi's career.

 

[CanadianBlaugrana]

Dembele coming in off the bench for a season might not be that bad of an idea.. especially with the way this season has gone, although he cost a shit ton hes still young. if we could phase Suarez out next season (he'll be 32) we could end up with Dembele-Messi-Griezmann for the remainder of Messi's career.

FCB generally feature in a lot of competitions so both options work for me. Sad days ahead with Iniesta retiring sooner rather than later.

 

[D10S_JC]

I would Barca to sign a actual midfielder like Eriksen..

 

[Mitchell1978]

If we get him there's going to have to be a lot more rotation up front because there's no way Valverde will play Messi - Suarez - Dembele - Griezmann & Coutinho all together.

 

[vlad]

I think there could be problems in the locker room, benching one of those player... well good luck to the coach, they just have to play considering price barca paid for them, but there also has to be balance in the team, and with them all in first 11, too much attacking, paco jemez would enjoy it, but not valverde.


So i would not buy griezmann, instead i would replace rakitic with quality CM