Antoine Griezmann’s Reasons for having Difficulties in Adapting in Barcelona

DBasia.news –  Barcelona recruited Antoine Griezmann from Atletico Madrid for 120 million euros. A high price. But Griezmann’s performance has not been as expected so far.

Griezmann is expected to be a scorer of Barcelona goals, a successor for Luis Suarez, and a differentiator when Lionel Messi, Suarez and Ousmane Dembele have difficulty scoring goals. But the opposite happened. Griezmann has only scored six goals in 12 appearances.

Even the contribution of Griezmann, in the 2018 World Cup champion with the French national team, has been minimal in helping the Blaugrana attack – the nickname of Barcelona. In the last two matches, Griezmann did not flinch when Barcelona lost 1-3 to Levante and a goalless draw against Slavia Prague.

Uniquely, Griezmann’s record in helping his team’s defense has stood out compared to his contribution in the offensive phase. Uniquely, Barca recruited him to score goals up front, not to strengthen the back line.

In the statistics collected, Griezmann has taken the ball eight times from the opponents (before the game against Slavia Prague). That means from the defensive side, Griezmann was very helpful, but not when Barcelona were attacking.

Against Levante Griezmann, only two shots were fired. No doubt the spotlight was on him from Barca fans, especially after the failure of Philippe Coutinho at Barcelona, ​​after his expensive transfer from Liverpool.

“I feel fine. This also happened to me at Atletico. I have to do it (adaptation) slowly because I will not immediately understand tactics quickly, but I am used to it,” Griezmann said of the adaptation process on Goal.

Allegedly, Griezmann had difficulty adapting to the philosophy of football as he had been playing at Atletico for five years (2014-2019), training under the direction of Diego Simeone. It’s no secret that the philosophy of Atletico and Barcelona’s football is different.

Barcelona played offensively and entertained with possession, Atletico relied on counterattacks to close defense. Griezmann was used to helping the defense, then launched a counterattack.

“El Cholo has educated me, and I’m here to help the team both up front and back,” Griezmann stated in explaining his role against Levante.

It’s fine to do it if Griezmann is still playing at Atletico. However, he must realize that he is currently in Barcelona and fans want Griezmann to score more goals, not help his team defend.

The season is still away and it is said that Griezmann’s recruitment has failed (flop) Barca this season. Didier Deschamps, coach of the French national team, has spoken out asking Barcelona fans to be patient with the former Real Sociedad player.

“I’m not worried about Griezmann. Even if you have great players in Barcelona, ​​that doesn’t happen in a day. It depends on how they play, how they work with each other,” Deschamps said, quoted by ESPN.

“Griezmann is placed in a different position from his position in France, even though he has been playing on the wing for a long time. He must match the team and other players. He did not choose the easiest solution and this is a big club, so his hopes are great. Part of the team, but he is not yet familiar with Barcelona’s style. “

“Even when Griezmann is bad, he is always positive for the team. With us, this is a different situation, a different position, he can play in the best position where I have placed him for a long time. Of course, he has a very important role in the way we play, “he concluded.

Ernesto Valverde, Barcelona coach, also understands Griezmann still needs process to adapt to his new team.

“Much has been said about the situation (Griezmann), but I think it will be simpler than it looks. He is accustomed to different types of football,” Valverde said.

“I have played a lot against the Simeone team – the players returned quickly. When they lose the ball, as fast as possible they run backwards.”

“Players like Koke and Saul, (Diego) Costa and (Alvaro) Morata. That’s how Atletico plays, a team that likes to retreat and close down space. In Barcelona, ​​we play short ball passes,” he explained.