Will Antoine Griezmann Live Up To The High Standards He Set For Himself At Atleti?

Written By Onyeka Daniel

The return of Antoine Griezmann to Atletico Madrid was the highlight of the summer transfer window for the La Liga Champions and many that watched him play for the Los Rojiblancos before his transfer to Barcelona would understand why it has generated lots of attention but in the real sense of it, is it really a transfer that Atletico Madrid and by extension, Diego Simeone should be making?

Antoine Griezmann was born in Macon, France. He is 30 years old and currently plays for Atletico Madrid, on loan from Barcelona. He started from his hometown academy (Macon) before joining the youth team of Real Sociedad in 2005. He was promoted to the senior team in 2009 and went on to make 180 League appearances for the club between 2009 to 2014, scoring 46 goals along the way. He then joined his present club, Atletico in 2014 for a transfer fee of €30 million, which was were he made a name for himself. He has won the Europa League, UEFA Super Cup and Supercopa de Espana. He is the club’s fifth-highest all time scorer.

He made 180 League appearances, scoring an impressive 94 goals, for a player who is not really a striker. He was in the French team that came second in the 2016 European Championship, finishing as the top scorer in the tournament and was voted as the player of the tournament. He also won the World Cup in 2018, winning the silver boot at the tournament and was voted the third best player. He has scored 41 goals for France in 98 appearances. In 2019, Antoine Griezmann joined Barcelona for around €120 million, a fee which holds the record as the fifth most expensive transfer in football history. The deal came with a controversy of it own as Atletico Madrid claimed that Barcelona signed him before July 1, when his release clause was still at €200 million, making the fee €80 million short but it was later resolved and Barcelona didn’t pay any further fee. Griezmann on his part said that his move to the Camp Nou wasn’t motivated by money but he wanted to learn a new style of play and philosophies at another team.

His time at Barcelona cannot be termed as successful unlike his previous two clubs, but it can’t be termed as a failure either as he made 74 League appearances, scored 22 goals which is a decent figure if we factor in the fact that with Barcelona formation, he’s much farther from the goal post as against his position at Atletico Madrid, add that to the injuries and the presence of Lionel Messi, who was usually the team’s top scorer in almost all his seasons at the club. In his first stint at Atletico, Griezmann usually play as a supporting striker, even though the team doesn’t usually play with a recognized striker. Most times, he usually drifts to the middle to retrieve the ball and find the run of his teammates or go for goal himself. The fact that Atletico usually play a defensive football, forcing their opponents to attack them and leaving them vulnerable to counter-attacks, which are opportunities that Griezmann is ever ready to exploit, he was able to score plenty of goals and also found the perfect niche for himself which allowed him to excel at the Wanda Metropolitano.

With their 4-2-2-2 formation, the Los Rojiblancos can soak up pressure, put plenty of men behind the ball while looking for a break, very assured that Griezmann is upfront and ready to take the chances presented to him as he is fast and agile, allowing him to evade one or two attackers on the break. Much credit should be given to Atletico Madrid coach, Diego Simeone, for creating the perfect style for Antoine Griezmann to really excel and at that time, it seemed like the team was built around Griezmann, but after winning the La Liga title last season without Griezmann, it can be said that Simeone actually tailored the team to the players available to him instead.

Barcelona, unlike Atletico Madrid, usually take the game to their opponents, preferring to take the initiative, while putting their opponents on the defensive. They play the 4-3-3 formation, with two wingers and a central striker or a false nine. Griezmann is usually played as a winger and sometimes in the striker role, depending on the players available at the time. Because he usually has to come back to get the ball while the opponents have formed a defensive wall, there’s much space for him to attack, hence his effectiveness is largely reduced as he usually find himself being swarmed by the opponents whenever he’s on the ball, forcing him to find his teammates instead of losing the ball. Coupled with the fact that Barcelona usually channel most of their attacks through Lionel Messi, who is capable of beating several players at once, Griezmann is now reduced to a part-player at the club unlike at Atletico where he’s the main point of attack.

The circumstances that surrounded the exit of Antoine Griezmann from Barcelona after just a season was well publicized. He was initially touted as a pawn to be moved by the incoming Barcelona President, Joan Laporta, in his bid to keep Lionel Messi at the club owing to the huge debt the club was in at that time and the club being well over the wage cap set by La Liga board for all Spanish teams to combat the effects of the corona virus pandemic. As fate would have it, Messi eventually left the club and there was no club willing to meet the valuation placed on Griezmann by the club.

This scenario made it look like Griezmann might be staying after all since Laporta had earlier stated that the club was looking to sell the French forward due to economic reasons and not for sporting reasons, meaning the club was satisfied with his contribution on the field but forced to market him in order to cut cost. But it seem like the seed of doubt was already planted in the mind of Griezmann already as he reportedly pushed for a transfer after he learnt that Atletico were willing to take him back in a swap deal, with Saul Niguez going to Barca in exchange. This move also fell through as both teams placed different values on their players. Griezmann, it seem would not be deterred as he was willing to lower his wages in order to facilitate a move to Atletico Madrid, something he wasn’t willing to do for Barcelona when the club was asking their players to take a wage cut to help the finances of the club.

He eventually got his wish as both teams were able to reach a deal on the last day of the transfer window, a one year loan deal with an option to extend the loan for another year before making the move permanent in 2023 for a €40 million fee. After the dust of the transfer has settled, it is imperative to ask if it was really necessary for Atletico Madrid to actually bring back the Frenchman, after his unceremonious exit. A look at the present Atletico squad will give you an idea of how to answer that. Atletico went on to win the La Liga title ahead of Real Madrid and Barcelona (Griezmann’s team) after his exit. Simeone was forced to improvise his team’s attack, playing with a main striker and a supporting striker unlike before when he had no main striker. This change has impacted the team as they now score more goals, right on top of their defensive solidity.

With the return of Griezmann, Atletico Madrid coach, Diego Simeone will be torn between sticking to his present style of play and trying to fit Griezmann into it or revert back to his old style of play that worked during Griezmann’s first stint at the club. Both styles are a slight variation of the other and are fraught with their drawbacks and also have their advantages. If he should stick to his current style, the team can continue in the same trajectory, build on last year’s title winning triumph but Griezmann will most likely not have the best of time. But since he’s on loan, it’s a gamble that Simeone can take while hoping that Griezmann can adapt. On the other hand, if he should decide to revert back to the old system, while it’s not a certainty that Griezmann will pick up from where he left off, the team risk losing their attacking potency as the would become more defensive and lethargic. In the end, the real winners in this deal have to be Atletico Madrid no matter the direction the loan eventually moves; whether he joins them permanently or returns to Barcelona at the end of his loan spell, but the question still remains “should the club have welcomed him back”? Considering the fact that the players forced his move away from the club and the club looked to be better off without him. Time will surely tell.

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