This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
Radomir Antic, one of Barcelona’s former coaches, has spoken to Esports Cope and talked about Antoine Griezmann and his struggles at the club so far.
What did he say?
Antic became Barcelona’s coach way back in 2003 when he took over Louis van Gaal’s squad – a team that was in pretty bad shape.
But the Serbian only had a really short spell with the Catalan giants, leading them in just 24 official matches, tallying 12 victories, eight draws and a total of four defeats.
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Of course, the Catalan giants did see an improvement as Antic propelled them to sixth place in the table, as opposed to the 15th in which he found them upon taking over from Van Gaal.
Still, even though he was appointed in February and gone by June, Antic did leave a small mark on the team and is recognised by the club.
Recently, however, he talked to Esports Cope and analysed Barcelona’s new big-money signing, Griezmann. Here’s what he thinks about the Frenchman’s ventures so far:
“Griezmann must reflect and not look for excuses. I am surprised that a player of his characteristics does not risk more and always looks for the easiest move by giving the ball to the nearest teammate. It seems that he has not found his place in the field and participates very little in the game. He is also a player who can contribute little from the bench”.
A problem exists
Even though Griezmann is still pretty new in the Blaugrana squad, Antic has successfully recognised the problem.
The Frenchman is not really involved in Barcelona’s play and has not been that effective on the pitch as of late. Sub-par performances like the one against Inter Milan in the Champions League and his struggles in some of the games prior can surely attest to that.
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But much of it stems from Ernesto Valverde’s decision to slot Griezmann out wide instead of playing him as the team’s centre-forward in place of Luis Suarez.
Obviously, as Antic has also recognised, Barcelona’s new signing participates very little and this is something the coach will have to fix pretty soon.
Of course, we are still pretty early in the new season and Griezmann is still very much in his adaptation process. Thus far, he has scored just three La Liga goals in seven outings.
Still, with his reputation from Atletico Madrid, it remains to be seen how patient the Catalan community will be with their newest attacking addition.
If he wants to succeed, he will have to step up soon.
