Griezmann has two faces

While 'Antoine Griezmann B' finds his place in Barcelona, ​​'Antoine Griezmann A' enjoys football and has fun with France. The national team break has been a good example of this. In the friendly before Ukraine, came out from the bench and celebrated the seventh goal of his team. Versus CroatiaIn the League of Nations, he hit the squad in the eighth minute, key to achieving victory. He did not suffer the same fate before Portugal, in a duel that ended with a zero draw. But, of course, there are obvious differences between one face and the other of the French attacker. Something is happening and both he and his coach Deschamps have no qualms about talking openly about it.

Koeman is not a technician who frequent rotations excessively. What's more, it's about having an idea and going with it to the end. In your drawing, Ansu is indisputable on the left, Messi acts as a false '9' and Coutinho enhances his virtues from the midfielder. Griezmann, therefore, is relegated to the right band, a position that is not natural for him and that forces him to have little importance in the games. The '7' dances inside and suffers from the side. He is a footballer of free movement, who can even function as a reference in attack. In the National Team, he is the tip of the Deschamps rhombus, the companion of Mbappé and Giroud / Martial. There it exploits its potential to the maximum.

At least that's what the numbers reveal. Although, positions aside, Griezmann shows his other self every time there is an international break. According to Opta data, 'Grizi' averages 0.65 goals per game for France. Or what is the same, 33 goals and 21 assists in 83 games, a brilliant figure. On the contrary, in Barcelona, ​​Antoine has scored 15 goals and has distributed four to his teammates in just over a season. With a total of 51 games behind him, the data indicates that he only participates in 0.37 goals per game. A great contrast for a gamer who keeps searching for his site.

To turns with the position

Not to mention Koeman at any time, Griezmann clearly marked what his problem is at Barcelona in an interview after the victory against Croatia: “I think it was a very nice goal. The ball came to me and I tried to hit it well and I scored. I feel good about the goal. The coach knows where to put me so I took advantage of this advantageous situation and the confidence of the coach and my teammates. “Translated to the pitch, he goes on to say that is more comfortable accompanying two men of reference or, at least, being able to move freely through the center, falling to the sides when necessary.

Until now, Coutinho is playing a leading role in the new Barcelona and, in addition, he does it in his most natural position, the playmaker. Time will tell if Koeman is willing to displace the Brazilian to fit Griezmann's piece in his great puzzle. At the moment, the Sergiño Dest's arrival may be a breath of oxygen for the French. Unlike Sergi Roberto, a more positional and reconverted footballer after performing work in the core throughout his career, the newcomer is a full-back with a great offensive vocation. His tendency to reach the baseline, his dribbling ability and his power are related to Griezmann's idea.

More than anything because if the lane becomes the property of the former Ajax, Griezmann will be able to get between the lines or shoot more to the center waiting for second plays or leaks from the new side. Of course, Dest suffers further back than perhaps Sergi Roberto could do and that will force the Frenchman to sacrifice more in defensive tasks. Something that, on the contrary, is not a problem for him. They can attribute different aspects of the game to '7' for his role at Barça, but something undoubted is his great capacity for sacrifice and his effort in the pressure above.

Definitely, the former Atlético de Madrid needs from the board a system that suits his resources. The advanced statistics mark even more the urgency. In the three games played, Griezmann has generated 0.26 goals. Expected Goals is a record that shows the quality of the player's actions, to the point of taking into account even the rivals around him or the placement of the ball for the best or worst hit. So that, the '7' barely made the rival tremble, far from Leo Messi who has already caused 2.72 so many.

Ansu Fati, paradoxically, just add 0.62, but has been able to convert three. This goes to say that he has been able to score goals that statistics do not contemplate as clear occasions. Griezmann is not only surpassed by the two great stars (at least, for now) from Koeman's painting. Coutinho, from the playmaker, has generated 1.1. Trincao, from the bench, 0.3. Without having data on what happened with France, it is clear that the figure changes. Without going any further, with two goals in three games, when in Can Barça he has not even managed to generate a third of a goal.

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Deschamps comes to his defense

Beyond the comfort of the footballer himself, Didier Deschamps has also given his vision on the nature of Griezmann: “If I made comments about it, I don't think Koeman would be very happy.. I'm not talking about what happens in the clubs, neither in Barcelona nor in any other. Antoine has been placed on the right, something that has already happened on more occasions. And it is not because of Koeman's way of thinking, because in his day he told him that he did not understand why Barça did not put him in the center. What he told him is not the same as what he is doing, but I understand that there are player movements and everyone must adapt. I know Antoine very well. I also had to list it and it adapted because it is generous and runs a lot. But it is the center where it is most effective and most decisive for the team. “

In France, Griezmann feels supported and happy and he also shows it on the pitch. It is his 'side A', which he also wants to show at Barcelona despite all the setbacks. The footballer was always clear that he wanted to stay and enforce his decision to leave Atlético de Madrid, with all the commotion that it caused. The first year was a transition for him and without Luis Suárez, the definitive explosion was expected for this 2020-21 campaign. At the moment, said explosion only shows her in her national team. The national team stoppage serves to take notes and Koeman must do so if he wants to see the best Antoine, the one with the 'A side', celebrating goals at the Camp Nou.