Valverde hinted that it would take Griezmann one year to adapt at Barca and he might have actually been true.
Ahead of the Celta Vigo match in November 2019, Ernesto Valverde said that the simple reason why there was no link-up between Leo Messi and Antoine Griezmann on the pitch was quite simple – the Frenchman needed time to adapt to Barcelona’s game.
The then-Blaugrana coach pointed out that it took Neymar a year to adapt at Camp Nou. And here we are, one year later, with Griezmann playing his best football since his arrival in Catalonia, and it looks like he’s finally forming a bond with Messi.
There’s no better time than right now to remind ourselves how we ended up here.
Stage 1 — Valverde’s last weeks
After the Celta Vigo match, not much changed for Griezmann, as Valverde continued to use him on the left wing where the Frenchman struggled to perform.
He and Messi barely connected on the pitch. In the time between the coach’s comments on Antoine and Valverde’s eventual sacking, the 29-year-old managed five goals and one assist though.
Stage 2 — Quique Setien’s tenure
Before Setien took charge at Barca, Luis Suarez had picked up an injury. As a result, the then-new coach started using Griezmann at centre-forward. Many expected Antoine’s game to improve once back in his favourite spot, but things didn’t turn out as expected. As a result, the France international went on to score only three goals under Setien.
Stage 3 — Ronald Koeman and the new 4-2-3-1 formation
In his first matches as Barca’s head coach, Koeman used Griezmann as a right winger. As one should’ve expected, the player didn’t do too well in that spot and ended up losing his place in the starting XI for a short while.
Stage 4 — New position, new Griezmann
Things changed when Philippe Coutinho got injured as Koeman started using Griezmann in the attacking midfield spot. As a result, the 29-year-old scored five goals and provided two assists in the last six games.
Future: It’s not easy to predict Griezmann’s future because of how inconsistent his performances have been. And still, if Koeman will continue to use Antoine in a central position with Messi to his right and a striker ahead of him, we should expect the Frenchman to do better than he’s been doing when playing on the wings.
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