4 Reasons why Antoine Griezmann will be a perfect fit for Barcelona
French attacker Antoine Griezmann has been heavily linked with a move to La Liga Champions FC Barcelona for the second season running. However, this time on, the possibility of Griezmann becoming a Barcelona player seems like only a matter of time, as the Frenchman declared that he is leaving Atletico Madrid at the end of the season.
Barcelona’s dream to win the Champions League again was shattered by Liverpool, after the Catalan giants somehow conspired to throw away a 3-0 deficit from the first leg, handing the Reds a 4-0 victory in the second leg. La Blaugrana looked pale at Anfield and had nowhere to hide from a Liverpool hammering.
Barcelona’s shameful defeat was not a fluke by any means, as they previously surrendered a similar kind of lead in Roma last season and proved the old cliché of “lightning doesn’t strike twice” wrong. A section of Barcelona faithful and pundits blamed the way Catalan giants approached the second leg, but in reality, the Reds exposed Barcelona’s tactical naivety in a really bad manner.
With four back-to-back failures to bring Europe’s most prestigious trophy back to the Camp Nou, it no longer needs rocket science to realize that Barcelona need to make changes in their squad in order to regain their European supremacy.
Although Barcelona have already confirmed the signing of Frenkie de Jong of Ajax and are still in pursuit to get the signature of his countryman Matthijs de Ligt, they are still in search of a replacement for their ageing striker Luis Suárez and Griezmann might be the final piece of jigsaw that they have been searching for.
Here are the four reasons why the World Cup winner with France will be a perfect fit for Barcelona.
#4 Tremendous work ethic
Griezmann is more famous for his lethalness in front of the goal, but the hard shifts he puts in week in week out is astounding.
His off the ball skills are as good as his on the ball ability. The way he presses his opponents will just be exactly what the doctor ordered for Barcelona. He has also got the knack of tracking back when his defense is feeling the heat.
All the successful Barcelona teams of the past were known for their pressing and the way they did it in a collective manner. But there is a theory going on in Catalunya that this team looks a shadow of their past because they stopped the high pressing, which played a huge role in their way to success.
With Messi and Suárez both reluctant to put the hard yards nowadays, Griezmann might provide Barcelona the balance between the attack and defense, which they lacked recently.