Antoine Griezmann Aims Dig at Ronald Koeman's Tactics
By Tom Gott
Antoine Griezmann has claimed that his impressive form at international level with France is because manager Didier Deschamps actually knows how to use him properly, words which can be read as a dig at Barcelona boss Ronald Koeman in the process.
Griezmann is yet to get off the mark for Barcelona this season and was thrown under the bus by Koeman in the aftermath of the recent 1-1 draw to Sevilla, in which the French forward spurned two great chances to score.
Koeman admitted that Griezmann should have scored at least one of his two chances during that game, but Griezmann instead saved his goalscoring form for the international break, bagging a crucial goal in Wednesday's 2-1 win over Croatia.
He now has four goals in his last six games at international level, and Griezmann insisted that's what he can do when he's playing under a manager who understands his skill set.
"I think it was one of my most beautiful goals," Griezmann said, via Marca. "I tried to hit it well, I put everything in and if it went to the stands it didn't matter. I feel good.
C’est au fond ! #33 ???? pic.twitter.com/OF8RWLylPf
— Antoine Griezmann (@AntoGriezmann) October 14, 2020
"The coach knows where to play me, so I take advantage of the situation, of this position and from the confidence of the coach and my team-mates."
For France, Griezmann usually operates behind at least one central striker, but Olivier Giroud's fluid movement and creativity gives him a lot of freedom to roam around and get himself into goalscoring positions.
Over in Barcelona, Griezmann has been shunted out to the right wing. This season, it's been Philippe Coutinho who has been deployed centrally, but Griezmann also has to compete with the movement of Lionel Messi as well.
He is yet to really find his footing since moving to Camp Nou last summer, netting just 15 goals in 51 appearances for Barça in all competitions.
With Coutinho impressing so far this season - he has a goal and two assists from three appearances - Koeman is unlikely to change his system just yet, which means Griezmann appears set to remain out on the wing for a little while longer.