Antoine Griezmann

Wonder how he’d perform as a midfielder

Of everyone in the squad, the learning curve is likely steepest for Griezmann - 2nd coach in 6 months so additional time to adapt needed nevermind what will need to be revised when Suarez returns

He is a better defender than most of our defense. He made two insane runbacks and saved the situation defensively.

FinBarcelonafan said:

He is a better defender than most of our defense. He made two insane runbacks and saved the situation defensively.

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Well FC Barcelona ain't no construction company and the Camp Nou isn't a building site. So I really don't see the point of "working hard" up front when you can't score for shit.
Better play him as attacking midfielder as he clearly is not suited to play in the frontline

henias said:

He was on the right before on many occassions yet he struggled to even shoot, resulted in easy saves as well if you watch the games. I would say he was better on the left. He can hardly play as a number 9 either.

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One major shortcoming of his is whenever there's a counter attack or a promising attack he would pass it all the way back to the defence under no pressure whatsoever. He is probably afraid to dribble and drive the ball forward, afraid to make mistakes. Offers nothing upfront. Knows his limitation and tries to overcompensate with workrate and unnecessary passing back.

We should try and sign a replacement forward, either a striker or winger. It's a must.

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Never thought he'd play so conservative when we signed him. I was totally looking forward to aggressive play and daring moves. The way he plays now, I'd play him in midfield as he gravitates there anyways. If you look at the 39th min mark, there's Messi's perfect through-ball finding Ansu 2 meters ahead of 4 defenders forming a V and blocking access to Grizz. Vidal & Raki were too far back so Ansu had no one to cross too for the easy goal.

If Demb was available, big chances he'd have hit the spot otherwise, we need a quick moving, hungry striker with top awareness. We've got Leo but after this type of long balls, he can't be both maestro orchestrator and striker lol

he must be played at the striker position after Suarez injury

FinBarcelonafan said:

He is a better defender than most of our defense. He made two insane runbacks and saved the situation defensively.

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In all honesty, he shouldnt be all the way at the back. In a 352 we are already limited to 2 attackers. 5 midfielders is more than enough to overload the midfield and help in attack and defence. Messi needed support offensively. Personally I prefer a more 433, with a potent midfield and attack. Jordi Alba has pace but it's not the best you'd expect. I'd rather have a LW who can really shoot and can run behind defence, and a RW as well. If not a proper RF. Griezmann is through and through a second striker. He already lost that pace as a LW.

Even back in those days, we were able to quickly drive the ball forward and had alot of attacking intent. From MSN to even the trio with Villa and Pedro, both were very dynamic and were able to shoot anywhere even with Messi at false 9. Midfield was able to dribble and control tempo of the game and by that i dont mean necessarily passing back and tryna achieve the 100% pass rate. It is moving into space, reading the game, body feints/turns, vision, dribbling. It isnt as simple as: "he can complete passes, and he tracks back, so therefore he is probably a midfielder or defender." Fact is alot of world class attackers can do that but will never do the job of a midfield or defence perfectly. Let's also put this into context that we are against 10 men Granada. It's not like Griez has had really standout performances when it comes to the tougher opponents.

Prolly many want him at midfield or defense but that defeats the whole purpose of signing a forward.

I also have my valid concerns. Messi isn't as quick anymore and would need more dynamic players to compensate for his abilities.

Having said that, he did have a much better game yesterday under Setien, like the rest of the team.

1st attempt: grizz - busi - vidal - grizz - Ansu strike
2nd: pique - grizz - raki - messi - alba - grizz - Ansu strike
3rd: pique - vidal - messi - vidal
4th: raki - messi - alba cross - Ansu misses the ball
5th: pique - grizz - messi - raki - alba - leo Strike

and that was just the 1st half lol

Super start for Setien compare to matches where we only had a few attempts at goal. Great changes in quick passing, link ups, movement of the ball, Barca playing like a new team xD

Even Raki played way better than under Valv but he still needs to go. He lacks the technical quality and awareness to play 1st team (like his no-look heel flick to no one when he got rushed in the right midfield - that's too much a liability against top teams). Vidal's technique sucks as well but he brings on the heat and the attitude we could need at places like Anfield. I'd still only use him as a supersub.

He's not a dribbler but rather a player to combine with others with few touches.

He will probably get a free pass because he won a ball in his own half but I'm done with him. How many chances does he need? Just sell him Coutinho and Dembele for 250m and re invest. Do it this January for all I care. But just do it

It seems like Messi was purposely not passing to him in good positions. Honestly it's like he doesn't want Griezmann to do well so he doesn't take the place of Suarez. He could have laid Griezmann off for an easy shot at least twice.

Andresito said:

He's not a dribbler but rather a player to combine with others with few touches.

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I do like what QS is doing now, but regardless Suarez's injury, imho Griezmann is the one that remains the problematic odd-one-out.
Because he is not a dribbler, he will hardly ever be the one to understand Messi's game and the problem is there.
He is not a Barca fit, very good player but far far from being capable of lightening-fast decisions and although I admire his defensive contributions, he is simply a definite Coutinho-No-II, even if he has been able to score a few times.

I do consider him to be a bad signing, an unnecessary signing and unfortunately he is best in a position that is non existent at Barca, until Messi is there.

He contributes nothing to the team. If we want someone to track back across the wing, we might as well play Firpo there and recoup the lost money with the sale of Antoine to the likes of Manchester United or PSG.

boixos said:

He contributes nothing to the team. If we want someone to track back across the wing, we might as well play Firpo there and recoup the lost money with the sale of Antoine to the likes of Manchester United or PSG.

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We need Neymar on that left-hand side. Clear as light that he is the gamechanger we are desperately looking for. Injuries aside no one in the world can both fit our system flawlessly and decide matches on a regular basis other than the Brazilian.

Ney was never truly replaced. But he is such a polarizing figure on this forum, it is a gamble to suggest him.