Antoine Griezmann opens up about his life at Barcelona and relationship with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez.
Antoine Griezmann was Barcelona’s huge summer signing in the offseason but the Frenchman is finding life with the Catalan giants difficult to adapt to.
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Griezmann gave an interview to UEFA.com where he spoke about his current run of form, Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and how he is lacking confidence at the moment when it comes to decisions making.
According to Diario Sport, he said,
"“I’m really shy and I don’t feel comfortable going up and talking to people. I’m not someone who starts a conversation but Luis (Suarez), Leo (Messi) and I are beginning to learn about each other. We’ve already had dinner together.”"
The question when Griezmann was first signed was the relationship between him and Messi and Suarez. Before he arrived, Messi was asked about Griezmann potentially joining the team and answered with a “no comment.”
That was seen as a rejection of the Frenchman stemming from the year before when all signs pointed to Griezmann joining then but ultimately deciding to stay with Atletico Madrid.
On the pitch, anyone who watches can see there is still a disconnect between the front three. Griezmann will often make a run but be ignored by Messi and when he has the ball, he seems to make a bad pass or lose it.
Griezmann knows he isn’t performing the way he can and his is open about the lack of confidence at the moment.
According to Bleacher Report, he said,
"“At present, when I get the ball, I have a certain lack of confidence in when to pass or when to shoot on goal. This I’m sure is something that will change with the passage of time.”"
Under Ernesto Valverde, and especially this season, the team’s plan seems to be to give it to Messi and he’ll figure things out for us. This leaves uncertainty for the other attacking players in their role on the team.
Their first instinct now tells them to always be looking for the Argentine and give him the ball whenever possible. Not only does it become predictable but it completely nullifies their skills and attributes which is the reason why Barcelona brought them to the team in the first place.
Griezmann also revealed that the reason he came to Barcelona was to learn a different style of play and philosophy rather than to simply win trophies. Whether this team has a style of play is currently up for debate.
Regardless, Griezmann has yet to get off the ground running and was substituted early in the first half in their unimpressive win against Leganes over the weekend.
He has only four goals and three assists so far with Barcelona. For a player who commanded a huge fee, he knows he has to do better than that.
He will get another chance to get things back on track when Barcelona host Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League.