The criticism follows Barcelona’s draw against Atletico Madrid.
Quique Setien is not making many friends during his Barcelona tenure. Reports claim that he has lost the dressing room and has now drawn criticism from members of Antoine Griezmann’s family.
Both his father and brother took to social media to air their frustration at Griezmann coming into the match with only four minutes to go and the club needing a goal to salvage their league title hopes.
More from Everything Barca
- FC Barcelona tracking Belgian Wonderkid
- FC Barcelona vs Betis Player Ratings
- Barça boss Xavi to get contract extension
- FC Barcelona planning swoop for Arsenal midfielder
- Barcelona interested in €30 million wonderkid
According to Sport, in now deleted tweets, Antoine’s brother Theo wrote, “Honestly, I am going to to cry. Two minutes.”
The two minutes was in reference to the amount of game time his brother saw against his former side. It was Griezmann’s third straight game on the bench.
Since the resumption of the league, the only game he has started was the first one back against Real Mallorca and even then he was pulled early in the second half.
What drew the ire of his father, Alain Griezmann, was Setien’s words after the match when he was explaining why he waited so long to introduce the Frenchman.
Setien said that he thought the team was playing well and that bringing on Griezmann would “destabilize the team.”
He didn’t make things any better when, according to Mundo Deportivo, he said, “I’ll talk to him . I will not offer any apologies but I understand that he could be feeling bad, and I feel bad for him because he is a great professional and a great person.
Alain responded, “To make these type of declarations you need to have the keys to the car. This is not the case, you are only a passenger.”
While not mentioning Setien by name, it was clear who his message was addressed to. He too ended up deleting his post.
Setien’s days as Barcelona manager likely numbered.
Griezmann’s family aren’t the only ones to criticize the manager as Arthur Melo’s mom also took to social media after Setien’s comments towards her son when the move to Juventus was all but done.
In that case, Setien referred to Arthur as not being the first player to leave because he had not fulfilled his promise at the club.
It’s become more than apparent that the former Real Betis man is not equipped to handle this Barcelona side full of veterans and strong personalities. His time as the manager could be coming to an end once the season wraps up.
As for Griezmann, his first season at the club has been full of frustration after starting it off rather well. The Champions League is the only competition the club are still alive in but that looks like a long shot as well.
It will be up to him as to whether or not he pushes for a move. It may depend on who the next manager is going to be and how he decides to utilize him. In any case, it’s not been a good sesaon for the current World Cup champion.