I am a little bit puzzled as to why so many want Griezmann. Yes, he is a great second striker, but we do not play with second strikers. It is very unlikely he will be the main striker in Mourinho's preferred 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3, which means he will be pushed to the wings or the position as offensive midfielder - positions where Griezmann do not excel. There are better wings and offensive midfielders out there more suitable to Mourinho's system. On top of that, it is a legitimate concern that the physicality of the Premier League might be a challenge for Griezmann. He would also play for a team that has to break down the oppositions defenses a lot, which again is not where he excels. He is more of an counterattacking player.
Antoine Griezmann
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Some people don't get this, they just want to fantasize about expensive transfers. When he doesn't do well then the same people will say we spent too much.
You forgot the brother, who's an absolute United fan, and the fact that Antoine himself loves Beckam and takes the number 7 to honour him. So it's either Real or Manchester United but it would be good to see him in United and make it work.Just a load of rumours mostly but in football, when the rumours hit high point, there is often some truth somewhere in there.
But certain things make one believe the rumours though. We know he is close to Paul Pogba and Pogba wants him at Old Trafford. We know he can double his pay at United and most footballers find that irresistible. We know his personal brand can massively improve if he signs a contract with United. We know Atletico may have hit a ceiling. We know his mentor, Diego Simeone may be on his way out of the club. We know Atletico is never shy of selling their big name stars once they are sure of earning good money for them. We know Manchester United is one of the few teams who can guarantee Atletico such good money. And we know that Antoine's mum is Portuguese like Jose is.
I dont think he's balon d'or material like many believe.
But he's consistently great, one "bad game" will change nothing.
He would be an amazing deal
And i think is good to have top players from the same nationality/culture, french in this case.
Like when you have a lot of South Americans they tend to strenghten the unity(we dont hate each other out of our continent).
But he's consistently great, one "bad game" will change nothing.
He would be an amazing deal
And i think is good to have top players from the same nationality/culture, french in this case.
Like when you have a lot of South Americans they tend to strenghten the unity(we dont hate each other out of our continent).
Yes you're right, it's hard to see where he would play. However, Jose also is keen on Antoine and maybe he has an idea. I hope for a front 3 of either Antoine, Martial, Rashford, Mata, Mkhitaryan and Lingard to try to get a lot of permutations instead of a fixed focal point. If counter attacking football is going to be the way to go, that would perfectly work.
Antoine is not a great scorer and all of that but just like Mata, he has a fabulous understanding of how the game should be played. Using that intelligence will be key to unlock defences and score. If the technical ability can follow (as a minimum, close control and passing, and maybe shooting) then it might work. Not obvious, but it might.
I really, really hope Jose is smarter than just buying him, plonking him on the wing and saying "go on then, do football."
Moyes didn't have a clue what he was going to do with Mata, I suspect he bought him to placate the fans rather than because he knew exactly what he wanted him to do. Kagawa is another smart player we just shoved out wide and expected great things from so I hope Jose has a plan otherwise it could be another Kagawa scenario, only 10 times as costly.
Actually its the other way round. Griezmann is the clinical guy that gets you that lone goal to win a game or get a draw. That is why he is very crucial to Atletico.
By virtue of the way Atletico play, they dont create many chances but Griezmann converts a lot of them, even the difficult ones. If the through ball to Gameiro had fallen to Griezmann, he would have likely scored it and we might have had a different game.
As to the transfer, (IMO) the best destination for him is Juventus where he can start in place of Mandzukic. The team and league would likely suit him better than United.
Given that we have a number of players more suited to the #10 role, I could see Mourinho working towards this formation:
Secondly, we can revert to a diamond using this formation, should we (as expected), sign another robust and powerful centre forward. I'd like to see Martial tried as a #10 also, as I think his close control and turn of pace would be very useful along with his ball carrying ability. I'm just not sure that he has the game intelligence for the role yet.
Martial
Mkhitaryan - Griezmann
Pogba - New DM - Herrera
LB - CB - CB - RB
GK
I think it suits Pogba to play from the left in a three and Herrera from the right - they have both shown energy and a willingness to provide width this season, and Herrera is particularly good crossing from that side. Miki is far more involved playing centrally and drifting around, as is Griezmann, Lingard and Mata for that matter. (Too many Mata's?). Obviously, it will be key to have extremely fit and pacey full backs to provide most of the width.Mkhitaryan - Griezmann
Pogba - New DM - Herrera
LB - CB - CB - RB
GK
Secondly, we can revert to a diamond using this formation, should we (as expected), sign another robust and powerful centre forward. I'd like to see Martial tried as a #10 also, as I think his close control and turn of pace would be very useful along with his ball carrying ability. I'm just not sure that he has the game intelligence for the role yet.
People want him because he is a world class attacker - something we haven't had for years.
Could be. Nothing surprises me with big name footballers anymore. They can look devastating in another league, then come here and cant hack it. Falcao the same, even Depay. Alternatively if he does come it could also go the other way he does well and he falls in love with playing here.
I agree with you on all and especially the bold bit. I think we need square pegs for square holes that are obviously missing in the team now. A proper RW would allow Miki to play No 10. Or a proper LW would greatly influence our width, speed and crossing ability out wide. Someone like B Silva and Belotti would be more suitable. Griezmann is a superstar but not exactly what we need.
He'll play behind a central striker with a free role which will suit him no problem. Moving him out wide would be an epic waste of his talents which I'm sure Jose is smart enough to see. As long as he plays centrally and has good players around him, he has the movement, finishing and pace to be a real asset to the team. He won't be tasked with breaking down the opposition defence but to stretch these lines with his superb movement and finish the chances we create against these sides which again he excels at.
I don't think Griezmann will just be constantly rotating around the various positions he can play in. On occasion maybe but he'll generally have fixed role. He's too good not to.
So somebody's game time will be significantly reduced. He won't be a striker under Mourinho(so no threat to Rashford) and Lingard will only be a squad player anyway. That leaves either Mata, Mkhi or Martial to be replaced.
I'm not convinced Griezmann is so good that we should spend a fortune on him and reduce one of the above three to bench warmer status.
Would love to see him sign but I am not convinced we can afford to spend so much on one player unless there is a huge budget this summer. There is no point signing Griezmann if we don't have a proper left back, or if we keep relying on the injury record of smalling or jones and if someone fellaini is going to play so regularly.
You can fit Pogba and Griezmann in there best positions.
Rashford - Griezmann
Mkhitaryan
Pogba - Fabinho - Herrera
LB - Rojo - Bailly - Valencia
Dave
Fabinho would naturally sit deeper allowing Pogba and Herrera to push forward. Micky or Mata in front of them as a no. 10 linking the play. Griezmann playing with Rashford in a 2 which suits both, Griezmann playing just off Rashford. It is possible to get both playing in there preferred position. Rashford also showed with Jesse that he is twice the player when played in a 2 man striker system and not up there on his own.Mkhitaryan
Pogba - Fabinho - Herrera
LB - Rojo - Bailly - Valencia
Dave
If we had 3 in midfield he could start on the right with a mostly free role and Tony as the de facto RW, same as we've done so many times this year with Mata or Mhki when they play there... and it'd suit him just fine. Y'all are acting like the only option other than in the middle is stuck on the touchline in a 442 or something.
Literally the first line of my post. Whether he does this as a #10 with 2 wingers either side or a Mataesque RW with 3 CMs behind him, doesn't matter.
Jose can be an absolute pain in the neck but he is not confused when it comes to buying and positioning players. When he buys, he buys with specific plans in mind. That's why most transfers under him happen quickly and when they fail to happen, he often has a bad season.
Jose so far IMO has had a 100% success rate with his transfers at the club. Despite Pogba supposedly not living up to the hype and Mkhi under performing, all of his transfers have been fantastic. If Mourinho is going after this transfer, fair enough because I don't see any manager as good as him in the transfer market.
Griezmann is a great team player and adaptable. I am sure if he is slightly out of position he will rise to the challenge. Mourinho knows what he's doing; if he's the right man he will sign, if he isn't he probably won't.
By 'y'all' I meant 'you people' except you...
That was the whole point of the discussion, whether or not he'd get into their sides. Not whether or not he's more gifted or if he'll be a good player in 5 years. Yes, Martial currently won't be able to do for City what Sane does, because his movement off the ball is non-existent, whereas it's Sane's strong point. He would also provide no width and would expect the ball into his feet, Sane is a better fit for the system.
I don't care about last season or future seasons, the discussion is on this season and he wouldn't get into their teams, it's that simple
He's not going to carry the ball 60 yards as often as a dribbler like Bale or Neymar or Hazard, but Atletico now have a record of W5 D6 L4 against Real with Griezmann playing, and he's been their best attacker in the great majority of those games apart from one or two Carrasco or Torres standout performances.
So, I guess it's true that he's not going to fundamentally affect the possession levels like a 10 like Zidane, but he's always a threat to make something happen on the break, and I'm not sure we really have that if Mkhitaryan doesn't come good in season 2, which I do expect, or Martial or Rashford don't make a leap.
I'm not that worried about us under the kosh. We've played well enough in those circumstances and if we swap Lingard for Griezmann as the RW/10/free role type we've often used we'll only be better on the break. I think our problem is the 10 home draws and an overall Mourinho style and talent-level problem that's led to us not controlling games against lesser opponents.
Mourinho always has a clear idea of the team he is trying to build and also knows what he needs to complete it, but you cannot rely on his judgement to identify the specific players that would meet those needs. He has at times acquired players like Quaresma, who were obviously not what he needed, while being reluctant to accept someone like Lucio who turned out be one of his best defenders.
He should join Real Madrid.
I don't understand some of the comments on here - "why would we want Griezmann"?
Are people serious! Have any of you watched us play this last 4 years!? People get so obsessed about irrelevant details like "is he a #10, is he a #9, is he a false #9, is a 9.5#
Tell you what he is - one of the best players in the world! Once we start signing players like Griezmann we will look at the likes of Mata, Mhiki, Lingard and Zlatan in comparison and suddenly it will become very clear why we have been underwhelming!
Are people serious! Have any of you watched us play this last 4 years!? People get so obsessed about irrelevant details like "is he a #10, is he a #9, is he a false #9, is a 9.5#
Tell you what he is - one of the best players in the world! Once we start signing players like Griezmann we will look at the likes of Mata, Mhiki, Lingard and Zlatan in comparison and suddenly it will become very clear why we have been underwhelming!
Bullshit
Our defence has been one of the best in Europe, with a CB and a DM the defence is sorted no need to buy 4 defensive players thats absurd. Its our attack that needs fixing, specifically our finishing. Creativity has not been much of a problem what we need is a world class finisher and Griezmann is exactly that. How can anyone not want Griezmann is beyond me, he is easily one of the top 5 strikers in the world right now
I'm going to consider this a done deal.
Did you read what you were quoting? I only mentioned 2 defenders, a backup CB and a main LB. If you count DM as a defensive player, then make that 3. Where did you get 4 from?
I disagree, IMO he would get into their team irrespective of his form this season because of his last season performances. You are saying his off the ball movement is non-existent and he doesn't provide width based on 1 and a half season? This is what you said :
All I am saying is that you are judging a player based on 1 and 1/2 seasons, you haven't seen Martial at his best and you are already telling he is a bad winger.
Yes, that's exactly what I'm claiming, as none of us are fecking psychics who can predict the future. As of now, that is the case. He wouldn't get in ahead of Sane because he wouldn't be able to do what Pep expects to the same standard Sane would, regardless of ability.
Also, you're putting words in my mouth, when the feck did I ever say he was bad out wide? I never said he couldn't improve on that aspect either, but once again, that wasn't the point of the discussion.
Not that I'm against us signing him but a player's position is more than just an irrelevant detail. Your examples of 'underwhelming' players are a little strange too.
Read the rest of what I said, 'wouldn't be playing the lines like Sane would'. Martial at his best is a very good player, but he is at his best when the ball is constantly into his feet, whereas a player like Sane thrives in different conditions - when the ball isn't at his feet.
Just because a player is more talented than another, doesn't mean he would fit into a system and would instantly replace the other player. Do I think Sane is a very good talent? Yes, as I do Martial. He would hardly walk into the City lineup though, which is why I highly doubt City would be willing to pay what was required to sign him, it'd be a pointless signing.
Don't know who this journo is, and yes, it's The Sun - but one for the muppets.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/3475518/antoine-griezmann-manchester-united-personal-terms/
https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/3475518/antoine-griezmann-manchester-united-personal-terms/
Yes but we aren't talking about a CB playing RW. We are talking about #10 or #9 and we aren't talking about a well established attack which is firing on all cylinders - he is better than any of our options across any of the 4 attacking positions which is my whole point
Also, i highlight those players to make an important distinction. They are good players, not great players. Griezmann is a great player. Our idea of real quality has become somewhat diluted lately but luckily Jose's hasn't!
I can see us never scoring ever again using this formation!
One important thing regarding Griezmann transfer speculation and his potential move to UTD that everyone's taking too lightly, is the style of football.
Surely a supremely talented and able player as he is, wants to play in an attacking, direct system. Players like him thrive when having ball in their possession, always passing and creative, something he can't do very much at Atletico.
If Mourinho is able to persuade him we won't be parking the bus and be as direct and offensive as we were in the first part of the season (let's hope that wasn't just a momentary surge that usually comes when new manager is appointed) I reckon we might live to see Griezmann in UTD shirt.
Surely a supremely talented and able player as he is, wants to play in an attacking, direct system. Players like him thrive when having ball in their possession, always passing and creative, something he can't do very much at Atletico.
If Mourinho is able to persuade him we won't be parking the bus and be as direct and offensive as we were in the first part of the season (let's hope that wasn't just a momentary surge that usually comes when new manager is appointed) I reckon we might live to see Griezmann in UTD shirt.
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