Antoine Griezmann

Status
Not open for further replies.
Hope we're not signing him to be the #10/inside right. Would be another misguided transfer, along the lines of midfield pivot Pogba - where a player is signed for massive amounts of money, but we don't quite use him in his best role. Be great as a False 9 - as stated above by several posters. But a diamond would be excellent, too. Ancelotti's diamond worked really well, even against PL double flanks, and more recently - Liverpool had a really good run of form under Rodgers with a fluid diamond front 3:

chelseadiamond.jpg
Manchester-United-0-3-Liverpool.jpg

Finding the right #10 will be a pain, but a lot of the other upgrades are fairly straightfoward if we target the right type of wingback(s) to control the flanks. Maybe something like:

---------------Martial--------------------Griezmann--------------

----------↖↗---------------#10-----------------------↑------------
---------Pogba-------------------------------------Ander---------
----↑--------------------←Paredes→-----------------↓--------↑---
-Rodríguez-----------------------------------------------Cancelo
-------------------Süle--------------Bailly-----------------------

---------------------------De Gea--------------------------------
 
Invictus said:
Hope we're not signing him to be the #10/inside right. Would be another misguided transfer, along the lines of midfield pivot Pogba - where a player is signed for massive amounts of money, but we don't quite use him in his best role. Be great as a False 9 - as stated above by several posters. But a diamond would be excellent, too. Ancelotti's diamond worked really well, even against PL double flanks, and more recently - Liverpool had a really good run of form under Rodgers with a fluid diamond front 3:

chelseadiamond.jpg
Manchester-United-0-3-Liverpool.jpg

Finding the right #10 will be a pain, but a lot of the other upgrades are fairly straightfoward if we target the right type of wingback(s) to control the flanks. Maybe something like:

---------------Martial--------------------Griezmann--------------

----------↖↗---------------#10-----------------------↑------------
---------Pogba-------------------------------------Ander---------
----↑--------------------←Paredes→-----------------↓--------↑---
-Rodríguez-----------------------------------------------Cancelo
-------------------Süle--------------Bailly-----------------------

---------------------------De Gea--------------------------------
Click to expand...
Full muppet mode has been activated early I see.
 
Can't get excited about this. Nothing from the last 3 years indicates it'll turn out well if it does happen.
 
If we sign him, let's hope it's to play him in a role that has made him the player he is today. Buying him for mega bucks and then putting him on the right will cause a meltdown here when he inevitably looks half the player.
 
If we could offer CL football I wouldn't even have a doubt, offer the release clause and he would be ours in a snip. Without CL footie I am not so certain, also he can't have missed the less than stellar vibe currently surrounding us.

we'll see, a lot can change until summer.
 
Diamond is the answer as most posters have said, the football would be devastating.

Would like to see this:

Martial - Griezmann
Mata/Mkhity
Pogba - Herrera
Blind/Carvalho
Shaw/Young - Smalling - Bailly - Valencia
David
​
 
Really don't think I want him... the only way both he and Pogba fit into the team, likely ends up with Rashford, Mkhi and Martial being sacrificed. I don't think he is good enough to justify excluding all that potential.

You only need to watch France to see how hard it is to fit Pogba and Griezmann into the same team effectively without one of them looking like an average player.
 
On one hand he loves the club and would probably give a damn a bit more than most of mercenaries we have on our payroll at the moment.

But how to squeeze him into the team?
 
Last edited:
Fracture90 said:
On one hand he loves the club (allegedly) and would probably give a damn a bit more than most of mercenaries we have on our payroll at the moment.

But how to squeeze him into the team?
Click to expand...

Ibra is on his last legs, Rooney is going into sunset. With Martial and Rashford contenders to lead the line, having a genuine world class player in Griezmann as part of our forward line is a no-brainer IMO.
 
littleman said:
Ibra is on his last legs, Rooney is going into sunset. With Martial and Rashford contenders to lead the line, having a genuine world class player in Griezmann as part of our forward line is a no-brainer IMO.
Click to expand...

I'm not denying his class, far from it but where could we play him?
 
I honestly don't think Mourinho would know what to do with him
 
Here's the full interview...

"I always ask Paul Pogba about Manchester United," Griezmann told Sky Sport News in Germany.

"I think they are a huge club with a really good infrastructure. I ask Paul about some of the players, and if they're really that good, or if Jose Mourinho is really that good.

"You hear a lot of things [speculation] about Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain but right now I don't see me moving to a new club. But it would be awesome to play alongside Paul one day.''
 
I would love to see him along with Rashford at slightly withdrawn strikers role.

--------------------------Rashford -----------------------------------
-Martial----------------------------------Griezmann---------------
-------------------Pogba-----------------Herrera---------------------
---------------------------------NewDLP---------------------------------
-----------------------------Back4-----------------------------------------
-------------------------------DDG------------------------------------------
 
Hasn't Griezman played as a #10 before? Anyone able to shed some light on this?
 
pascell said:
Here's the full interview...

"I always ask Paul Pogba about Manchester United," Griezmann told Sky Sport News in Germany.

"I think they are a huge club with a really good infrastructure. I ask Paul about some of the players, and if they're really that good, or if Jose Mourinho is really that good.

"You hear a lot of things [speculation] about Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain but right now I don't see me moving to a new club. But it would be awesome to play alongside Paul one day.''
Click to expand...
The feck? Is he watching the same team we are?
 
MounchesterUtd said:
Any combination of Martial, Rashford, Griez and Mata (and hopefully Mkhi) as the front 3 in a diamond is mouthwatering.
Click to expand...
It's an unpopular opinion of mine, but I see Rashford as a shadow striker. As exemplified by
Rasendori said:
Both. Rashford should be utilized as a shadow striker. Jose has already made it clear that he doesn't see Rooney as a midfielder ("Maybe he's not a striker any more. Maybe he is not a No 9 anymore but he will never, with me, be a No.6. He will never be 50 metres from the goal. For me he will be a No 9 or a No 10 or a nine-and-a-half, but with me he will never be a No 6 or even a No 8." ), and therefore Rooney whilst occupying the no.10 role isn't responsible for being a traditional playmaker, but rather as a goal scorer. Similarly, Jari Litmanen had the role of a shadow striker for Ajax respectively, as did Muller for Bayern Munich under Juup Heynckes' 4-2-3-1 which is comfortably one of the most prominent 4-2-3-1 system in recent years. Speaking of Muller, Jose has already confirmed that Muller was very much a player he was interested in, as exemplified by "is anyone in England interested in Thomas Muller? For sure. Can we, England bring Thomas Muller from Bayern Munich? I don't think so." This suggests that Jose was open to having a shadow striker at Chelsea, and it's widely believed by many that Jose wanted Griezmann, another whose mostly suited best as a shadow striker, and the Atletico Madrid president Enrique Cerezo said the following, "right now, Griezmann's thoughts are not on a sheik or blue princess coming to sign him." I felt it was particularly noteworthy that he mentioned "blue princess" which I assume was hinting at Chelsea. Furthermore, Rashford's link up play, is one of his best attributes, he offers pace from in behind which is an attribute Zlatan doesn't particularly possess, and the "almost like a free role" as Rooney put it would suit Rashford quite well due to his exuberance he conveys each time he steps on the pitch. Watch the first 3 minutes so of the following video, to see a brief visual representation of what Rashford is capable of when he isn't scoring.
Watch first 3 minutes:



At Man Utd, he could play as a shadow striker, the role Griezmann flourished in, playing alongside Giroud from the last 16 andthe subsequent games which followed, or the relationship Dybala flourished in with the big, powerful Mandzukic. Rashford can be our Griezmann or Dybala and Zlatan can have a somewhat similar role to that of Manzukic/Giroud.
Click to expand...

Therefore, I'd expect him to be in direction competition with Griezmann, rather than playing in conjunction with one another. As for Mata and
Henrikh Mkhitaryan of the House Targaryen
First of His Country the Midfield Arnmenian and the POTS of the great Bundesliga
Breaker of Packed Defences
Mother of Red Devils

I think it's possible the aforementioned may not have a future at the club. In any case, we'd be in good stead trying to replicate the tenacity, exuberance both offensively and defensively, that Vidal brought to Juve's diamond. If we can manage to get Weigl, who is my first, but ultimately dream choice, then I can envisage Nainngolan having a galvanizing impact as our no.10. He's been utilized in this very position, by Spalletti this season, 7 times, scoring twice and accumulating a statistically calculated score via Whoscored of 7.38. However, it'll admittedly be difficult to get Weigl, and my most realistic choice is Parades https://www.redcafe.net/threads/the...olling-midfielder.421810/page-6#post-19851402 Given that both Parades and Nainngolan play for the same team, it may be difficult to get both. An alternative, could potentially be Aaron Ramsey. He's really effective as a no.10 for Wales, and if I'm not mistaken, he played as a no,10 often in the 2013/14 season, where he was arguably in his best form at club level. Of course, Arsenal would be apprehensive to giving him to us, but there is a chance, even if it's a slight one, given he'll be finding it exceedingly difficult to get game time. I prefer the player to be experienced, as I hope Angel Gomes can be thrown in the mix in 2-3 years time.
 
RC89 said:
Hasn't Griezman played as a #10 before? Anyone able to shed some light on this?
Click to expand...
He plays as a second striker. He isnt a lone guy up top, he isnt a playmaker, he isnt a winger. He is basically 100% a second striker. So if he came, we would likely have him just off of Martial in an ideal world. Then to get the best out of Pogba as well, we need him on the left of a midfield 3. So that leaves a proper #10 between them (mata/miki) and us playing a 4312 or a diamond. To do that, we need to sign a holding midfielder like Carrick to get the best out of pogba, as well as 2 attacking fullbacks who can offer that width and basically own the flanks without a real winger in front. Martial and Griezmann and the 10 can drift wide to support, as can the inner mids, but it wont be like having a real winger.

So yeah, while he is a great player, literally the only scenario in which we make him and pogba work together includes signing 2 new fullbacks and a holding mid (which we need anyway). We need a right back anyway because of Valencias age. Its more that Shaw isnt good enough going forward and isnt that type to suit that formation really. Also it would limit attempts to change formation since pogba and griezmann will always play when fit.
 
"we can no longer ignore the big elephant in the room. griezmann" - october 2017. redcafe.net
 
Viggers said:
Really don't think I want him... the only way both he and Pogba fit into the team, likely ends up with Rashford, Mkhi and Martial being sacrificed. I don't think he is good enough to justify excluding all that potential.

You only need to watch France to see how hard it is to fit Pogba and Griezmann into the same team effectively without one of them looking like an average player.
Click to expand...
Haven't we as a fanbase learnt enough about potential (and the risks involved with tenuous projections) over the last half decade? Martial and Rashford could potentially turn out to be really good players; and Mkhitaryan evidenced superlative form at Dortmund (however, he might not even have a medium term future at the club under current management). Meanwhile, Griezmann is hovering on Ballon D'Or Top 5-ish status: he's tallied close to 60 goals over the past couple seasons, he is the best non-Barcelona/Real player in La Liga with probably Godín, and he's arguably eclipsed Müller as the best forward of that type in world football after a bunch of decisive performances in the Champions League and EURO 2016.

Could be wrong, but I think it would be eminently naive to turn down a player of that caliber (think Lewandowski or Dybala in terms of class), especially when they're almost impossible to extract for the most part (unless the buyout clause is reasonable - relative to their standing in football), and for his specific case - it's a player entering his prime years as an attacker. As a fanbase, we must let go of this pattern of putting the horse before the cart, and anointing 18-19 year olds as dead certain mainstays of the team. Agree about the Pogba-Griezmann concerns, though. Mourinho will have to be careful about striking the right balance between the two (something Deschamps hasn't mastered, yet). It can be done, but certainly not in a traditional 4-2-3-1 setup.
 
TsuWave said:
"we can no longer ignore the big elephant in the room. griezmann" - october 2017. redcafe.net
Click to expand...
Most definitely.

"Fitting Griezmann, Pogba, Mata and Ibrahimovic in one team"
 
2017...

Weigl
Herrera Pogba
Mhki
Griezmann
Martial

not going to happen but this is what I would love to see
 
I want him the most. Would prefer him to Kane, Icardi, Lukaku et al.

Definitely want his babies.

Edit: I'm sure if United are in for him next season we will get him. Pogba factor, the fact that he's a United fan and so is his brother. Oh and then there is the wages! We will surely pay the most.

We just need top four this season and I think it's nailed on for next summer!
 
DWelbz19 said:
Most definitely.

"Fitting Griezmann, Pogba, Mata and Ibrahimovic in one team"
Click to expand...

I think Ibra baring the misses - has shown he could give us 2/3 years if we bring the right players round him to get the best out of him. I don't think rotation would be a problem. Griezmann would go some way in making up for missing out on Bale but we still need better width. Pereira could maybe give us that next season - going to be crazy if we do get him but it's what we need.
 
CM10 said:
I honestly don't think Mourinho would know what to do with him
Click to expand...


Yep he'll have no fecking idea. Jose's credentials are that of a Sunday League coach.

:wenger:

Give your head a wobble.
 
We'd have to go to a diamond for this to make any sense and Ibra wouldn't be any use in that as both strikers need to cover a lot of ground and offer great movement.
 
I don't particularly rate him, would much rather Sanchez but the ship has sailed he's firing for Gunners but that doesn't change the fact I would like to see him here. I guess he has still a lot left in his locker and move like this could make him a better player, he's the fan of the club and works hard so it doesn't matter that there might be better players out there to fill the void positions...
 
Be very surprising if we get him without champions league football (which it's looking like we won't get this season). It's pretty common knowledge he's a united fan though. We have many French/Spanish speakers in the squad already so he should settle in pretty quick.

Ohhhh suddenly I feel all warm and gooey inside. :drool:
 
unitedbhoy said:
The feck? Is he watching the same team we are?
Click to expand...
it's the same clouds which helped rooney to get him a 300k contract and the world to think he's world class until now... some people still think that... that's only good in this case. We are Man United we have a name same as Mourinho, both in a decline/transition but a huge name.. That will help and eventually can end up our crisis..
 
Fracture90 said:
I'm not denying his class, far from it but where could we play him?
Click to expand...

I think you're thinking about it the wrong way.

If he's better than anyone on the team in a position, he plays.

Then we have to figure out how to "squeeze" the person Griezmann has pushed out into the team.

If Griez is not better, then he sits on the bench until he is better.

There are too many insane, speculative posts in Redcafe about how we can't displace Martial or Rashford, our rising stars etc. The reality is we don't know if they can be world beaters. We hope.

And if they do become world beaters, they will certainly be able to bench Griezmann.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.