Comparing Antoine Griezmann's 2014/15 Stats to His 2015/16 Numbers

Atletico Madrid are on the hunt for a memorable end to their season, level on points at the top of La Liga heading into the final few gameweeks and into the UEFA Champions League semi-finals after knocking out reigning holders Barcelona in the last eight.

One of their stars this season has again been French forward Antoine Griezmann, the club's top scorer with 20 goals in all competitions.

Griezmann has had a rotating set of partners in attack this term after a lot of final-third changes last summer, so how do his own statistics for this term compare to last year, when he burst into the footballing world's consciousness as a forward rather than a winger?

Switch and Adjust

When arriving from Real Sociedad, Griezmann had previously been used almost exclusively from the left flank, though his latter days at Anoeta did see him play centrally, too. That's where Atletico manager Diego Simeone earmarked him to play last term for the Rojiblancos and, after an initial period of adjustment, Griezmann found his feet as Atleti's second striker.

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At that time, he played alongside Mario Mandzukic, before later taking on the main role as the starting forward as the Croatian fell out of favour and was eventually sold.

This season, it has been the same tale: Jackson Martinez was the No. 9, and Griezmann partnered him and played off him. But the Colombian's failure to integrate meant Griezmann once more shifted forward as the focal point, with a rotating cast around him of Luciano Vietto, Fernando Torres and Angel Correa, and Yannick Carrasco has featured in attack of late, too.

What that boils down to for Griezmann's numbers is that this season more than last, he has been an established starter in attack, but more often as the slightly deeper forward rather than the top man stretching defence and maintaining a high position inside the penalty area. Fortunately for Atletico, he has become rather proficient at both roles.

Number Work: Part 1

There are pure numbers to consider, and actual values. For the purposes of available data and competitions that matter most to Atletico, we'll look at Champions League and La Liga appearances—not the Copa del Rey, where the opposition is varied and the team heavily rotated, nor the Super Cup.

The first is the raw tallies: Griezmann netted 24 goals in 46 (Liga and Champions League) games for Atleti last season and has 26 in 43 so far this term. It's already an increase, but the mitigating factor here is that Griezmann was alternating from wing to striker last term and only became the go-to forward from late December; 19 of his 22 Liga goals came between that month and the end of last season.

The No. 7 was also more often subbed last term; he played 3,011 minutes in the two main competitions, meaning an average of a goal every 125 minutes. This season has so far seen him feature for 3584 minutes, yielding a goal every 138 minutes, so his actual strike rate is slightly lessened, even if still impressive.

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As noted, though, Griezmann has also been in a more withdrawn role in the attack, more responsible for build-up play and taking a creative lead at times. That is reflected in a far greater final-third output overall from the French forward.

Last term, he rattled off 95 shots all told, but with just 23 of those coming from outside the box, yielding one goal. He was Atletico's penalty-area predator, an incisive and clinical finisher from close range whose movement became a phenomenal trait.

This year, more licence to drop deeper has seen him be overall of more use outside the area: four goals from 38 shots outside the box, with 112 efforts so far in total. That will rise to around 135 or so by the end of the season, at his current rate.

Griezmann's play outside the box also supports the visual confirmation of his importance in constructing Atleti's final-third play: 69 chances created in total this term, up from just 26 last year. The better range of attackers he is linking with in the second half of this season has also seen their end product increase, thereby upping his assists from one last year to five this year. But in terms of judging creativity, assists are largely irrelevant—it's chance creation, especially clear-cut chances, that matter.

Number Work: Part 2

The second range of values we consider for Griezmann tells us more about his game-to-game impact and, in a season where he will end up playing around 1,000 minutes or more than last term, is a vital comparison tool: the per-90 statistics.

If Griezmann plays 1,000 minutes more than last year, obviously his raw numbers this term should be higher. Right now with the minutes tallies closer it's easy to see where the big jumps are, but with a bigger discrepancy, the number of times he performs each action per 90 minutes on the field is a much better judge.

The table below highlights his per-90 values this season and last, in each competition.

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As is evident, Griezmann has been more involved and more proficient in Atletico's deeper build-up play, is more frequently in possession and has played his part in helping the team become more dominant at times.

It's also worth noting that his defensive work has risen accordingly, with his interceptions, tackles won and clearances made all rising slightly this season, as you'd expect with him helping to hold the midfield line. Combining those three defensive stats yields 3.45 defensive actions per 90 minutes in La Liga for Griezmann, compared to 1.68 per 90 for last season, another indication of him coming to terms with Simeone's needs.

Improvement and Future

Atletico need a No. 9, that much is obvious; even if Torres stays, they need a strike who can lead the line alone by showing good movement, selfless running and a predatory ability in the box. That player, essentially Jackson's replacement, will partner Griezmann at times and play centrally in a three at others, with Atleti's tactical arrangement constantly switching in-game.

Griezmann remains key to it all: he can drop off, move wide and fill in along the midfield line, with the intelligence and physical capacity to launch counter-attacks and be the out-ball.

There's no reason to suspect he'll be anything other than just as effective next season, perhaps even more so if he has a more reliable, regular partner to draw defenders' attentions away from him. Griezmann could yet fire Atletico to silverware this season, and there'll be no shortage of interest in him once again over the summer transfer window.

All stats via Squawka.com unless noted.

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