Antoine Griezmann Must Remain as Atletico Madrid Striker Despite New Signings
Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone is famed for giving his starting players every chance to hold onto the shirt for as long as they are playing well, but that trait is set to be tested in 2015-16 after a summer of expenditure that gives Atleti great depth and quality throughout the squad.
One such area is the attack, with a great range of talents in the quintet of senior players currently available to Simeone after Jackson Martinez and Luciano Vietto were added to the front line, supporting the already-in-place Fernando Torres, Raul Jimenez and Antoine Griezmann.
The question for Simeone is how to fit in his best players and continue to mould them in a way which sees the team challenge for top honours, but the French forward Griezmann should not be one who is considered for altering his role or taking him out of the front line after an excellent season of growth and improvement last campaign.
Mentality, Belief, Acceptance
Tim Collins wrote for B/R back in February on how Griezmann's emergence from Real Sociedad winger to Atletico Madrid forward had gone to that point, taking in a period where some tough love from Simeone saw Griezmann left out, subbed or altered in his on-pitch role. Once he got to grips with the demands on him, though, there was no looking back.
Griezmann had 12 Liga goals by that point, nine coming in the previous seven games as he clicked in the role and in the team mentality. He went on to fire 22 in total, with only Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo hitting more.
Atleti's No. 7 arrived as a fleet-footed winger, one who drove constantly toward the penalty area from wide zones and attacked the far post with regularity—but as Collins noted, in those qualities Simeone saw something more.
Griezmann has become an all-round forward, capable of dropping into deeper areas to link play but very much at his most dangerous as the man leading the attack, a total poacher inside the penalty area who in the second half of last season plundered goal after goal by latching onto knockdowns, rebounds or half-hit clearances.
That's now his role, he knows and believes it and has totally thrived in it. Moving him elsewhere on a regular basis would be a backward step in his progression—and thus also in the team's evolution.
Atletico Additions
Simeone habitually plays two up top in as true a 4-4-2 base shape as you could hope to see in an aerial view of the pitch, but he often asks both his forwards to do the same job: work hard, drop into the channel out of possession to make things difficult for the opposition and, of course, make an impact inside the area.
What it means is, the forwards they have brought in have to be gelled into partnerships...but the signings are smart ones. Vietto would work with Griezmann as he tends to float more right-to-centre and drops deep habitually to link play before attacking from the second line—perfect for Griezmann to lurk or attack inside the box during build-up. Martinez can do both to different extents and in different ways, as does Fernando Torres.
It's also worth noting that Vietto will be in and out, as discussed here. Martinez does, like it or not, have something to prove in a more competitive league—and though he should cope just fine of course, there may be early teething problems, some nerves to overcome or Simeone to convince he should be the initial starter.
Yannick Ferreira Carrasco is another attacking addition, but he should be expected to be seen on the wing.
Season Ahead
Copa del Rey, La Liga and the Champions League: There are plenty of games ahead for Atletico and Simeone does tend to alter the shape of the side in-game if things aren't going to plan, usually simply from a 4-4-2 to a 4-5-1. Griezmann starting in attack allows them to do that easily of course, shifting to the left last season to move Koke central to a more controlling role, but again the key point is that Griezmann starts through the middle.
And, inevitably, returns there to good effect once Atleti have the game going to plan again.
Transfers are intended to add to the team and bring out the best of what's already there, not alter it dramatically, and neither Martinez nor Vietto are automatic upgrades on Griezmann. Atletico are finally building on their own terms after several years of other clubs poaching their best talents who have helped to gain silverware, and Griezmann should remain right in the midst of that building.
He showed last season that he is becoming one of Europe's elite forwards, and it is exactly there where he should remain.
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