Griezmann is one of the hardest players to
rank in an all time list, it’s hard to argue against the fact that he is a genius with
the ball at his feet, he has a world cup to his name, as well as one of the greatest euro
performances ever, but on the other hand, he has never won the league, in fact he only
has 4 club trophies and his record in fin r the other, there isn’t one fanbase who’s
been left with no reason to dislike him… which is unbelievable considering that at
one point, he was the third in command, they used to say that “Barcelona have Messi,
Real have Ronaldo and Atletico have Griezmann”... but at this point, it seems that many barely
remember Griezmann or at most remember him as a player who had one or two good seasons,
a player “the streets won’t forget”, who ironically tend to be forgotten about...
but the funny thing is that this rejection isn’t at all strange to Griezmann, in fact
he wasn’t meant to have made it as a footballer at all… he was short and slow as a kid and
if you know anything about academy football then you know the system is extremely unfair…
clubs want results as fast as possible and when you’re a late bloomer who gets tossed
around by kids the same age as you, you’re doomed and that’s what happened to Griezmann
at first… He had all the technique, his family was well off, well connected and invested
in his dream of becoming a footballer, but no matter how many trials they arranged for
him, he was rejected… metz, psg, lyon… but the answer was no every single time and
it broke his father’s heart to have to break the bad news to his son every time…
Regardless, by the time he was 14, his dad was out on vacation in Croatia and Griezmann
went for a trial at Montpelier… At first there was nothing too special about it, but
then a man who had taken a pit stop in Paris to visit an old friend who worked at the club
stopped for a second watching the kids and Griezmann stuck out to him, as he was the
only kid not wearing the montpelier kit… immediately it became obvious to the man that
his touch was years beyond his age, so he waited for the end of the session and approached
Griezmann who sat down in the stands eating some cookies, first asked him for one and
then asked him if he would like to come play in spain… The man’s name was Eric Olhats,
he was a scout for Real Sociedad and despite the fact that Montpelier would once again
reject Griezmann, he was convinced he had found the next great french talent … H
But by then it would be Griezmann’s parents who would stall his career, with his dad repeatedly
rejecting the scout’s offer and saying “I already know how this story ends and I’m
not gonna drive 600 miles, just for my kid to get rejected again”... and it wasn’t
until Eric pulled a few strings and got someone at the club to call the dad, that he finally
gave in… Despite this, against all odds and against
the wishes of his mom, who insisted he should not have gone, it all worked out and Real
Sociedad invited him to join the club, but the scout noticed that Griezmann was struggling
to learn the language or make any friends there… so, knowing how shy he could be,
he moved in with him… it was supposed to be a temporary thing, 3 months tops… but
instead they ended up living together for 6 years, with Eric becoming almost like a
third parent… in fact, considering Griezmann only got to go over to France to see his parents
every 3 months, Eric was more present than either of them… once again at the age of
16, if it weren’t for Eric, his parents would have taken him back home after they
came over to watch him play at a youth tournament and realized he was constantly getting benched,
saying that “if he’s not gonna make it, he might as well be home with us”...
Little did they know, that would lead Eric and Griezmann to start special late night
extra training sessions, working on his defensive skills, transforming his game, shaping him
into the jack of all trades he is today, taking over the next tournament as best player and
top scorer and forcing Real Sociedad to bump him up to the first team and give him his
first contract… And here’s where things get difficult, as
this would all be very wholesome if it wasn’t for the fact that Eric is currently being
trialed in court after some shocking accusations of extremely inappropriate behavior towards
a few of his other protegées, as well as possession of some other highly inappropriate
content that involves children, making it extremely upsetting to know that he lived
with Griezmann for 6 years, when he was just a kid, 800 miles away from his parents…
but regardless, for obvious reasons I have to mention that this is an ongoing trial,
that so far these can only be considered allegations, and thought Griezmann had cut ties with Eric
even before these stories came out, he has never accused him of anything like that…
so I guess we’ll move on with the story… His first starts came right in the pre season
as a result of some other players getting injured and despite being just 18 years old,
Griezmann convinced everyone immediately,t o the point that by the 5th match day he would
start being regularly given the chance to play the full 90… and by the end of the
year, he would have played 40 matches in total, being one of the center figures in Real Sociedad’s
promotion to La Liga, earning his first call up for an international tournament, the under
19 euros, even winning the tournament, despite not being exactly one of the stars of the
team. Over the next 2 years, both Real Sociedad
and Griezmann developed together, getting readjusted to top tier football, first finishing
only 2 points off of relegation and then managing a mid table spot, which could have been better
if not for Griezmann’s injury at the start of the season leading them to 8 defeats in
13 matches… mind you the moment Griezmann came back they went on 7 matches without a
defeat… Regardless, as I was implying, this was very promising and the next season, they
came true on that promise… Despite an awful start with 5 defeats in the
first 9 matches followed by a 3 week long injury, which left the team hanging right
above the relegation line, once more Griezmann came back to save the day, leading them on
one of the greatest runs in the history of the club with only one single defeat over
23 matches, beating valencia, sevilla, barcelona and atletico, with that single defeat being
a 4-3 away at the bernabeu… As you might imagine, by the end of the season
they had made history, securing only their 4th ever qualification to the Champions League
and the first in 10 years, with Griezmann at the center of it all, becoming one of the
youngest ever players to reach 100 matches in la liga.
At this point, very clearly, his fifth season should’ve been something out of this world,
something to establish him as the next great thing but instead days before playing the
decisive world cup play off match with the under 20 national team, he decided to go clubbing
with a few other big names like Niang and Ben Yedder, which would have already been
bad but was made much worse the moment they lost to Norway and lost their spot in the
world cup, enraging the federation who banned them from international football for a full
year, which even led Griezmann to consider switching allegiance to Portugal as, after
all, not only was he of portuguese descent, but he often spent his summers there and his
grandpa had even been a football player… So yeah, this was almost a thing…
But instead, h e decided to wait it out and keep playing for France and this hardship
actually served him right, as he felt twice as motivated now that he felt like his career
was in jeopardy, maturing as a player and as a person and going on to have his best
season so far, going on a run of 13 goals in 16 matches following that dreadful week,
being repeatedly one of the most decisive players in the squad, alongside Carlos Vela,
closing out the season by securing a place in the europa league, which was probably for
the best considering that their Champions League campaign had been horrible, scoring
a single goal over the group stage and not winning a single match…
Alongside all of this, Griezmann also secured another impressive title, being the french
player to score the most goals over the year of 2013, leaving the entire country puzzled
over where he had come from, since, after all, he had never even played in France…
Regardless, soon, not only would the french public get to scratch that itch but they would
also get to fall in love with, as despite not getting too many chances at his first
ever call up to a tournament, 2014 world cup, he would impress with his fighting spirit
and touch the hearts of every fan by falling down in tears the moment they were eliminated…
After that moment there was no denying it, Griezmann would be the heir to Ribery’s
spot and seeing this, Atletico pounced on the chance to sign him, paying 30 million
for the player who Simeone would instantly transform into a false nine, using him as
a replacement for Diego Costa… This change was miraculous, it turned him into a goal
machine… assisting the decisive goal in the Spanish Supercup against Real Madrid to
give his team a trophy on just his second match for them… eventually finishing the
league season with 22 goals, which could not seem like much compared to Ronaldo’s 48,
but you have to consider that Atletico were much more defensive than Real, who scored
nearly twice as many goals as them… Regardless, it would be the following season
that would really skyrocket Griezmann to legendary status… With Mandzukic gone, Griezmann quite
simply had to step up and that’s exactly what he did, going on his most prolific season
ever, still to this day, scoring 32 goals and providing 6 assists, leaving Atletico
just 3 points shy of the title, in third place… And again, you could insist on the argument
that Ronaldo and Messi scored so much more, but well, there’s a reason that year Griezmann
won the league’s player of the year award and not them… just look at the top scorers
list that season… Griezmann was all alone going head to head against not Ronaldo and
Messi but against BBC and MSN… while the most help he got was that of Fernando Torres
who was well past his prime and managed just 12 goals across all competitions…
And the league wasn’t even the highlight of the year… In the Champions League, following
5 goal contributions in 6 matches throughout the group stage and a goalless draw against
PSV in the last 16, Griezmann got a brace against Barcelona to force his way into the
semi finals after losing the first leg and then scored the decisive away goal vs Bayern
to get Atletico to the Champions League final… but once again, he fell just short of the
title, missing a penalty midway through the match and watching rivals Real Madrid take
the title… And despite all of these low moments, nothing
compared to what came next… Midway through the season, in a friendly match
against Germany, at the Stade De France, the players were suddenly startled by a massive
explosion… The stadium was quickly evacuated and the players were informed that multiple
terrorist attacks had just taken place in Paris… soon the next location was hit, a
musical theater known as the Bataclan… Griezmann, knowing of her love for music, immediately
felt the urge to check on his sister and she didn’t answer her phone… soon it was confirmed
she was indeed at the venue… 130 people died, including, for example, Lassana
Diarra’s cousin, thankfully, Griezmann’s sister barely escaped with her life…
However I’m telling you about the attacks not just because of how much they impacted
Griezmann’s life, but the whole country… by the time they arrived at the 2016 Euros,
everyone wanted to win it more than ever, to give the people something to smile for
and Griezmann delivered above everyone else… After being rested throughout the group stage,
Griezmann opened the knockouts by scoring both of France's goals in the last 16, then
he put up two assists and another goal vs dark horses Iceland and finally he once again
scored both of France’s goals vs Germany to put them in the final… With 6 goals already,
it was easily one of the all time greatest euro performances, only once in history had
someone reached that tally… it seemed almost destined for Griezmann to win the whole thing,
in fact they were the heavy favorites against Portugal and Griezmann did force Patricio
to some insane saves, eventually Gignac even hit the post… but in the end, Éder’s
goal decided the match and on the best year of his career, Griezmann came out with a bitter
taste in his mouth, trophyless… At least he was named the player of the tournament,
which was great of course… Back at club level, it seemed Griezmann was
starting to feel an urge to pursue something more… There were talks of United, Arsenal
and some even said Real would break the transfer record for him but nothing… Instead he started
off his season in horrendous form, scoring just 6 goals before new year’s… though
it didn’t stop him from attaining one of the biggest accolades of his career, a place
in the podium of the Ballon D’Or… Ronaldo, Messi, Griezmann once more…
The second half of the season went a bit better, he even scored the goal of the season against
Real Madrid, but then another defeat against his rivals in the Champions League semi finals
led to some criticism by the fans and to make it all worse he ended the season by claiming
on live tv that there was a 6 in 10 chance that he’d join Man United… which never
happened and only served to turn the fans against him, right before another awful start
to the season, even letting Atletico go down to the Europa League, before putting the cherry
on the cake by upsetting everyone with a picture of him in blackface at the end of the year…
But Griezmann is a funny guy, because right when you thought the season would be unsalvageable,
he got 11 goals and 3 assists in the span of 9 matches and then proceeded to score against
every single team he faced in the Europa League, scoring two goals in the semi finals against
Arsenal and then another two in the final vs Marseille to grab the trophy and get the
fans on his good side once again… And guess what he did then? He completely ruined it
by creating a gigantic media circus surrounding his possible transfer to Barcelona, even scheduling
an entire tv show on national tv where he would announce his decision… only to announce
that he would be staying at Atletico, making it all seem like a desperate plot for attention
and ironically not even getting that much media attention in the end, with Lopetegui’s
sacking right before the world cup taking up all of the headlines… In the end, he
had pretty much just turned both sides against him, with the Barcelona players getting vocal
about the second hand embarrassment they felt… Regardless, as always, this was exactly when
Griezmann decided to pop off at the world cup, scoring the decisive goal in the first
match and then taking over the knockout stage by opening the scoring against Argentina,
then assisting the opener and scoring the second goal against Uruguay as well as assisting
the only goal against Belgium, being named the player of the match… an award he would
also win for the final match where he scored an assisted to put France in front and allow
them to take the biggest trophy of all … However, even if this was the peak of his
career, the world cup wasn’t the solution to all problems, as upon returning to Atletico,
he would be booed by the fans who were still upset over his whole stunt before the world
cup and this would be the start of his downfall… Struggling to deal with all of it, despite
still making it to the podium of the Ballon D'or by the end of the year, he would experience
his least prolific season since coming to Atletico, which only led the fans to resent
him even more… escalating to the point where before the last match of the season had even
been played, he had already announced that he was leaving the club for good…
There were likely 100 different clubs he could have gone to without causing much fuss, but
of course he went with Barcelona, the one club where both players and fans were already
kind of fed up with his antics… and as always to make it worse he also made sure to talk
to Barcelona before they had talked to Atletico, making sure to wait until his release clause
dropped from 200 to 120 million before leaving… with Atletico eventually taking them to court
over that issue… At Barcelona, no matter what Griezmann always
seemed like a shadow of himself, he never got the fans to love him and he never seemed
to feel included in the team, always looking like an outkast and mostly sticking around
other french players like Lenglet and Umtiti, to the point that only 6 months later it was
already being rumored that he could leave to PSG or United.
With Barcelona slowly descending into chaos and the media making the most out of every
bit of locker room drama they could find, his number’s hit all time lows and once
the pandemic came things got completely out of hand, scoring just 1 goals in the 11 matches
left in the season, even being laughed at by Simeone when he came in vs Atletico with
one minute left on the clock and culminating on that famous 8 to 2 defeat to Bayern…
At this point it was even rumored that he could move to PSG in exchange for Neymar but
somehow he stayed, improving in his second season, getting 20 goals and 12 assists in
just 3900 minutes, even being very decisive as they won the Copa Del Rey….
But then came some drama with Piqué and then Griezmann watched Atletico win the league
without him, which hurt even more considering he never won it and then a clip came out which
displayed Griezmann laughing at some racist remarks Dembelé made about asian people and
then he went on to underperform at the euros… Which finally convinced Barcelona to offload
him, ironically loaning him back to Atletico, just 2 years after paying his release clause…
At Atletico things were never like before, Griezmann was never seen as an undisputed
leader, he never managed to get the numbers he used to and by the time his second season
rolled around, they were even refusing to play him for more than 30 minutes a match,
despite his good performances as their contract with Barcelona would force them to sign him
permanently for 40M if he were to play more than that…
It was just sad to watch, but thankfully they eventually agreed on midterm of just 20M with
Griezmann coming back to Atletico for good, pulling off some good numbers despite still
lacking the playing time he used to get… but it was right here, when things seemed
finally settled that a 31 year old Griezmann took over the 2022 world cup, now playing
a much more defensive role and acting like the team’s maestro, seemingly winning back
the hearts of all football fans as he led France to the final, only to once again disappoint
everyone with an underwhelming performance that saw him be subbed off after just 70 minutes,
with L’équipe awarding him with a rating of just 3 out of 10 as France lost out on
penalties and Griezmann left everyone more confused than ever…
