Antoine Griezmann was backed by his Barcelona teammate after continuously failing to meet team expectations.
Last summer, Barcelona spent a staggering $135 million for the completion of Griezmann’s deal. His role for the Catalans has been quite simple – to help Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez in the attacking department. However, the Frenchman appeared to be still struggling to adjust even after the lengthy break caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Griezmann has only scored eight goals in his first 31 outings for Barca. Though the number looks somewhat good already, it is evidently way behind what the team expected from a pricey goal scorer.
Following a poor showing in the last consecutive matches, Griezmann is reportedly under fire and under scrutiny. But apparently, not everybody in Camp Nou feels he is bringing the team down.
In a recent interview with Le Parisien (via Goal.com), Barcelona defender Clement Lenglet addressed Griezmann’s real issues within the team. According to Lenglet, there is really no problem with his fellow countryman, noting that even Griezmann himself knows he can still do a lot better.
“Antoine is well integrated in the dressing room, there really is no problem. On the pitch, he himself knows he can do better. We must not forget his statistics. He has still scored 14 goals and created several assists, for a first season, it’s not bad,” Lenglet pointed out.
Lenglet then admitted that Barcelona may just be too demanding as he knows it’s not easy for Griezmann to change the style of playing he was used to with Atletico Madrid.
“He [Griezmann] is playing in a different style to what he was better used to at Atletico, and he is a player with whom we are very demanding,” he admitted.
As for the fans, Lenglet said this has always been the issue with Barcelona strikers. The French defender insisted that once Griezmann manages to score more, fans will surely laud him again like they used to.
“It’s always the same when a Barca striker doesn’t score for two games (or so). When he scores two goals, it looks like Super-Antoine is back,” he said.
During the recent draw with Celta Vigo, fans once again put the blame on Griezmann. Many believe that should he have just decided not to turn his back as Iago Aspas struck the ball, Barcelona could have ended the match with a win.