The plot thickened at the business-end of La Liga at the weekend with Barcelona being well beaten by 3 goals to 1 at Real Sociedad. Real Madrid now sit at the top of La Liga.
I’m not here as your resident La Liga analyst. But I am here to spew a few words about Real Sociedad’s star turn this season (along with impressive former Mexian Gooner Carlos Vela) Antoine Griezmann.
The Frenchman got himself on the scoresheet again on Saturday night against an out-of-sorts Barcelona team.
Griezmann is no stranger to finding the back of the net this season and he’s equally adept at providing his team-mates with assists, helping the cause for a Sociedad team performing above and beyond expectations. This current Real Sociedad outfit have punched above their weight throughout the season. Whilst they have goals in their locker from the likes of former Arsenal striker Carlos Vela, they also have a pretty settled line-up & combine a practical approach to their game with incisive attacking prowess, something that the 22-year-old Frenchman has often proved to be at the epicentre of.
Griezmann has caps for France at U-21 level, but has yet to be capped fully at international level. It’s believed after many stellar performances domestically in La Liga that the exciting winger could skirt around the fringes of the French set-up & glide gracefully in the final cut of Frenchmen making the journey across the Atlantic to the World Cup in Brazil this summer.
Griezmann has all the ingredients in his locker to play the role of a traditional winger. But as the game at the top level seemingly evolves at breakneck pace, versatility is an asset more managers/coach’s feel is a fundamental necessity for players, especially in attacking positions.
The young Frenchman has evolved, certainly over this campaign. Playing as a left winger in the traditional sense as & when the game dictates, but using his positional sense & footballing intelligence to link up as an auxiliary forward to great effect, pulling defenders from pillar to post.
Where Griezmann excels & stands out is his effectiveness in keeping the ball at close quarters & running into (seven exploiting) space in the attacking third of the pitch. Possessing exemplary ball-control, rapid acceleration, a desire to run at his opponent & more recently an eye for goal, the young Frenchman has forced folk to sit up & take notice. Don’t believe the hype, watch the guy play!
As Sociedad continue to knock on the door of European qualification, with a shot at a Champions League place (sitting in 5th place, one spot below Basque high-flyers Athletic Bilbao), young Griezmann, with the help of his team-mates is somewhat of a trailblazer this season.
Inevitably, if the player keeps up this exceptional level of performance, there will be talk of a move to any number of the great & good of Europe’s elite. In act, there were stories in both the Spanish & English press that both Arsenal & Chelsea have had scouts watching Griezmann this season. Both liking what they’ve seen, it was even suggested that Jose Mourinho put in a bid for Griezmann in January, something the Sociedad hierarchy dismissed as fanciful tittle-tattle.
Come the summer, the talk might not be so fanciful as it will be tempting when the likes of Chelsea & co get the keys to their warchest out with intent to to get buck-wild!
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