At the end of October, El Confidencial detailed the sorry situation of Antoine Griezmann. Following his summer flirting with Manchester United, the Frenchman had fallen on his transfer sword and stayed at Atletico when their transfer ban wasn’t lifted.
Whilst that seemed like a great gesture at the time, and bad luck for Manchester United, Griezmann hasn’t managed to back up his stance with good performances. So often the man Atletico turned to for stardust to win a match, that’s been missing during the current campaign.
El Confidencial explained the player’s Manchester United summer stance, and almost cockiness over getting that move, had annoyed Atletico’s faithful, and a lack of goals made it hard to forget.
‘He said it elegantly, but he said it’ was the explanation for the distrust and lack of support.
A few days later Marca pushed the same line, and on Sunday they do so again. The angle this time is the ‘unthinkable’ has happened, and Griezmann isn’t untouchable for Diego Simeone now.
Chasing a winner against Deportivo, Simeone brought Griezmann off for Jose Gimenez to give the midfield more protection and allow others more freedom to attack. It worked, at least in terms of the goal, with Thomas Partey netting the winner.Griezmann is ‘no longer essential’ to Simeone, believe Marca.
That of course gives Jose Mourinho and Manchester United another chance, perhaps even as early as January. But has Griezmann missed that boat? Time will tell.
