Antoine Griezmann's Renaissance

After years of disappointing football, "Grizou" seems to have rediscovered his eclectic talent.

Renaissance is the French word for Rebirth, a word that has come to represent a period of new life, growth, or activity. At its core, it means a revival of past glories in a new era and style.

The Renaissance was a fervent period of European cultural, artistic, political and economic “rebirth” coming out of the Middle Ages. Generally described as taking place from the 14th century to the 17th century, the Renaissance promoted the rediscovery of classical philosophy, literature, and art, as well as the emergence of new knowledge in the sciences. It followed a period known as The Dark Ages. The Dark Ages were the period of the Early Middle Ages in Western Europe after the fall of the Western Roman Empire that characterises it as marked by economic, intellectual and cultural decline.

Antoine Griezmann is a man who knows plenty about Dark Ages. His move from Atletico Madrid, who he had played for at an elite level since 2014, to Barcelona’s Spotify Camp Nou in the summer of 2019 when the Catalan club activated his €126 million release clause was the catalyst for a catastrophic dip in form. In an era of terrible transfers by Barcelona, Griezmann’s transfer took the cake and licked the plate clean like it was Bruce in Matilda. He was the ultimate vanity signing made by disastrous former president Josep Maria Bartomeu. A player who played in a position that did not need strengthening, who did not seem to fit into the starting XI in any sensible way, shape or form that didn’t mean sacrificing a key player. Bartomeu had seemingly only prised the Frenchman away from Atletico to show that he could. The Barca fans certainly didn't want him, after Griezmann had previously turned down a move to Catalunya the summer before in a horribly ill-advised, Gerard Pique-produced documentary, opting to extend his contract with Atletico. After a fairly average season with no real challenge put up for any trophies, Barcelona made the move.

Griezmann played just 74 times for Barcelona from 2019 to 2021. He wanted to play even more and possibly even take over leadership of the team when Messi left (something that was apparently laughed off by some fellow teammates), before he was shipped back to Atleti at the start of the 2021/22 season. The only issue was the fee, of course, with the Blaugrana understandably intent on limiting their loss on a €120 million signing.

What followed was a truly farcical spectacle.

Atletico took Griezmann back on loan and extended that agreement for the 2022-23 season. However, in a desperate bid to avoid triggering a €40 million clause in the deal, Simeone was told that he could only field the forward for 30 minutes at a time. By that stage, Griezmann's mental health had become something of a cause for concern for Didier Deschamps. After going six months without a goal for club and country, Griezmann was booed by France fans during a 1-1 draw with Croatia in June. "His state of mind is not the best and he isn’t going to leave it all behind him with a click of the fingers," Deschamps acknowledged. When he linked up with the French team in September for the last two rounds of the Nations League, he had only played for over a half hour just once since the beginning of the season.

"At least he's not tired," Deschamps joked, ever gifted the French are with dark humour. But it was clear that the he was worried.

“It's not his best period. A part of it is physical, and a part of it mental. I'm not saying he's worn out. I know his qualities and his mind too. He does not baulk. It's just not his best period. But it does not mean that I question what he is capable of doing. I know very well what he can bring to the group."

Deschamps eventually ended up including Griezmann in his squad for Qatar, even though the attacker had gone a year without a goal for his country, and had stuffed the ball home just six times for Atletico during the first half of the season. A vote of confidence if you’ve ever seen one.

It’s hard to not feel for Griezmann with his current predicament. He seems to be one of the most liked footballers on the planet (If you don’t take into account a major Halloween costume mishap). Every teammate he’s ever played with has nothing but kind words to say about him. And we’ve all been through these low moments where it seems like nothing can go right for you. Granted, we’re not all being paid over £200,000 a week to go through those moments, but seeing a footballer playing like he has played and getting to know the issues that have surrounded him for the last few years, it all should appeal to you as a human being. He is human at the end of the day. The hardest part of being low is finding that way to pick yourself back up. Some need to be guided to it by others, some fumble around on the ground searching for it for their whole lives and are never able to find it. In the case of Antoine Griezmann, it seems that what he needed was a change of scenery and expectations. He’s only gone and done a Joelinton.

Griezmann has had a spectacular World Cup. For me, he’s been the Player of the Tournament so far. I went into this tournament believing France would fall victim to the dreaded Champion’s Curse that has hit every World Cup winner since France won in 1998. But what started with the French seems to have ended with them. Kylian Mbappé is Les Bleus' best player and is probably the main man to thank for the discontinuation of this curse, but Griezmann is arguably their most influential. Every action goes through him on that pitch. He plays neither as a 10, nor as an 8. I don’t think even Football Manager has a role that would accurately frame the contributions he makes on the pitch.

Attacking-wise, we know of Antoine’s prowess, but possibly more as a goalscorer than what he’s shown his true talent to be in recent times, as a creator. Griezmann has created more chances (18), made more key passes (16) and recorded more Expected Assists (2.94) and Expected Assists per 90 (0.7) than any other player at the 2022 World Cup, while no one provided more assists than the Frenchman this tournament (3). Now France’s all-time leader in assists, he is also sixth in appearances and third in goals scored. Given Les Bleus’ illustrious history, these are no mean feats, and are a true testament to the talent that Griezmann has always possessed, even as he has ceded the spotlight for large spells of his career.

Defensively though is where I think Griezmann’s presence has been most dramatically felt in this World Cup. He has always been willing to press and doesn’t shirk a tackle either and his interceptions have been crucial in getting France opportunities on the counter-attack. He made four tackles against Denmark, a tally matched only by holding midfielder Aurelien Tchouaméni. "I love winning the ball back and going back to defend. Wherever I play, I try to give it my all on the pitch for the good of the team," Griezmann said on the eve of the competition.

The work he does is truly astounding. Half the time Griezmann has to defend as part of a double pivot with Tchouaméni because Adrien Rabiot must drift to the left wing to do Mbappé’s defending. Despite having to focus on this extra work, as someone who has never really played in the centre of midfield before, especially at this level, he’s still able to find the time to be the key link between the midfield and attack, and then be completely decisive in the final third. He is everywhere! This French team absolutely reeks of imbalance, but Griezmann is the only reason it all comes together.

And it’s not just on the pitch that he’s showing football fans all over the world the immense value of having a player like him in your squad. He’s also taken on a major leadership role in this fairly young French dressing room (Tenth youngest at the World Cup, average age of 26.5), knocking back the light-hearted taunts of his ex-teammates and coaches at Barcelona who believed he would never be up to that task. It has been reported in the aftermath of France’s victory over England in the Quarter Finals that it was Griezmann who stepped up in the dressing room at half time to light a fire in the bellies of his compatriots. The team did require him to play his part in their eventual victory as he contributed the assists for both of France’s goals, but it’s clear that team talk had a major effect on France up until they conceded the first penalty.

It's heart-warming to see Griezmann get back up on his feet. Few players, especially at his level of notoriety, are ever able to brush off the pressure and play with such freedom, especially after such a long period of poor form and cold feelings towards them. To come out of all that he has gone through and play above and beyond the player most believed he ever was capable of being is a feat that Griezmann should be lauded the world over for.

Everyone thought this was yet another example of a star burning out too soon, but instead has found a way to rise like a phoenix from his own ashes. He has rediscovered his talents in football artistry, and picked up some new colours and tricks to use along the way. Let’s see what masterpiece he decides the world is ready to experience next.