Antoine Griezmann has not started 3 of the last 4 games for Barcelona and that might be down to a toxic Camp Nou environment, according to Martin Lasarte.
Griezmann’s former boss from Real Sociedad thinks the Frenchman has become “a caricature of himself” since his €120m switch from Atletico Madrid.
Quique Setien chose to bench the forward in important games against Sevilla and Atletico Madrid where Barca could grab all three points. His lack of involvement is starting to bring out questions on why Griezmann was even signed in the first place.
“What you see of Griezmann is like a caricature of himself. I see him sad, with his head down, running without much sense,” Lasarte told Radio Marca. “The coach has every right to make changes whenever he wants but I do not feel the other night [against Atletico] helped Griezmann’s psychological situation.
“When things don’t go well for a player, the coach should be there to support and help. Of course, Antoine will have his responsibility but there is an environment that does not help him to succeed. It would have been better if he had gone to Barca a year earlier. I have the feeling that when he said he was staying at Atletico something broke with the Barca dressing room.”
“Griezmann may have had a hard time adapting at first but then I felt he improved in December and January. Now he conveys a sad, down feeling,” he said. “The truth is I don’t know if the change of coach at Barca was the most successful, it has not given the feeling of having improved much. That surely has also influenced Griezmann’s situation.”
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