Why are Antoine Griezmann and Philippe Coutinho underperforming at Barcelona?


Why are Antoine Griezmann and Philippe Coutinho underperforming at Barcelona?
Philippe Coutinho along with Antoine Griezmann are instrumental to Barcelona’s success and need to get back their form

Barcelona spent a combined 263 million euros on Antoine Griezmann and Philippe Coutinho. The former costed 120 million euros while the latter cost 143 million euros. They both were top performers in their former teams and were expected to bring success. But why did they fail to do so in Barcelona?

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Philippe Coutinho

Philippe Coutinho has performed good everywhere except in Barcelona

Anyone who saw him perform on the field would know that he is a midfielder who likes to cut in like Franck Ribery. He cuts in and unleashes a ferocious shot to the far post. This almost guaranteed him goals as evidenced by goals against Southampton, Stoke City, Chelsea and a plethora of other teams. At Liverpool he was given a free role to play so his positioning wasn’t a matter of concern. Jurgen Klopp deployed a front four with Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino making the other three.

Here Jordan Henderson and Georginio Wijanldum played as holding midfielders while Coutinho played a free role. The two of them covered his spaces and pressed those spaces. This brought them an abundance of goals but left them defensively vulnerable. The arrival of Virgil Van Dijk meant that the problem was solved, but Coutinho had left to Barcelona by then.

Antoine Griezmann

Antoine Griezmann has been played out of position since he joined Barcelona, similar to the fate of Philippe Coutinho (not in picture)

Antoine Griezmann played a similar role like Coutinho for France and Atletico Madrid. He played in the right flank and was allowed to cut in and from there. Griezmann is left footed and always played as a second striker. He had Olivier Giroud in France and Diego Costa in Atletico Madrid and played behind them.

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In Barcelona he is stuck up the left flank and isn’t afforded a free role. He tends to miss a lot of his shots as being left footed in the left flank doesn’t allow him freedom to hit the ball how he wants to. A lack of movement and a lack of space has complicated his playing style and he hasn’t been able to shine at Barcelona.

The real problem

The real problem is Lionel Messi. Lionel Messi plays in the right flank and cuts in both ways. He is allowed freedom to roam around the pitch as he wishes and doesn’t have a set role. His playing style inhibits both Griezmann and Coutino and they are left out of position. The two of them thrive on freedom and space to run into, but that role is taken by Messi. No Barcelona manager can restrict Messi’s space since it is a situation where Messi is bigger than the club.

When you have three players of the same type playing in the club, it goes to show how terrible your transfer policy is. They both have a huge wage bill and they aren’t even able to play their game to justify the price tag. The fans of Barcelona are very strict and expect performances and these two just can’t give it when they’re stifled.

The one solution would be to take a risk and let Messi go. It should be considered as the age where the next generation of players begin to lead the side, just like Ronaldinho gave way for Lionel Messi.

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Also read: Trent Alexander Arnold could return sooner than expected from injury according to some reports