Welcome one and all to today’s discussion of a World Class Player who has had to go through the ringer in order to regain his place back within the elite of the elite in the Soccermanagerverse… There isn’t a lot of players who could be criticized for their performances on the pitch, their lifestyle and personality off the pitch, be considered a “flop” at one of the biggest clubs in the world, and still end up back where he started in terms of being recognized as an amazing football player. Well, it brings us a lot of joy to be able to write today’s look at the Frenchman who has regained his rightful place as a SMW Superstar: Antoine Griezmann! ππΊπ€π€
PLAYER BIO
Antoine’s rise, fall, and rise back to world class status has consisted with him operating in as many roles as he’s had hairstyles over the course of his career, with the Frenchman starting out as a ‘Technical Winger’ who is now operating primarily as a ‘Deep-lying Forward’ that also possesses the ability to play slightly deeper, as we’ll be explaining later… His AM,F(RLC) positions further illustrate how much of an intelligent player he is which has been showcased time and time again under the tutelage of both Diego Simeone and Didier Deschamps
BEST ATTRIBUTES WITHIN SM24
We’ll always aim to demonstrate the impact that the attributes within the singular player mode managerial games have on SMW, but this year’s release hasn’t assisted our claim since there has been a lot of errors within the representation of many a player within SM24, and unfortunately Antoine is no different
THE SMB WAY…
One of the reasons behind the creation of season 10 (which you can check out after reading this one) is the need to clarify what you’ll expect from a player within your club in terms of their overall style and attributic make up (speaking of “make up”, I just made up that word… π)
So, we provide you with a better representation of Antoine and the attributes that make him worldclass. He is a player that you can expect to impact every match that he plays since he is both a technical phenomenon wether it be from open play or during dead ball situations, and also has a high football IQ when out of possession as well as being a hardworking player who simply doesn’t get the credit he deserves for always putting a proper shift in even at the ripe old age of 33
BEST ROLES
This is the area of today’s blog that we would like to have your undivided attention for. So, fasten your seatbelts…
In these type of blogs we like to identify the best role and formation for said superstar in discussion, and nothing simply beats ‘4-4-1-1 Antoine Greizmann’ π
WHO ARE THE BEST TEAMMATES?
To get the absolute most from Antoine requires that you place players alongside him which will allow him to thrive since if Antoine thrives the team generally will, too. So, ‘4-4-1-1 Antoine Griezmann’ needs the freedom of the park to go wherever he wants without any sort of strict responsibility. The best players to assist him in this pursuit will be a ‘Playmaker’ or ‘Deep-lying Playmaker’ who will be the main creative hub of the team thus allowing Antoine to be secondary in command, an ‘Explosive Winger’ or ‘Wide Midfielder’ who will provide the width needed to stretch the opposition and allow Antoine to make runs into the box to potentially get onto the end of a cross, a ‘Wingback’ who overlaps and gets into the attacking third to get even more crosses into the box, and an ‘Explosive’ or ‘Robust’ Target man who will be the MOST IMPORTANT teammate of Griezmann since he will have to possess the strength and hold up play required to link up with Griezmann as well as getting unto the end of things when the Frenchman decides to get into his creativebagThe 4-2-3-1’s are quite similar to the 4-4-1-1 in terms of what is needed around Antoine, but there are some slight changes that need to be considered. First off, the major difference between the ‘A’ and ‘B’ sides is the proximity of the players whilst on the pitch, so the ‘A’ will need to have two flying ‘Wingbacks’ bombing foward to provide the width, while the ‘B’ will only require one ; The double pivots are quite similar for both formations as it is important that there is a creative player alongside an industrious and defensively astute player so that Antoine can stay relatively higher up the pitch and have both a creative spark and defensive protection behind of him ; The major difference between both formations is who partners Antoine in the 3 behind the main F(C), as the 4-2-3-1A allows for more freedom in rotation, so another ‘Floating Advanced Playmaker’ who’s on the same wave-length as Antoine will be crucial, while an ‘Explosive Winger’ will be necessary in the 4-2-3-1B as there is less capacity for roamers in this formation, therefore the ‘Explosive Winger’ will perform a similar role as within the 4-4-1-1. Lastly, we’ve already mentioned that wherever Antoine goes a T.M flows, but we’d like to inform you that in the 4-2-3-1 Antoine’s starting position will be sligtly deeper so he will be tasked with being more creative in terms of aiming to be the man who makes the final pass towards the potential goal scorer, but will also seek to do Griezmann like things such off the ball Movement and positioning himself intelligently within the penalty areaMy least favorite position for Antoine, although he can play off the right it’s still a very limiting role for him since he’s now 33 years old and although still hardworking, he doesn’t want to be receiving the ball around the touchline at any time during a match. He plays nothing like a ‘Mohamad Salah’ and won’t be at his best in this position. But, if you happen to want to play him out wide then there is a way to set up the team to get him playing as best as he possibly could. In order for us to do so, we will need a lot of legs around Antoine which is why both the 4-2-3-1A and 4-3-3A have a necessity for a ‘Box to Box’ Midfielder. This ‘B2B’ needs to have extreme levels of Stamina and Workrate since their primary job is to cover the ground that Antoine doesn’t due to Antoine naturally playing in central positions throughout the entire match. And this central positioning is exactly why the player on the left has to be an ‘Explosive Winger’ holding the width in front of a D(L) that plays like a ‘Fullback’ not seeking to overlap, while the D(R) behind of Antoine should be a ‘Wingback’ who provides the width off the right. We also need a defensively good player in the center of the park for the 4-2-3-1 A since it is a more attacking formation than the 4-3-3A
A Manager’s note: Before we move on, the main reason as to why the ‘Wingers’ playing alongside Antoine are Explosive is because ‘Technical Wingers’ don’t stay outwide for the entire match and have a tendency to want to drift inward to get on the ball more… This drifting will cause congestion in central areas of the pitch and will nullify Griezmann’s impact on a match.Additionally, playing an ‘Explosive’ or ‘Robust’ Target Man up front rather than a ‘Technical’ Target Man (like a Benzema, an Isak, or a GonΓ§alo Ramos) is crucialsince ‘T.T.M’s’ like to drop deep and collect the ball which will cause positional issues for Antoine since they’ll likely be getting into each other’s way.
As a ‘D.L.F’, Antoine is alongside a Harry Kane, a Leo Messi, or a Bobby Firmino in terms of them being creative enough to get their teammates in on goal when seeking to drop deep and assist in setting up chances. He isn’t a “gimmie the ball and watch me work” type, however, and will use his exceptional Movement to find pockets where he can then seek to get his teammates in on goal, but for the most part, Antoine will be more eager to score than he is to create. Nevertheless, he’ll need a lot of off the ball runners around him, so expect to basically have the entire starting XI all playing to the hymn sheet of Le petit Prince...
Another thing we should mention is that the ‘Playmaker’ within this 4-3-3A should be good on the ball but also a workaholic who has enough in the Workrate bag to play like a ‘Box to Box’ Midfielder (also helps if he has a decent amount of Pace). So you should consider ‘Playmakers’ like Koke, Mac Allister, Matheus Nunes, or Pedri, rather than a Mainoo, Enzo FernΓ‘ndes, Maddison or RΓΊben Neves, for example Alongside the 4-4-1-1, 3 at the back formations bring out a different animal within Antoine, and we start off with our personal favorites the 3-5-2 and 5-3-2. The amount of protection behind of him and the hold up capility of the F(C) beside of him allows Antoine to perform like a “kid in a candy store”, and when something like this occurs you’ve got at your disposal a 20 Goals and 20 Assists Forward who will be showing up within your commentary game after game… The prerequisite teammates are quite similar to previous formations, with a chap in the middle of the park passing it around, a ‘Box to Box’ Midfielder to add more numbers in the attack and give Antoine even less defensive responsibility, and two attack minded ‘Wingbacks/’Wide Midfielders’ who will both provide the width but also seek to get balls swinging in and around the box.In the 3-4-1-2 and 3-4-2-1, Antoine will be a creative juggernaut drifting outwide to open up space for teammates, getting in between the lines to receive the ball on the half turn, all while making late runs into the box knowing that there’s at least 2 other teammates occupying the opposition defenders. He’ll need to have someone on the same wavelength as him in both formations, so the ‘General Forward’ needs to be a player who would be comfortable playing in deeper positions like a Memphis Depay or a JuliΓ‘n AlvΓ‘rez, while the main F(C) is as you were with the addition of a ‘Finisher’ in the 3-4-1-2 since this is potentially another role that can be given due to the F(C) having both Antoine and a similar player of the Frenchman’s elk looking to get him in on goal
JUST IN CASE OF EMERGENCY
There are a few SMW Superstars who shine even when slightly out of position… These 2 formations are just an example of what you can do if there ever was a scenario where you need to play Antoine within the midfield. It’s important to note that he should ONLY be in a midfield 3 since he needs legs around him, should never be used as a ‘Playmaker’ since that’s not his game, and should have his arrow pointed towards ‘Attacking’ in order for him to still look to get in and around the 18 yard box to do his damage. A lot of people were proclaiming that Griezmann was playing within a midfield 3 alongside TchouamΓ¨ni and Rabiot at the 2022 World Cup, and we tend to agree, but he hasn’t been granted the M(C) position for some reason… π€·ββοΈ
HE WON’T FIT
As versatile as Antoine is (no Diddy…), there are formations and positions where he will simply be wasted if you were to decide to play him in said formation. The main two are playing off the right in a 4-2-3-1B or a 4-3-3B. In both formations the wide players are either a ‘Winger’ or ‘Wide Forward’, and Antoine is not the type of player who will “hug the toucline” or use his Pace to make “out to in runs” in behind of his Fullback. So, never play Antoine in any of these positions, mmkay?
With the conclusion of the top 5 European leagues, we can expect that there will be some rating increases happening over the next few weeks, and with some 93’s balling out over the 23/24 season, it’s safe to say that the ‘SMW Superstars’ will have a few more inductees… π€
Speaking of “seasons”, we’re currently working on Season 11 which will be all about SM24. So stay tuned, Soccermanagerite! π
The Soccermanager Experience 
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