COMMENT: Eric Olhats lit the blue touch paper this week. Antoine Griezmann and Barcelona. It really hasn’t turned out as advertised, has it? Indeed, for €120m, it’s not hyperbole to say the whole thing has been a disaster – and for both sides…
It’ll come up in the New Year. You can bet on it. The financial decision of the now former president Josep Maria Bartomeu. The footballing decision of a now former management team. The €120m Barca parted with 18 months ago. All to prise Griezmann away from Atletico Madrid. Massive money. A massive outlay on a player who occupies the same role as the club’s captain and talisman. This is all going to be raised leading into the presidential election – now scheduled for mid January. If Olhats felt the current scrutiny for Griezmann needed him to break ranks with a show of support, he must know things are only going to ramp up for his former protégé in the lead up to the election.
Beyond the wisdom of his outburst – and it can be argued Olhats, by speaking out, has only increased the problems for Griezmann inside the Barca dressing room, it must be acknowledged that he’s done this with the absolute best of intentions. Olhats is no longer part of the Griezmann ‘entourage’, they split over two years ago amid the fiasco of the Gerard Pique ‘reveal’ video before the World Cup. But he still looks out for a player he’s known for over 17 years.
It was Olhats, in his capacity as an international scout for Real Sociedad, who first spotted Griezmann as a 13 year-old. He opened his family home in Baiona to the youngster, where Griezmann would reside for five years as he made his way through the club’s academy. After leaving San Sebastian for Atletico, Griezmann would later employ Olhats as a football and marketing adviser. The bond has been long established and remains solid.
Griezmann celebrates scoring in victory over Real Betis – courtesy of a Messi assist
So when Olhats launched this week’s attack primarily on Lionel Messi and his influence on Griezmann’s demise, the motivations were all about supporting his long time friend.
“Antoine arrived at a club in which Messi has his sights on everything,” he began. “He is both emperor and monarch and did not welcome the arrival of Antoine, his attitude was deplorable and made him feel bad.
“I’ve always heard Griezmann say that he had no problem with Messi, but never the other way around. It is the regime of terror: either you are with him or against him.”
There’s no need to parse this one. Olhats went straight for the jugular. And it was afforded extra weight coming just days after Quique Setien, sacked and replaced by Ronald Koeman, had declared Barca’s captain “difficult to manage”.
For Olhats, Griezmann has landed himself in an almost impossible situation. Messi is the problem. Not Griezmann. And the Argentine’s hold over everything and everyone working inside La Masia is the biggest issue now confronting the club.
And it must be said, Olhats’ opinion does deserve an airing. As a talent spotter, he borders on genius. Griezmann isn’t the only talent he’s unearthed. Working in the south of France, he’s brought Kevin Rodrigues to La Real and seen him break into the Portugal squad. And at the back for the LaLiga leaders this season is Robin Le Normand, another rejected by French clubs, but given a second chance by Olhats.
But the second-half of his rant does hint that Griezmann’s troubles at Barca don’t begin and end with Messi. Nor do they stem from the three coaches he’s worked with since inking his Barca contract. It might be that Griezmann, himself, is simply not cut out to be a Barca player.
Olhats continued: “Antoine is only going to try to solve his problems on the pitch, nothing more. He will never conflict with anyone, it is not his thing at all. It’s not a lack of personality, it’s just that he loves football and doesn’t want to get into disputes with anyone.”
In other words, he doesn’t want to fight for it. He doesn’t want to fight for his place in Koeman’s plans. He doesn’t want to fight for his preferred position on the pitch. He may not suffer ‘a lack of personality’, as Olhats puts it, but does that personality suit what is required to succeed at today’s version of Barcelona?
From the club’s point of view, you can see why Bartomeu approved the deal. Outstanding for club and country, Griezmann had just made the dais of the Ballon d’Or. A couple of years younger than Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, the Frenchman was to make the game his over the next five years. And where could the platform be better for Griezmann, then 28 and entering his peak years, to fulfil the final stage of all that potential than the Nou Camp and Barca?
Or so it read on the label. On paper. But whether in football or business, matching personalities and characters, particularly at the high end of things, is absolutely critical. And this whole situation reads like former sporting director Eric Abidal simply didn’t do his homework.
That third placing in the 2018 Ballon d’Or count now looks a lifetime ago. The 29 year-old striker we see today isn’t the player to lead football, let alone Barca, into a new era. And even if Messi was to ignore to overtures of the club’s new president and walk out in June, Griezmann has put nothing down in the ledger to suggest he has the disposition to not only fill the void on the pitch, but drive things in the locker room. A 29 year-old Luis Suarez could. And the same would be said of Samuel Eto’o. But Griezmann isn’t that type of personality – which at this stage in Barca’s cycle is what the team is crying out for.
Indeed, maybe Griezmann simply isn’t a Barca player? There’s no shame in it. Just ask Zlatan Ibrahimovic. But as much as Olhats will be reluctant to admit it, it’s clear Barca has a better chance of working it’s way through their current crisis if Messi stays and Griezmann leaves, rather than vice-versa.
It’s a deal that hasn’t worked out. And is unlikely to get any better, particularly after Olhats’ outburst. Indeed, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that Griezmann will be blamed by a section of the support should Messi choose to leave. Olhats, no matter the motivation, hasn’t done his friend any favours.
For Barca. For Griezmann. This wasn’t what was expected. It’s been a disaster. And the problems run far deeper than the influence of ’emperor Leo’.
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