life without Antoine Griezmann

After 84 matches played consecutively, the vice-captain of the Blues suffered an ankle injury and will not be able to take part in the France team’s friendly matches against Germany on Saturday and Chile on Tuesday.

From the Château de Clairefontaine or Antoine Griezmann, we no longer know which was there before the other. But the mischievous Atlético de Madrid player, who remained on a record series of 84 matches played with the Blues without any absence, only made an express return trip to Yvelines, Monday March 18, where his injury to the right ankle was noted. “The old one from here”as Warren Zaire-Emery said on Tuesday, will not play the Blues’ two upcoming friendly matches, against Germany on Saturday March 23 and Chile, Tuesday 26. With a headache ahead for Didier Deschamps.

If the sun has been present in Clairefontaine since the start of the first gathering of the Blues of 2024, the usual star of the France team is missing. The absence of the man who shines as much with his smile as his haircuts, always smiling and joking, is felt. Antoine Griezmann had to give up wearing the Blues jersey for the 85th consecutive match, although he was undoubtedly the first name put down by Didier Deschamps in almost 7 years, without interruption. He therefore did not celebrate his 33rd birthday with his teammates. Not to be outdone in terms of chambering, Marcus Thuram has taken over from “Grizou” in this regard.

A replacement “very, very, very difficult to find”

From a footballing point of view, however, the absence of the “favorite” of Didier Deschamps, vice-captain of the Blues, will not be easy to fill. “We are not going to find a player with the same characteristics. If he has the record for continuous matches, it is because he took up a lot of space, because he was systematically there. When we know Antoine’s influence… As a replacement position for position, I don’t like the word impossible, but it’s very, very, very difficult to find. So we will arrange it a little differently.”admitted the coach at a press conference on Monday.

Reduced to the position of midfielder since the 2022 World Cup, Antoine Griezmann shines with his qualities of adaptation and his intelligence of the game.Antoine is a fairly free player on the pitch, who has this magic, who is also capable of finding passes, of putting himself in spaces, and who has this quality of scorer too, has listed in press conference Adrien Rabiot, Juventus player.

Companion of the Madrilenian in the middle, he believes that“it may be necessary to animate differently, perhaps with a slightly less unrestrained player. These are friendly matches which allow us to test things.” But the former PSG does not see himself, on the other hand, taking on this role: “In my own way, I make the link between attack and defense, but not with Antoine’s qualities. There are players in the group more similar to Antoine in terms of footballing qualities. If I had to take the role of Antoine, I wouldn’t use myself.”he decreed, while affirming that the absence of the Madrilenian will perhaps allow him to project himself more offensively.

If Didier Deschamps decided to change his playing system to switch to 4-4-2 with two points in attack, the midfield should be made up of Aurélien Tchouaméni and Adrien Rabiot, supported by wingers. If the coach chooses, however, to keep his 4-3-3 on Saturday, against Germany, Eduardo Camavinga or Warren Zaire-Emery could apply to take Griezmann’s place in a trio with Rabiot and Tchouaméni. “We have other players who can replace Antoine. All the circles play in very high level clubs, so it’s not a problem”did not care about the young Zaire-Emery on Tuesday.