We can say what we want about physical and mental wear and tear, after all these years serving the France team, the announcement of Antoine Griezmann’s withdrawal leaves a slightly strange taste in the mouth. How could this mad lover of the Blues bring himself to turn the page, so close to a record number of selections and no longer so far from a World Cup in the United States which made him, the big NBA fan, dream? We must see a weariness which has set in slowly, one could say insidiously, over the last two years spent seeing his status crumble, and not only on the field.
When you think about it, the news is perhaps less surprising than the announcement itself. It is not for nothing that a former close friend of the Blues mentions to 20 Minutes “too many questions and unsaid things” concerning the departure of the man who played 137 matches with the France team, for 44 goals and 30 assists, a record. The beginnings of this bitter end undoubtedly date back to the year 2022. Arriving in Qatar for the World Cup, Antoine Griezmann no longer has the same role as that of offensive captain acquired during Euro 2016 and assumed during the 2018 world title.
The French number 7 is no longer as influential since the return to the selection of Karim Benzema, to the point of seeing his place being called into question. But while the Real Madrid striker is finally out due to injury, Didier Deschamps is still wondering about the best plan to adopt. So the playmaker adapts and slips into the skin of a relay environment, with a self-sacrifice and a sense of collective which will have a lot to do with the Blues’ journey to the final.
The captaincy affair
In the oven and in the mill, he comes back to life during this competition, during which he does not score a single goal (compared to 4 in 2018) but delivers three assists (compared to 2 in 2022). Already reclassified for the good of the team, he will experience great disappointment after the World Cup. With Hugo Lloris gone, DD decided two months later to announce the name of his new captain: to everyone’s surprise, it would not be him, but Kylian Mbappé. A hard blow for the man who has embodied the face of the Blues since 2014, and who dreamed of wearing the armband for his country.
“It was complicated,” he admitted in an interview with “Téléfoot” in June 2023. Even if I still have the canes, I’m still at the end. I had trouble digesting it for a day or two. But when I’m on the pitch, I’m happy, that’s what matters most to me. Now, I’m all in with Kylian who is our captain. I’m not going to change anything, because that’s how I am. »
“Misunderstandings” with Mbappé
Too bad for the armband, Griezmann opts for a pink dye with the most beautiful effect in spring 2023 for his return to the selection. Against the Netherlands, he scored the Blues’ first post-World Cup goal on a pass from the new captain. The embrace between the two men buries the little music of the emerging conflict. Except that it is in reality Mbappé’s last decisive pass for Griezmann, who will only score once in the selection, from the penalty spot, against Germany in September 2023. With this impression that the two superstars of the French team have never really managed to collaborate since the emergence of Mbappé during the 2018 World Cup.
“Our relationship is great. At first, she was a little confused. I arrived at the selection like a hurricane, he was the star of the team. It took time to find our places and respect each other’s space, said Mbappé before the last Euro. There were sometimes misunderstandings, but with time, experience and wisdom, everyone found their role. »
The fact remains that Griezmann, if he is the type to get along with everyone – you only have to see the messages from the Blues since his announcement – then loses his big friends in the locker room one by one. Hugo Lloris and Raphaël Varane turned the page on the title of vice-world champion, then Paul Pogba was suspended for doping. It is finally Olivier Giroud who is leaving, after a Euro which in no way corresponded to the expectations of the Atlético player.
A stone in DD’s garden after the Euro
Because like the months preceding the competition, he was still carried around everywhere, sometimes in the middle, sometimes in a three-way attack which never succeeded, sometimes as number 10 in a diamond-shaped environment… until ‘to this being put on the bench for the semi-final against Spain. A few weeks ago, when the Blues returned to school, he looked back on this difficult summer in “Téléfoot”:
« It was complicated, because there were a lot of position changes, a lot of tactical changes. What was annoying was against Spain and Poland, where I didn’t play. Afterwards, these are tactical choices, you have to respect them even if you are angry, sad or upset, it is the team above all. I tried to adapt, but it wasn’t my best competition. After Spain, there was a lot of frustration, anger, sadness, I never felt at the heart of the game the way I like. » »
It’s hard not to see a weakened link with his coach, of whom he has long been the “darling”, by the latter’s own admission. “Antoine is a winner, and I think that the last outings of the French team have been less to his taste,” believes Sébastien Bellencontre. There must also be that in his decision, the fact of taking a little less pleasure. »
Bellencontre, boss of the 4Success agency, supported Griezmann in the management of his image until 2018. If he is not in the secret of the gods, he still knows his Grizou well, with whom he is still in touch. contact. “Surprised, but above all sad” to learn of the international retirement of his former protégé, he sees in this choice the desire to “take the lead”.
“Almost like an old couple”
“I think he wanted to choose the moment when he was going to leave and not suffer it,” he continues. Sometimes, the link stretches on its own, with wear and tear. They had such a strong relationship with the coach that after a while, when the results are less present, it’s almost like an old couple who starts to have problems and who perhaps no longer know how to communicate , how to adjust them. I imagine that must have weighed on his decision, but beyond that, there is really the desire to remain in control of his career and his life. »
Sébastien Bellencontre has only one wish today, that the Federation organizes Griezmann the exit he deserves. Whether in November, during the Blues’ next home matches, or in a few months. “He loved this team so much, and he brought so much to it,” he breathes. He is still one of the best players in the history of the France team. » He is not the only one to think so, nor to wish for an ending other than a simple message on social networks on a rainy Monday morning at the end of September.
