Antoine Griezmann listed as midfielder in Dream Team Euros – is France’s tournament specialist a potential game-breaker?

ANY Dream Team Euros manager worth their salt should be alert to any tricks that might yield plentiful points.

For the latest edition of our EURO STAR series – which has previously featured musings on Cristiano Ronaldo’s prospects and analysis of Jamal Musiala’s talent – we’ve chosen to focus on Antoine Griezmann (£6.5m), who is classified as a midfielder in a Dream Team fantasy game for the first time ever.

The reason the 33-year-old is listed as a midfielder this time around is simply because he fulfils a deeper role for France these days.

The matter is confused slightly by the fact he played predominantly as a centre-forward for Atletico Madrid this season, with great effect, but Didier Deschamps sees him more as a playmaker.

Naturally, this change of position has resulted in a decrease in the number of goals he scores at international level.

Since the start of 2022, Griezmann has scored just two goals in 25 appearances for Les Bleus.

Contrast this with his record at club level and it’s night and day – he has scored 40 goals for Atletico across the last two seasons.

However, while Griezmann is no longer primarily tasked with scoring goals for France, he remains a pivotal figure.

He was the joint-top assist provider at the last World Cup and, for a player known for his attacking qualities, he gets through more than enough tackles – remember, players earn one point for every two tackles (per fixture) in Dream Team Euros.

If Griezmann was categorised as a forward then his recent scoring record at international level would be a big concern but as a midfielder he’s certainly viable.

His creative output (big chances created, assists) plus his defensive contribution (tackles) means he has several routes to points even if he’s no longer a promising goal threat.

Plus, he’s the sort of all-action player likely to collect his fair share of bonus points.

More broadly, Griezmann always seems to turn up at major tournaments.

At Euro 2016 he won the Golden Boot and was named Player of the Tournament.

Two years later, he claimed the Silver Boot and Bronze Ball as France won the World Cup in Russia.

Euro 2020 was an underwhelming campaign overall for Deschamps’ side but they reached the final at the 2022 World Cup and Griezmann was rightfully praised for his influential midfield role during that campaign.

France will face Austria, Netherlands and Poland in Group D this summer and are fancied to do deep in the tournament once again.

Griezmann is an expensive asset at £6.5m which is probably why he currently appears in just 9% of teams created but the prospect of selecting a front three of genuine strikers with France’s No7 in midfield is very appealing.