Ernesto Valverde says Antoine Griezmann needs time to adjust to Barcelona’s style of play, although the boss admits it’s clear the Frenchman’s arrival spells “danger” for the club’s rivals.
Barca lost 2-1 to Chelsea in a pre-season friendly at the Saitama Stadium in Japan on Tuesday – thanks to goals from Ross Barkley and Tammy Abraham, with Ivan Rakitic pulling one back for the Spanish champions.
The Catalans will have another friendly in Japan on Saturday – facing former players Andres Iniesta, David Villa and Sergi Samper when they take on Vissel Kobe.
“Well, he still needs some time to get used to the way the team plays football. But you can see that when he gets the ball, he transmit danger to our rivals,” Valverde said of Griezmann.
“You can see that he always has ideas (to punish) the rivals. We are expecting a lot from him. It was just his first game. He needs to learn how we play football, the way we pressure, the way we try to dominate the games. It was just the first game.”
