The French international superstar grew under the management of the Frenchman in Spain.
France’s Antoine Griezmann celebrates after the game
Nottingham Forest finally appointed a new manager this week with the arrival of Philippe Montanier, who takes over after Dougie Freedman’s departure in March.
The Frenchman comes with a good reputation accrued with spells at Valenciennes, Real Sociedad and Rennes and one football star who would vouch for his talents is French international forward Antoine Griezmann.
Antoine Griezmann playing for Real Sociedad
The forward, who scored 32 goals in 54 appearances for Atletico Madrid last season, owes much of his success to his time with Montanier at Real Sociedad.
It was under the new Forest boss that Griezmann first began to turn his career around after a controversy involving the French under-21 team in 2012.
He praised his manager in an interview with Marca, as translated by Inside Spanish Football, in December 2012:
“[The slump] was all in my head due to what the [French Football Federation] accused me of. I was a little out of it. I have to thank the coach for his confidence in me and my teammates for supporting me.”
Atletico Madrid’s Antoine Griezmann and Galatasaray’s Jem Karacan and Wesley Sneijder in action.
Montanier is widely regarded as playing a key role in the development of Griezmann from flaky winger to potent forward as he guided the Basque side to the Champions League Group Stages.
Nottingham Forest will certainly hope that their new boss can have a similar impact on some of the players currently in the first-team fold at the City Ground.
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