I was thinking, Antonio loves to whip the ball in and hit the first defender (mostly shins) because he couldn’t cut to the left. Antony (hah) refuses to whip the ball in at all because he couldn’t use his right foot. If only we could fuse them, we’ll have a perfect RW. Or, simply just teach Antony to hit the ball using his right once in a while to mix it up…
21
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 44
- Goals
- 8
- Assists
- 3
- Yellow cards
- 8
- Status
We're currently 6th in the table in terms of possession. Against Brighton at the start of the season we had 63% possession and we had 67% of possession against Brentford. It's what we do in possession.
If we look at it solely post World Cup, after ETH has had some more time to work with the team we have averaged 55.6% which includes the home game against City (29%!) and the away game at Arsenal (43%). So we're improving.
With our first choice centre back pairing, Dalot at full back and Casemiro in the middle we've got the foundations. This recent period though is largely without Martial so we're playing a different sort of a game to how we'd like to be playing.
What is holding us back from being more effective in possession are numerous issues, such as Dave's weak passing, the lack of penetration from our midfield and a proper forward who is a reliable outlet and makes our other players more dangerous in possession as he'll always be a threat to be found.
From the eye test I'd say we're pretty comfortable - first choice lineup available - playing out from the back and across midfield, but the connection from midfield to attack lacks tempo and our attackers aren't effective enough. We're still resorting to Bruno Hollywood passes and Antony's multiple touches allow teams to set up by the time he's decided to do what he always does. Even if AWB has had some outstanding moments recently (and some clangers) he doesn't have the reliability on the ball to stretch play and give balance to that right side, which would also mitigate Antony's major limitations somewhat.
It still seems that we lack movement in the final third and quicker tempo. But we're clearly becoming better in possession compared to any of the last ten seasons.
Rashford at this moment looks like a 90million player. I’m going to be reserved about this statement because it wouldn’t be the first time he hit the ground running. Antony looks like 25 million player.
You will see when it doesn’t work out how long he will be at the club with nothing to show for, like the massively expensive Martial. It are 9/10 bad deals except for those very rare moments you buy someone as good ronaldinho or zidane for that amount of money. If Antony doesn’t turn out well then we have a problem for years and years to come because players this expensive need to play (the much cheaper and probably not much worse option named Pellistri doesn’t play because of the bad investment utd did on Antony).
I’m sure we can all agree he doesn’t turn into Sancho who now has mental problems because he can’t handle the pressure of his price tag. This is what you get when you pay too much for players.
If you guys are ok with paying over the odds for players not worth it then it is your opinion of course. I can tell you that players with the same ability and sometimes even way more ability are available for a lot less. That’s why a team has good scouts and I am sure Utd has them too but they must be ignored.
I don’t hate Antony, I don’t hate anybody but I expect more, more, more. If I buy a coke I want it to sparkle. Something is very very wrong with football when random players coming from much weaker leagues cost that much. We have to start doing smart business. We will get ruined if we keep up this overpaying of players.
I’m sorry if I sound harsh but I can’t help having lots of expectations. At Milan the fans are currently voicing their disappointment over De Ketelaere (who isn’t producing the goods)who costs way less than Antony did while that was actually a smart and rather cheap transfer.
To end my rant I hope for utd’s sake, for my sake and most of zll for their sake that antony and sancho will start producing the goods so that we can all be happy and finally start competing again because we need them.
You will see when it doesn’t work out how long he will be at the club with nothing to show for, like the massively expensive Martial. It are 9/10 bad deals except for those very rare moments you buy someone as good ronaldinho or zidane for that amount of money. If Antony doesn’t turn out well then we have a problem for years and years to come because players this expensive need to play (the much cheaper and probably not much worse option named Pellistri doesn’t play because of the bad investment utd did on Antony).
I’m sure we can all agree he doesn’t turn into Sancho who now has mental problems because he can’t handle the pressure of his price tag. This is what you get when you pay too much for players.
If you guys are ok with paying over the odds for players not worth it then it is your opinion of course. I can tell you that players with the same ability and sometimes even way more ability are available for a lot less. That’s why a team has good scouts and I am sure Utd has them too but they must be ignored.
I don’t hate Antony, I don’t hate anybody but I expect more, more, more. If I buy a coke I want it to sparkle. Something is very very wrong with football when random players coming from much weaker leagues cost that much. We have to start doing smart business. We will get ruined if we keep up this overpaying of players.
I’m sorry if I sound harsh but I can’t help having lots of expectations. At Milan the fans are currently voicing their disappointment over De Ketelaere (who isn’t producing the goods)who costs way less than Antony did while that was actually a smart and rather cheap transfer.
To end my rant I hope for utd’s sake, for my sake and most of zll for their sake that antony and sancho will start producing the goods so that we can all be happy and finally start competing again because we need them.
No doubt about it...you make some fair points.
He needs a goal and fast. Look at his reaction after our second goal on Wednesday, that's not a good sign at all.
Maybe it is just me, but I think if you outlay such huge money as we did in the cases of Sancho and Antony it is not unreasonable to expect they would hit the ground running so to speak and deliver on the investment. The money we outplayed for both, is normally reserved for world class players, you would think so anyway. Neither look anyway near world class, and while it could be argued it’s early days for both, I don’t see either developing into world class talents they both have deficiencies in there game I’m not sure they can overcome.
Yeah I noticed that as well
Rashford last season surely didn't look like a 100m player. For some he's even championship material. Lesson learned here is you'll never know.
For me I'm not worried about Antony. He's a 100m player or not? Well probably not but I'm pretty sure he'd come good for us. Guy is really a baller and he's really hungry. You can notice the ball glued to his feet while he's running and he doesn't even look at the ball. You simply don't have to worry about players like those. He'd come good I reckon.
Looked at his stats at Ajax and compared those to United. Seems he was actually doing a whole lot of crosses while at Ajax last season, averaging 5 crosses per 90 minutes. Looking at stats alone it seems as if it it's crosses and long passes he needs to work, but he seems to have it in is locker judging by this? Of course, stats alone do not tell everything, but it was quite interesting to see.
https://www.squawka.com/en/comparison-matrix/?compare=HlWabXXOMgiIp9s7_FsLb
https://www.squawka.com/en/comparison-matrix/?compare=HlWabXXOMgiIp9s7_FsLb
Don’t say you can’t change your expectations. You should change your expectations every time you acquire new knowledge. I.e. If someone lies to you three times and you still expect them to tell the truth every time, it’s not high standards, it’s stupidity. Or if a board pays 100m€ for a player, and you watch him play 20 games and see for yourself he is about as good as three other players who went for, say, 40m€, thenyou don’t expect him to play like a typical 100m player anymore, because it would be stupid - you know better now. Or you should.
I’m also plussed about your expectations of how a manager thinks. If you are manager and you have player A, and another player FP who is not much worse (ie a little worse), you wolud play the worse player instead? Yet if you are a manager and you have player A who cost 100m€ and costs the team points, and a player B who cost 20m€ and earns the team points, you would go with player A as a regular starter regardless of it costing you trophies and league table placement?
I think you’re wrong. I think Arnold spent 100m€ because we were in a twist and he thought it was worth overpaying due to the whole particular situation, not because Antony is worth that sum as such. Antony is as good as he used to be for Ajax and Brazil, and it will be stupid to expect more based on the evidence.
And I think Ten Hag uses Antony as he says, because the team plays better with him in it than with any current alternative,and not because of what Arnold forked out on him. Which probably means Antony on the whole does a better job than you perhaps can appreciate.
Posts here NQAT.
"An associate of one player". Yeah I know not to trust the article whenever it starts bringing up vague figures like "SkySports sources understand" or "Someone close to the player" or "one senior sources inside United"
This deserves a Pullitzer really.
The thoughts and opinions of associates of footballers are famously worthy of consideration.
Appreciate many of the points here. What I’d like to ad, is also that where Wan Bissaka has done well, perhaps even better than Dalot, is making us less vulnerable at counters, and surprisingly, playing out from the back, were he’s been good. What still lacks, apart from his positional attention gaffes, is the interplay with Antony in the last third. Here Dalot and Antony had developped a much better understanding of when to hold back, when to go behind, who, etc. I think this makes Antony look worse as well.and makes us more one sided in attack. We also threw Wout in three games ago, a completely different player, so the others need to ajust to that, too. It’s not just about the best eleven players, it’s about developping relations, and the best relations will beat even the best players. Good, tjen, that Wout functioned quite well against Forest, only in his third game. A sign that Rashford, Bruno and Antony is starting to get him better, which improve them too, hopefully.
@Grande
That’s how it works more or less I think. The more expensive player will play more because he was a bigger investment, at least in the first season. Don’t you think Pellistri deserves more playtime? He played in 3 games for Uruguay at the world cup, he is not a nobody. Who says he won’t make a difference, look how well Wan Bissaka has been playing in the absence of Dalot.
You have to see it from my point of view. I barely watch football, the only games I watch are those of Utd. So Utd buys a super expensive winger. I expect to see that on the pitch. I thought we had bought some sort of Ronaldinho figure. Real bought Ronaldo for more or less the same amount and he was then the best player in the world. You surely must agree that it doesn’t feel right. When we bought Bruno for a lot of money he made a difference from the start, that is what I was expecting for Antony and Sancho, especially since they’re even more expensive.
I came across the top 10 most expensive players of this season worldwide. Bar Haaland and Casemiro nobody was worth the money that was payed for imo. But admittedly I don’t follow it enough.
I don ‘t think he has been particularly bad, I just had different expectations and I still do. I can also see he has very close ball control which makes it to me even more puzzling why he can’t influence the games more than he does right now. To me it feels like he is the type of player that thinks he is playing fantastic while he is just playing average. I don’t think there is pressure involved here, he looks overconfident, with the technique he has he should be more dangerous on the pitch.
He strikes me as Depay.
That’s how it works more or less I think. The more expensive player will play more because he was a bigger investment, at least in the first season. Don’t you think Pellistri deserves more playtime? He played in 3 games for Uruguay at the world cup, he is not a nobody. Who says he won’t make a difference, look how well Wan Bissaka has been playing in the absence of Dalot.
You have to see it from my point of view. I barely watch football, the only games I watch are those of Utd. So Utd buys a super expensive winger. I expect to see that on the pitch. I thought we had bought some sort of Ronaldinho figure. Real bought Ronaldo for more or less the same amount and he was then the best player in the world. You surely must agree that it doesn’t feel right. When we bought Bruno for a lot of money he made a difference from the start, that is what I was expecting for Antony and Sancho, especially since they’re even more expensive.
I came across the top 10 most expensive players of this season worldwide. Bar Haaland and Casemiro nobody was worth the money that was payed for imo. But admittedly I don’t follow it enough.
I don ‘t think he has been particularly bad, I just had different expectations and I still do. I can also see he has very close ball control which makes it to me even more puzzling why he can’t influence the games more than he does right now. To me it feels like he is the type of player that thinks he is playing fantastic while he is just playing average. I don’t think there is pressure involved here, he looks overconfident, with the technique he has he should be more dangerous on the pitch.
He strikes me as Depay.
Man Utd 3:1 Reading
That’s more like a Man United winger. Good game.
Better again.
Been very good the last couple of games. Been playing against weaker teams so he has had plenty of the ball but also not been as tied to wide areas which has allowed a lot more variation to come into his game.
Wouldn't be against starting him as a 10 with Sancho/Garnacho and Rash either side when that is an option.
Wouldn't be against starting him as a 10 with Sancho/Garnacho and Rash either side when that is an option.
Still very unlucky, but he'll come good. He's class.
Sometime maybe good, sometimes maybe shit.
Tonight I thought he was excellent and on another day a few of those shots would of flown in.
Tonight I thought he was excellent and on another day a few of those shots would of flown in.
Very sloppy shooting but the assist was great!
He’s getting more direct on the ball which is nice to see. He has been mixing it up well the last few games.
It was championship opposition so I'd be surprised if he didn't look bright.
Getting better all the time
Had a good game and bagged an assist. If he had his shooting boots on he could score a few, especially the Garnacho chance.
The fact that he literally ran away from both the ball and his man from the corner which his man then scored from should be enough to disqualify him from any MotM discussion. It was anti-defending.
Usually his shooting has been his only vaguely redeeming feature. Today he got his first assist with his good pass, but his shooting was crap, including him falling over rather than putting away an easy chance right at the end.
Yeah he tried to dribble a bit more, but against an average Championship side that should go without saying. That performance changed nothing, especially in light of the mediocre opposition - he's still underwhelming.
Usually his shooting has been his only vaguely redeeming feature. Today he got his first assist with his good pass, but his shooting was crap, including him falling over rather than putting away an easy chance right at the end.
Yeah he tried to dribble a bit more, but against an average Championship side that should go without saying. That performance changed nothing, especially in light of the mediocre opposition - he's still underwhelming.
Man of the Match performance
There's always one.
Anyway clear progression, he's been playing with confidence last few games and showing his skills finally. Fabulous assist for Casemiro.
I’d be getting him in at shooting practice first thing Monday morning!
Great pass for the Casemiro goal and a solid display.
Great pass for the Casemiro goal and a solid display.
Come of it.
Don’t think he deserved MOTM to be honest nice assist but gives the ball away to often & he should have scored from Garnacho, it was also his man on the corner when they scored
Happy with that performance overall
Good game but Casemiro should be man of the match
How did he get MotM and not Casemiro?
Did well tonight. Got to work on his shooting
Getting better and better each match
Been showing signs of this for a couple of games now. Looking a lot more direct and confident. Long may it last.
He’s a strange little player. Sometimes good, sometimes not good 
I like that he tries tricks though, and he doesn’t hide when things don’t come off like some players do
I like that he tries tricks though, and he doesn’t hide when things don’t come off like some players do
Another good game. He looks a much better player when drifting away from the touchline and having Wan Bissaka overlap. Some very dangerous passes tonight.
- Status