Hazard was 21 when he signed for Chelsea.
21
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 44
- Goals
- 8
- Assists
- 3
- Yellow cards
- 8
- Status
There’s nobody else out there paying £85m for ‘potential’.. that’s not the going rate for ‘potential’. We therefor expect ‘too quality’ from Anthony o/w somebody has clearly been hasty in the transfer market! Inconsistency is excusable in these circumstances but not mediocrity.
He scored against Arsenal and made a tiger claw sign with his hands. What else are you expecting out of him?
Problem with that is it leaves you fecked for counter attacks. Central fullbacks give you 5 players to deal with counters including the DM, and 4 if one of them overruns the ball. If your fullbacks are high, you've got either 4 (if one fullback isn't high) or 3, and to get the same number back you need to have 2 sitting central mids, and having 4 players in a box to prevent counters makes less sense than the structures from one fullback slightly wide (but still tucked in) and also DMs tend to be slower than fullbacks so don't get out wide as well.
Right now he plays very bad, but he will be given time. I hope he will find his feet soon though.
It’s not just about missing that one goalscoring chance from the pass by Ronaldo, it about his whole contribution on the right wing. I was told he was very good in dribbling and was among the best in Europe for most progressive carries/pass. He has shown none of that so far.
But then he only has 3 games with us. Let’s hope it’s all part of settling period and he will turn good soon.
What do you mean by the bold part because i think you're watching a different Antony to the one most on here are watching!?
Whoops you're right, I got my wires crossed.
I remembered the bidding war and I seem to misremember his age.
Raphinha is clearly the better player at the moment and he isn't even close to Dembele. Let's hope Antony develops fast. I was expecting more driven runs from him ala young Ronaldo/Giggs.
Or lets just put it this way, is he playing at the level you expected him to do for us? For me it’s definitely not what I am expecting from 80m signings, who is regarded as someone highly talented, over past 3 games.
I really expect we are buying an winger who has electrify footwork, great dribbling, and will help us a lot in making progressive carries/pass, getting more involved in the game, minus the end products. That’s my minimum expectation on him, I don’t expect him to provide good numbers for now, despite his huge price tag.
But he will be given more time to settle in first, and I wasn’t writing him off at all, just an honest assessment of his performance so far vs our expectation. He is not up to it yet, but still early days, that’s what I mean.
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I can’t see him reaching Nani
He was up against Rooney and Ronaldo, in a normal team he’d be their star player
Comparing performances with price tags is a stupid activity, unless you are Arnald/Murtaugh, and even then it’s stupid to do before two seasons have passed.
That said, I thought Antony played below in attack, but above par in defence for a player in his position. Better the first two outings. For a completely new player, he’s done allright.
All he has to do is tilt his chin downwards and he will be able to see them.
£80million for this level of intelligence?
This dude is going to be fun.
Harsh judgments here after only three matches. I don’t recall very many players who hit top gear in the PL in their first three matches. We’re seeing that with Haaland right now, but who else?
He had a lot of influence on the game.
He kept defenders occupied and opened up the pitch for players like Varane who rourtinely brought the ball forward, resulting in an extra body in midfield and the pressure up on Sherrif.
He always chose the right passing option (including for Sancho's goal).
He setup a chance each for Ronaldo and Sancho when he could have shot at goal.
His flicks were successful unlike Ronaldo's.
Do people want a cut-in and bang-bang goalscorer or do they want a team player? Either way, Antony will do both in time, but today was a showcase of how good a team player he can be.
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It's not just that the judgements are harsh. They are also wrong. He had a decent game. People want a flashy player for 100m who curls two into the top corner every game, but I was impressed with his team play.
Salah, David Silva, Aguero, Mata... It's not that rare for a player to hit top gear in the PL straight away if they are class.
If I recall correctly David Silva didn't perform on a high level during his first 7-8 months in the city shirt. It wasn't until his second season that he started putting in high level performances on a regular basis. He even stated publicly that he would get better as he adapted.
Examples of players that didn't hit the ground running in the PL but became class players (from the top of my mind):
Vidic, Evra, Drogba, Koscielny, John Stones, Pires, Suarez (four goals in his first half a season at Liverpool)..
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I get it, I just find it drab to watch. Also means the full backs end up the most prominent players on the pitch and the wide men are end up as human training cones most of the time.
Me too, I think he plays if very safe and conservative in the beginning.
And even with Haaland, he's in a well oiled machine that creates chances for fun. I bet many strikers would do decent in that team.
Antony has come into a team in transition and is doing as well as I hoped so far.
Yeah, it's why City are kinda boring and Liverpool are fun (worse defensively, keep the ball less) to watch, stylistically.
I think he will get better for sure, although he is being safe and doing well with the basics currently tbh. Funny enough, but you do get the feeling that he is someone who Ronaldo would actually have a great impact on as opposed to say someone like Rashford perhaps (speculation on my part about Rashford).
We're still not doing enough and moving the ball quick enough to put our wingers in 1v1 situations against their fullback, the only time they get the ball in some space is when they drop deep, but then they have two people on them. Not going to pass judgement on wingers' dribbling abilities before we start doing that on a regular basis.
Amount of impatience here is staggering. 3 games and he's questioned already. Just cause he isn't dribbling and passing defenders like crazy. There's something else in a football match, for instance, keeping the play ticking, passing the ball, keeping defenders busy just by running and opening channels and so on. Someone even said he's been really bad which is nonsense of course.
Yeah the second one. He would work well with Martial but also needs to impose himself more.
Something we are asking of Sancho till this day.
I can't pretend that I really watched the game 'properly' last night but whilst I can definitely see that there are areas he needs to improve I thought his overall performance was good.
I think people expect to see swashbuckling wingers beating three or four players in the style of Giggs/early Ronaldo but that just doesn't really happen in the modern game. These lads aren't being chased by fat fullbacks like Neil Ruddock and Julian Dicks, they're being doubled-up on by super-athletic full-backs and wingers who make life really difficult for them.
The skill for a wide player now is can they dribble well enough to need doubling-up on so that they can help create space elsewhere. Also, can they pass the ball well and incisively and move into central areas effectively.
In the bits of the game I watched last night, Antony provided several key forward passes that launched attacks, including a good interception and pass for Sancho's chance which was cleared off the line
I think people expect to see swashbuckling wingers beating three or four players in the style of Giggs/early Ronaldo but that just doesn't really happen in the modern game. These lads aren't being chased by fat fullbacks like Neil Ruddock and Julian Dicks, they're being doubled-up on by super-athletic full-backs and wingers who make life really difficult for them.
The skill for a wide player now is can they dribble well enough to need doubling-up on so that they can help create space elsewhere. Also, can they pass the ball well and incisively and move into central areas effectively.
In the bits of the game I watched last night, Antony provided several key forward passes that launched attacks, including a good interception and pass for Sancho's chance which was cleared off the line
Yup any one of those passes with better forward play would've resulted in threatening situations. The amount of times he plays inside to Ronaldo in space around the box is amazing. Should've really resulted in more threat.
Not to mention the deep pass to the RCM where the winger and the fullback are tight on Antony and it goes into the RCM who can get forward for free because both wide players are occupied.
Very nicely articulated! Varane’s forays wouldn’t have been possible if it weren’t for Antony. End result was that we dominated possession and looked very comfortable. Also allowed for Eriksen to dictate play from the left hand side, the middle of the pitch was rarely compromised.
Heck even Malacia was playing centrally at times.
But we do need to get the ball to him faster and create one-on-ones more.
Not too long ago teams tried to make us go down the right hand side , they would nearly leave all the space out there. They don't do that now. Nothing too flash yesterday but did his job well freeing up other players.
I’ve noticed this too, we’ve always been stronger down the left but now with Antony, players are quick to mark him which leaves space on the other side of the pitch and through the middle. Gives us good options to switch play as we look strong down both sides now.
Think Dalot's resurgence has been key in that aspect too.
He obviously needs to get better and offer more from an end product perspective, but that will come naturally.
It's always a good sign when a winger is being hunted down by 2 or 3 opposition players almost every time they get the ball.
I think it's quite obvious that with a more mobile striker, Sancho and Antony will be all over the pitch popping up with a lot of goals and assists.
It's always a good sign when a winger is being hunted down by 2 or 3 opposition players almost every time they get the ball.
I think it's quite obvious that with a more mobile striker, Sancho and Antony will be all over the pitch popping up with a lot of goals and assists.
I knew "pricetag Andies" will have a meltdown in this thread, hilarious! 
Caf never disappoints.
Meanwhile, from a realistic point of view, I like what I see from lad, he will only get better, good stuff.
Caf never disappoints.Meanwhile, from a realistic point of view, I like what I see from lad, he will only get better, good stuff.
Ronaldo was 17 year old kid (5 years Antony's junior) but we would have been questioned even paying that for someone who had 1 season. Ronaldo actually made an immediate impact as his debut was electric. his performance earned praise from Best, who hailed it as "undoubtedly the most exciting debut" he had ever seen. He was a menace every game and beat players incredibly easily. He was never passive and people are revising his early years. I actually preferred him to Rooney back then. It was more his end product that was lacking but he always had the pace and skill making him a threat, scored in the FA cup final that same year. Alan Hansen described him as the star of the final. I'm from South East London and have many Millwall supporting friends and some went to the final. They said Ronaldo was the best player they have ever seen live. In his debut season Gary Neville said he was "not a show pony, but the real thing", and predicted he would become a world-class player. He also won the Matt Busby fans player of the season in his 1st year so I would love Antony to have this impact
Does pick some nice and dangerous passes out. Looking forward to see what else he can bring once he is more settled in the team and has either a Ronaldo that hits some form or Martial picking passes for he and Sancho.
It is easy to see why most people are slightly worried. That we will have 2 wingers who are not great in beating their man while wanting the ball at their feet at all times. If you add Martial type of player on top of that, seems fairly logical that someone who is more direct and more off the ball runner would probably be a better fit. Like Rashford on LW for example. Also, United in their best years always had an electric winger who was a menace to deal with (Best, Giggs, Ronaldo), so people probably expected more of that, firstly from Sancho and now Antony.
Still, his passing is good and intensity/workrate great, so there is a reason to believe he will improve in time. Even on a bad day he will give you those traits and that's pretty valuable to have. And yeah, it took a while for many players to adapt coming in EPL club, so bringing in some definite conclusions at this point is more than silly.
Still, his passing is good and intensity/workrate great, so there is a reason to believe he will improve in time. Even on a bad day he will give you those traits and that's pretty valuable to have. And yeah, it took a while for many players to adapt coming in EPL club, so bringing in some definite conclusions at this point is more than silly.
He'll be fine. His movement is really good but we're not really creating the right opportunities for either of our wide players right now. There were loads of times he got himself in good positions last night but the ball didn't come.
It’s important that we remember we are buying players that will fit into a system.
Antony and Sancho look like perfect system players for the kind of football we want to play
Antony and Sancho look like perfect system players for the kind of football we want to play
- Status