[acnumber9]

I would have thought that the more "weapons" a player has the better?

Anthony has great close control, good touch, dribbling skills. is deceptively strong (which he you could see when he bodied a defender before the ball hit the corner flag) and has a good shot.

He's also got a load of flaws but in terms of raw materials there's a lot to work with.

Does he have a good shot? He shoots more per 90 minutes than Rashford and has a quarter of the goals. That’s Premier League stats from Footystats. They have him taking 46 shots. More than 11 shots per goal isn’t very good at all.

By contrast, the ‘awful’ Sancho has five goals from 12 shots. He’s also better at dribbling and passing.

Couple that with his abysmal creativity and the fact that his dribbles always end with either a shit shot or a backwards pass and I’m not convinced those skills are all that useful.

 

[Sparky Rhiwabon]

You’d like to think that could change. How does his xG compare to other wingers?

Antony xG 5.74 vs goals 4

Salah 18.64 xG vs goals 19
Rashford 17.06 vs 16
Martinelli 11.21 vs 15
Son 10.27 vs 10
Saka 9.97 vs 13
March 9.73 vs 6
H.Barnes 9.17 vs 10
B.Johnson 9.11 vs 8
Mbuemo 9.01 vs 6
Zaha 7.92 vs 7
Almiron 6.94 vs 11
Foden 6.24 vs 10
Eze 6.12 vs 8
Trossard 7.2 vs 8
Mitoma 6.93 vs 7

Btw not a winger but Odegard has outperformed xG impressively with 15 goals from 8.53 xG. All the Arsenal guys seem to have outperformed xG actually.

 

[JB7]

Silent domination. Our boys a jedi.

More a matter that he's probably the best player we have at holding his position and getting us up the pitch.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Does he have a good shot? He shoots more per 90 minutes than Rashford and has a quarter of the goals. That’s Premier League stats from Footystats. They have him taking 46 shots. More than 11 shots per goal isn’t very good at all.

By contrast, the ‘awful’ Sancho has five goals from 12 shots. He’s also better at dribbling and passing.

Couple that with his abysmal creativity and the fact that his dribbles always end with either a shit shot or a backwards pass and I’m not convinced those skills are all that useful.

Yeah, he does have a good shot. As we can see from watching the goals he’s scored (and near misses) Stats are useful and all but you don’t need stats to see he can strike a ball well.

As for his dribbles “always” ending in a pass or shit shot, they also usually end a) many yards further up the pitch than they start and b) without losing possession. Which is not true or many (any?) other players in the squad, hence he’s been a useful player for us.

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

I would have thought that the more "weapons" a player has the better?

Anthony has great close control, good touch, dribbling skills. is deceptively strong (which he you could see when he bodied a defender before the ball hit the corner flag) and has a good shot.

He's also got a load of flaws but in terms of raw materials there's a lot to work with.

He doesn't have a good shot though. He's got an "okay" curler that he basically hits 3-4 times per game and they go in every couple of weeks. But he doesn't trouble keepers consistently with his efforts on goal like say even a young Rashford would (who I would say did have a good shot).

His close control and touch is solid but not spectacular, and his dribbling skills are pretty meh if we are talking about actually taking anyone on or beating players (he rarely does). I think a player like Garnacho has way more "raw materials" to work with in that he has real weapons that you can see already impact a game and he needs refinement as a player. Antony is a terrible creative player, mediocre at taking men on, and poor finisher for how much he shoots (Rashford and he essentially take the same amount of shots per game). He's got decent quickness but not great long speed to trouble backlines as a runner, and struggles with decision making in the final third while being excessively one footed. That's a whole lot of issues for a player that is supposed to be our first choice 80m winger, mainly because there are a good amount of traits I listed above that aren't exactly things that get magically better as a player gets more experience.

 

[Abraxas]

It is a bit annoying that he only seems to have one shot in his locker. The curler to the far post. Or the pea roller straight at the keeper, which I am guessing is intended to be the curler to the far post. Why not put your laces through it, or try the near post occasionally? You can't have one technique for every shot from any distance or angle.

 

[ScholesyTheWise]

I wonder what his fans think will improve greatly in his play,
when the day comes and he justifies what we paid for him and starts playing like an excellent player more often than not.

Will he start going past players? will his crosses find someone? will his curlers from outside the box find the top corner in much higher percentages?

These things need to happen, and rather consistently, for him to become a success at United.

that he manages to stretch our play and move the ball upwards the pitch, shouldn't be giving him that much credit in the bank.
It's a basic feature of an excellent winger, not something that separates the good ones from the great ones. Antony doesn't have any such offensive skill in his locker.

I don't mind that he's a bit shite (of course I do), but it's his fans that seem to see things in him that so many others just can't... this is what intrigues me.

I wonder which side of the fanbase seems to look so hard to find what they want to find in him.

for me, seeing his cons is immediate, and looking at his pros in a game takes some more work. they're not the most evident things you can think of.
I don't think I'm too biased against him. Would like for him to succeed here. Just can't see where this potential is.

 

[bosnian_red]

I wonder what his fans think will improve greatly in his play,
when the day comes and he justifies what we paid for him and starts playing like an excellent player more often than not.

Will he start going past players? will his crosses find someone? will his curlers from outside the box find the top corner in much higher percentages?

These things need to happen, and rather consistently, for him to become a success at United.

that he manages to stretch our play and move the ball upwards the pitch, shouldn't be giving him that much credit in the bank.
It's a basic feature of an excellent winger, not something that separates the good ones from the great ones. Antony doesn't have any such offensive skill in his locker.

I don't mind that he's a bit shite (of course I do), but it's his fans that seem to see things in him that so many others just can't... this is what intrigues me.

I wonder which side of the fanbase seems to look so hard to find what they want to find in him.

for me, seeing his cons is immediate, and looking at his pros in a game takes some more work. they're not the most evident things you can think of.
I don't think I'm too biased against him. Would like for him to succeed here. Just can't see where this potential is.

Having a target to put crosses into would make a big difference, and I'd expect him to have solid assist numbers. I can see him being an excellent goal scorer too. He gets a shit ton of shots off (97th percentile for attacking mids or wingers in terms of shots per 90), 88th percentile in non penalty xG in his first season in the prem coming from the Eredivisie as a young winger is a very promising total. 88th percentile in progressive carries, 88th percentile in carries into the final third, elite at not losing the ball (98th percentile in how rarely he gets dispossessed). He works hard defensively. His creativity in terms of passing and crossing is what dramatically needs to improve as he's overly cautious with that, but he is very good at getting the ball forward through carrying it, he doesn't lose the ball often.

So he can be a player who becomes a hard working, high scoring winger who is also a very effective outlet in terms of keeping the ball and getting it up the pitch into dangerous positions. He's shown the ability to put in good crosses, but obviously we have some of the worst striker force in the league, so its a bit harsh to judge that. His passing was far more creative last season for Ajax (excellent numbers), so the hope is he can get that part up closer to what he was before, because other than that his underlying stats aren't bad at all.

 

[TsuWave]

Nani was miles ahead of anything Antony has ever shown. These comparisons or name drops or whatever are kind of insulting really.

 

[acnumber9]

Yeah, he does have a good shot. As we can see from watching the goals he’s scored (and near misses) Stats are useful and all but you don’t need stats to see he can strike a ball well.

As for his dribbles “always” ending in a pass or shit shot, they also usually end a) many yards further up the pitch than they start and b) without losing possession. Which is not true or many (any?) other players in the squad, hence he’s been a useful player for us.

The odd time he strikes a ball well but he’s got countless examples of frankly appalling shooting. If you shoot as much as he does, the occasional good goal is the least you can expect. You don’t need stats to see the ones he passes straight to their keeper.

He might end up higher up the pitch but it’s usually slower than you know, passing the ball forward, which he has tremendous difficulty with. And like I said, for every yard gained he generally knocks the ball back half of it and usually by the time the opposition have re-grouped. Even yesterday he knocked the ball past a full back into acres of space. By the time he got the ball and decided what to do, go backwards, the move lost all momentum.

 

[ScholesyTheWise]

Having a target to put crosses into would make a big difference, and I'd expect him to have solid assist numbers. I can see him being an excellent goal scorer too. He gets a shit ton of shots off (97th percentile for attacking mids or wingers in terms of shots per 90), 88th percentile in non penalty xG in his first season in the prem coming from the Eredivisie as a young winger is a very promising total. 88th percentile in progressive carries, 88th percentile in carries into the final third, elite at not losing the ball (98th percentile in how rarely he gets dispossessed). He works hard defensively. His creativity in terms of passing and crossing is what dramatically needs to improve as he's overly cautious with that, but he is very good at getting the ball forward through carrying it, he doesn't lose the ball often.

So he can be a player who becomes a hard working, high scoring winger who is also a very effective outlet in terms of keeping the ball and getting it up the pitch into dangerous positions. He's shown the ability to put in good crosses, but obviously we have some of the worst striker force in the league, so its a bit harsh to judge that. His passing was far more creative last season for Ajax (excellent numbers), so the hope is he can get that part up closer to what he was before, because other than that his underlying stats aren't bad at all.

That he takes so many shots shouldn't be lauded, in my opinion. He seems hell-bent on shooting and from difficult places at that. If he had the left foot of Adriano or Recoba, I wouldn't mind or would mind less. But he doesn't. What's so special about his shot I still can't see.

That he progresses the ball well- Umm, it's a very odd statistic. Imagine someone like KDB who sometimes just storms forward with the ball, from the halfway line to the oppo's box, almost at will. But take away his passing/crossing/shooting ability, and what are you left with exactly? A player who gets into dangerous posiotions, and either turns back and slows the play down, or shoots from a ridiculous angle/distance, and more often than not sees the ball go way wide.

If he wants to keep playing the way he does (or: if he gets such instructions), he'll have to convert many more of his shots into goals, simple as.

 

[acnumber9]

Having a target to put crosses into would make a big difference, and I'd expect him to have solid assist numbers.

He’s literally the least creative attacker we have. Having no striker hasn’t stopped everybody else from being more creative.

 

[bosnian_red]

He’s literally the least creative attacker we have. Having no striker hasn’t stopped everybody else from being more creative.

Oh i agree he has to improve there massively, but i do think he's improved that aspect more the past few months compared to the start. Not that it's enough, but I think he's capable of improving it to an acceptable level.

 

[Strootman's Finger]

Nani was miles ahead of anything Antony has ever shown. These comparisons or name drops or whatever are kind of insulting really.

Revisionist history, Nani was shite and insanely frustrating.

 

[lsd]

Revisionist history, Nani was shite and insanely frustrating.

Infinitely better than Antony

 

[Member 125352]

He has close ball control and sometimes he uses that control to ease past a defender, I would not call that dribbling skills. He shows weekly that he lacks dribbling skills. His skills are comparable to those of Sancho, Grealish. Which is great close control, shooting ability and short passing excellence.
Players with dribbling skills are the likes of Vinicius, Rodrygo, Mbappe, Kvaratskhelia, Neymar, Doku, Saint Maximin, Zaha, even Marsh showed way more dribbling ability than Antony when we played him last week

 

[redcucumber]

If Nani was in this current United team, and not Fergie's irrepressible winning machine, people on here would largely absolutely detest him.

 

[mu4c_20le]

If Nani was in this current United team, and not Fergie's irrepressible winning machine, people on here would largely absolutely detest him.

He would be like Rashford. Moments of brilliance as well as frustration.

 

[Vabelico]

greenwood will be back and show Antony how to play football on the wing. we spent so much money on Sancho and Antony and none of them proves the strength of the team. it's awful.

 

[bosnian_red]

That he takes so many shots shouldn't be lauded, in my opinion. He seems hell-bent on shooting and from difficult places at that. If he had the left foot of Adriano or Recoba, I wouldn't mind or would mind less. But he doesn't. What's so special about his shot I still can't see.

That he progresses the ball well- Umm, it's a very odd statistic. Imagine someone like KDB who sometimes just storms forward with the ball, from the halfway line to the oppo's box, almost at will. But take away his passing/crossing/shooting ability, and what are you left with exactly? A player who gets into dangerous posiotions, and either turns back and slows the play down, or shoots from a ridiculous angle/distance, and more often than not sees the ball go way wide.

If he wants to keep playing the way he does (or: if he gets such instructions), he'll have to convert many more of his shots into goals, simple as.

The numbers indicate that the shots just aren't going in, but that he has a very good xG, along with an excellent shot total. The numbers indicate he should be scoring at a 1 in 3 90's rate this season in the league. It's too soon to say he'll always just be shit with finishing.

Not sure how you managed to turn a positive stat into a negative, but anyway, no need to be blinkered. He has shown plenty of good points to his game. It's his first season in the league, he is a young winger, and he has shown the potential to be a very good goalscoring winger 15 league goals per season type of player, without it being a fluke finishing type of year), and a very good and reliable outlet with the ball to progress it up the pitch. Individual traits that don't show on the numbers IMO are things like his crossing which he's barely done, but has shown he can put in some very nice crosses. Just a bit pointless as we don't have a target apart from casemiro so nobody in our team crosses it anyway.

Is it unheard of for a 22 year old winger to show bad decision making in the final third in his first season, and then improve?

 

[Raoul]

Antony xG 5.74 vs goals 4

Salah 18.64 xG vs goals 19
Rashford 17.06 vs 16
Martinelli 11.21 vs 15
Son 10.27 vs 10
Saka 9.97 vs 13
March 9.73 vs 6
H.Barnes 9.17 vs 10
B.Johnson 9.11 vs 8
Mbuemo 9.01 vs 6
Zaha 7.92 vs 7
Almiron 6.94 vs 11
Foden 6.24 vs 10
Eze 6.12 vs 8
Trossard 7.2 vs 8
Mitoma 6.93 vs 7

Btw not a winger but Odegard has outperformed xG impressively with 15 goals from 8.53 xG. All the Arsenal guys seem to have outperformed xG actually.

The sort of output Martinelli provides is what Antony should be aiming for 15 plus goals a year should be the target.

 

[ScholesyTheWise]

The numbers indicate that the shots just aren't going in, but that he has a very good xG, along with an excellent shot total. The numbers indicate he should be scoring at a 1 in 3 90's rate this season in the league. It's too soon to say he'll always just be shit with finishing.

Not sure how you managed to turn a positive stat into a negative, but anyway, no need to be blinkered. He has shown plenty of good points to his game. It's his first season in the league, he is a young winger, and he has shown the potential to be a very good goalscoring winger 15 league goals per season type of player, without it being a fluke finishing type of year), and a very good and reliable outlet with the ball to progress it up the pitch. Individual traits that don't show on the numbers IMO are things like his crossing which he's barely done, but has shown he can put in some very nice crosses. Just a bit pointless as we don't have a target apart from casemiro so nobody in our team crosses it anyway.

Is it unheard of for a 22 year old winger to show bad decision making in the final third in his first season, and then improve?

I just think that the importance of this ball-progressing stat is overblown because of his current lack of ability to produce something meaningful with the ball, after progressing with it toward the oppo's goal.

I wonder, if there were statistics for a CDM who always manages to position himself in an excellent position that blocks many passing angles for the opposing players while they try to advance toward our goal (think of someone like Carrick). but, this player would somehow be crap at actually intercepting the ball because the oppo's passes will somehow go through him on a constant basis. do you give him credit for positioning himself correctly time and time again, even if it doesn't result in what you ultimately need from him?

This one is obviously imaginary and hardly realistic, but I believe it illustrates my feelings quite well. Feels like Antony is massively credited for a stat that at the end of the day doesn't matter THAT much. His lack of dribbling ability + iffy decision-making will make him ineffective in these advanced areas he manages to get himself to.

Whether he can hugely improve, one can hope. I certainly hope.

Either way, I don't want you to feel like I'm being an ass about your opinions of him or anything.
I think we can agree to disagree for the time being

 

[KikiDaKats]

Antony needs to start playing for the assists and we will soon forget about the 80m. The goal chances might even open up because teams will have to stop thinking he is going it alone.
As well both wide forwards can’t focus only on just scoring and expect the attack to be productive. One needs to be a creator and Antony should transform to be that because he lacks the explosiveness to be too one dimensional.
He is a work in progress and it takes a brave manager to make it work. He will be fine.

 

[bosnian_red]

I just think that the importance of this ball-progressing stat is overblown because of his current lack of ability to produce something meaningful with the ball, after progressing with it toward the oppo's goal.

I wonder, if there were statistics for a CDM who always manages to position himself in an excellent position that blocks many passing angles for the opposing players while they try to advance toward our goal (think of someone like Carrick). but, this player would somehow be crap at actually intercepting the ball because the oppo's passes will somehow go through him on a constant basis. do you give him credit for positioning himself correctly time and time again, even if it doesn't result in what you ultimately need from him?

This one is obviously imaginary and hardly realistic, but I believe it illustrates my feelings quite well. Feels like Antony is massively credited for a stat that at the end of the day doesn't matter THAT much. His lack of dribbling ability + iffy decision-making will make him ineffective in these advanced areas he manages to get himself to.

Whether he can hugely improve, one can hope. I certainly hope.

Either way, I don't want you to feel like I'm being an ass about your opinions of him or anything.
I think we can agree to disagree for the time being

That comparison doesn't work though? You asked what sort of player could he be. He has a lot of attributes that he is doing to a high level now. Improve his decision making and just start matching his xG from a finishing perspective and you literally have a top class winger. That's not a big stretch or a massive step to take. He has shown very good qualities, and the numbers point to a winger who absolutely has it in him to be a top player. Patience is needed, and he needs to improve his decision making is all. It's not an ineffective stat, it's actually a very important trait to have, and is something we sorely lack from many areas in our squad. The ability to carry the ball through the lines and actually be reliable on it and not lose it when pressed. A winger having inconsistent end product, inconsistent decision making around the box is one of the common things you see with young players. Having the ability to get in those positions and put up very good shooting metrics right off the bat in the league is a great sign for future growth and improvement.

 

[Oly Francis]

Having a target to put crosses into would make a big difference, and I'd expect him to have solid assist numbers. I can see him being an excellent goal scorer too. He gets a shit ton of shots off (97th percentile for attacking mids or wingers in terms of shots per 90), 88th percentile in non penalty xG in his first season in the prem coming from the Eredivisie as a young winger is a very promising total. 88th percentile in progressive carries, 88th percentile in carries into the final third, elite at not losing the ball (98th percentile in how rarely he gets dispossessed). He works hard defensively. His creativity in terms of passing and crossing is what dramatically needs to improve as he's overly cautious with that, but he is very good at getting the ball forward through carrying it, he doesn't lose the ball often.

What the bolded stats are telling you is that he shots a sh*it ton and is not very good at it. Combine that with his terrible assist stats and it pretty much shows he'd rather take a shot he won't make instead of giving a good pass. Also, being in the 97th percentile of shots takers but in the 88th percentile in non penalty xG means that the shots he's taking aren't that good.

It's not as encouraging as you make it sound.

 

[joedirt87]

Revisionist history, Nani was shite and insanely frustrating.

At least he was two footed.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

Willian now has more league goals then him.

Willian.

 

[bosnian_red]

What the bolded stats are telling you is that he shots a sh*it ton and is not very good at it. Combine that with his terrible assist stats and it pretty much shows he'd rather take a shot he won't make instead of giving a good pass. Also, being in the 97th percentile of shots takers but in the 88th percentile in non penalty xG means that the shots he's taking aren't that good.

It's not as encouraging as you make it sound.

It just shows that there is a middle ground of better decision making while keeping his goal threat. They are good numbers, you can't argue against them being good numbers and all good goalscorers tend to have shot totals and xG stats like those. He takes a lot of wasteful shots but a hell of a lot of shots in decent positions too. That's normal young player progression to fine tune that, especially in his first season in the prem.

 

[Skills]

Willian now has more league goals then him.

Willian.

4x as many assists as well.

 

[Ayush_reddevil]

McNeil seems better than him honestly

 

[Matt851]

That comparison doesn't work though? You asked what sort of player could he be. He has a lot of attributes that he is doing to a high level now. Improve his decision making and just start matching his xG from a finishing perspective and you literally have a top class winger. That's not a big stretch or a massive step to take. He has shown very good qualities, and the numbers point to a winger who absolutely has it in him to be a top player. Patience is needed, and he needs to improve his decision making is all. It's not an ineffective stat, it's actually a very important trait to have, and is something we sorely lack from many areas in our squad. The ability to carry the ball through the lines and actually be reliable on it and not lose it when pressed. A winger having inconsistent end product, inconsistent decision making around the box is one of the common things you see with young players. Having the ability to get in those positions and put up very good shooting metrics right off the bat in the league is a great sign for future growth and improvement.

Putting up good shooting metrics, what does that mean? Is it just that he takes a lot of shots, if so that isn't a skill or strength.

Yes it's common for young wingers to be inconsistent with their end product, but the problem with Antony is he can't even beat a man so it's not just the end product that's poor its everything and it's hard to go from that point to being a top player

 

[PSV]

Revisionist history, Nani was shite and insanely frustrating.

I'll take that if I get the most productive player in the league in return.

 

[bosnian_red]

Putting up good shooting metrics, what does that mean? Is it just that he takes a lot of shots, if so that isn't a skill or strength.

Yes it's common for young wingers to be inconsistent with their end product, but the problem with Antony is he can't even beat a man so it's not just the end product that's poor its everything and it's hard to go from that point to being a top player

It absolutely is a skill to be getting off a ton of shots and having the 88th percentile xG/90 is also a very good stat to have, especially in his first season. He also carries the ball very effectively and is very good at actually keeping it when pressed. They're all important qualities. He needs to improve his decision making yes, but it's really not that much to go from what he does on a weekly basis in his first season here into being a top player. He has all the raw attributes (and the metrics) that you see in top wingers. You don't see players suddenly developing the ability to carry the ball out of nothing. You don't see players suddenly deciding to become players who get tons of shots off, or who have high xG numbers, etc. You absolutely do see players who have those metrics suddenly start scoring more, as their goal total start catching up to their metrics in terms of shooting. You do see players who are very effective at carrying the ball and progressing it into good positions start to make better decisions, when surrounded by better players and just being more composed and calm in the decision making.

I would be far more concerned with him if he wasn't getting shots off, if he wasn't getting in good chances, if he was getting dispossessed regularly, if he didn't have the ability to run with the ball. But he's got all that. He'll be fine.

 

[lsd]

If Nani was in this current United team, and not Fergie's irrepressible winning machine, people on here would largely absolutely detest him.

He would still be infinitely better than Antony and Antony will not get near Nani's time at United.

Considering how people are trying to say Antony has been good in his first season if Nani was playing now they would be calling him better than peak Messi

 

[Nou_Camp99]

Infinitely better than Antony

In a different stratosphere to Antony I agree.

Nani did frustrate at times but he also dazzled. Antony isn't dazzling anyone. He's just a player massively out of his depth in an actual competitive football league and not the Dutch one.

 

[JuriM]

Can't wait to see him shut you all up who talk shit all season.

 

[Oly Francis]

It just shows that there is a middle ground of better decision making while keeping his goal threat. They are good numbers, you can't argue against them being good numbers and all good goalscorers tend to have shot totals and xG stats like those. He takes a lot of wasteful shots but a hell of a lot of shots in decent positions too. That's normal young player progression to fine tune that, especially in his first season in the prem.

They are good numbers compared to who/what? Other starters in PL club? Not really. Other starters in top PL clubs? Certainly not as a list was posted earlier showing the number of players who have better stats. Good goalscorers have good goal stats. If I play for United tomorrow and shoot every time I get the ball, I will definitely be in the 99th percentile in shots taken and pretty high in the xG stats (compared to my real level, which isn't good) because the number of shots you take obviously increases your xG even if it's by .02 each time. Doesn't mean I'm good at anything.

On top of that, Anthony's xG is artificially inflated because him being very predictable in the way he shoots should lower his xG stat since the model doesn't take into account that most of his shots are identical, thus easier to catch for a goal keeper. The way xG are calculated tells you "and average player that shoots from this position will score it 17% of the time", and not "Anthony shooting from this position will try to curl it to the far post, the keeper knows it and is far more likely to anticipate this shot thus decreasing his xG score by 30%".

 

[TsuWave]

Revisionist history, Nani was shite and insanely frustrating.

Do you understand what "revisionist history" is/means? Because my post says Nani was miles ahead of anything Antony has shown, which is true.

 

[bosnian_red]

They are good numbers compared to who/what? Other starters in PL club? Not really. Other starters in top PL clubs? Certainly not as a list was posted earlier showing the number of players who have better stats. Good goalscorers have good goal stats. If I play for United tomorrow and shoot every time I get the ball, I will definitely be in the 99th percentile in shots taken and pretty high in the xG stats (compared to my real level, which isn't good) because the number of shots you take obviously increases your xG even if it's by .02 each time. Doesn't mean I'm good at anything. Having a very high shot total just doesn't tend to happen to shit players in the way you are describing.

On top of that, Anthony's xG is artificially inflated because him being very predictable in the way he shoots should lower his xG stat since the model doesn't take into account that most of his shots are identical, thus easier to catch for a goal keeper. The way xG are calculated tells you "and average player that shoots from this position will score it 17% of the time", and not "Anthony shooting from this position will try to curl it to the far post, the keeper knows it and is far more likely to anticipate this shot thus decreasing his xG score by 30%".

That's literally nonsense. You don't get a good xG by taking loads of shit shots. Your xG would remain shit. You would need an unrealistic amount of shots to actually pump the numbers the way you are describing, to a degree that just doesn't happen.

Are you deliberately ignoring how he has actually played recently? That he's actually shown some variation with his shots recently and he's had a lot of narrow misses lately?

 

[jesperjaap]

"First season." is such a nothing, desperate excuse.

It's Haaland's first season too. "But Haaland is a generational talent."

Okay, it's Mitoma's first season too.

Well we have a culture now where we want instant gratidication or its binned.

If we went by the its such a nothing players like Caicedo would have been sol don recently as he didnt even play for ages. The likes of Thierry Henry would have been binned too as he was pretty poor in his first season.

Cucarella didnt struggle in hsi first season either....and got a £60m move when he is actually really average.

There are countless examples too of players that have broken through or been fantastic in there first seasons and then done little since.

Antony may turn out to be a flop or a top player, its simply too early to judge.



Every player is different, but disagree on your first season comment. Lots of players took a long time to settle in the past and became really good players, that luxury isnt afforded so much nowadays, b ut lets give him time.

Hahahaha. Rashford's seasons have been far better than that. It was only last year he was poor but the whole club was in a total mess tbf.

The agendas on this forum are an absolute joke. Large portion of foreign fans on here just don't like Rashford and think Antony is doing well. It's absolute nonsense.

Rashford is our most talented forward players by a considerable distance.

Is it? I am not foreign and responded to someone saying Antony scoring four goals in the league in his first season is an absolute joke. Rashford only got into double figures once in his first four seasons. Before this season he has only had one big scorign season in seven, his record in Europe is also pretty much the same, he has only had one big season before this one.

I am not questioning he has a lot of ability and has had good spells here, more the case that people are saying they wouldnt swap him for anybody, one of the best in the world etc etc. The first 3/4years really he did not better than Martial here, he has been a good player but again in 8 seasons bar the last 6months and one season out of the 8....he hasnt been a great one.

Not on this thread to slate Rashford though, its more a case of we are judging Antony too quickly, understandable to a degree considering the outrageous fee, but though frustrating and a long way to go, he hasnt been that bad this season