[tenpoless]

If Ronaldinho was a samba dancer
Antony looks to me like a dad dancing in a discotheque, every movement he makes piss people off to no end

 

[roonster09]

I think he could be a good midfielder but as a winger he doesn't have the physical abilities to do it in the Premier League in my opinion. Antony, while weak, is pretty quick, just needs to use it more which he was at the end of the season. I've said previously, last summer/season was the first time since Fergie that our signings have improved over the course of the season whereas under the other managers we've had signings come in and play very well but they taper off as the season goes on which is why I think its the best we've had in a decade. Antony's progression last season gives me hope that he will continue to improve this coming season, as he has all the tools to succeed here.

Don't think Sancho has any chance as a midfielder, if we play defensively strong CM next to Casemiro then Sancho can play as 10. If we are playing with Mount, Bruno combination then don't think he has the work rate to replace either of them.

 

[Escobar]

The bolded part is very questionable.

He has the tools. The problem is his application of them. He needs to evolve his game, otherwise he slows down our play and even worse, makes it predictable

 

[Borys]

He has the tools. The problem is his application of them. He needs to evolve his game, otherwise he slows down our play and even worse, makes it predictable

What does that even mean? Can we say the same about Elanga and Daniel James?
He doesn't have the tools. I can't name a single strong side to his attacking game, maybe cutting inside (bit of a stretch imo).

I am happy to give him another season as he had some excuses, but I am not going to lie just to keep things false positive, I don't rate him as an attacker. As a midfielder he's OK I guess.

 

[Escobar]

What does that even mean? Can we say the same about Elanga and Daniel James?
He doesn't have the tools. I can't name a single strong side to his attacking game, maybe cutting inside (bit of a stretch imo).

I am happy to give him another season as he had some excuses, but I am not going to lie just to keep things false positive, I don't rate him as an attacker. As a midfielder he's OK I guess.

There is a huge difference. You know that Antony has all the skills, technique, work rate and overall quality. He needs to find ways how to apply these now, whereas Elanga and James do not have the required quality to start with. He is one sided, predictable. Once, or if, he figures out how to adapt that, he has potential.

So you see nothing in his attacking game yet you believe he could play as a midfielder? That is a strange take

 

[Borys]

There is a huge difference. You know that Antony has all the skills, technique, work rate and overall quality. He needs to find ways how to apply these now, whereas Elanga and James do not have the required quality to start with. He is one sided, predictable. Once, or if, he figures out how to adapt that, he has potential.

So you see nothing in his attacking game yet you believe he could play as a midfielder? That is a strange take

Well about the bolded part - I don't see it. It seems like a thing people say for the sake of keeping things positive. What attacking quality exactly does he have? Is work rate a quality that really applies for an attacker? It's certainly not something we should be looking for in the first place, and yet it's definitely the strongest side of Antony.

I question his technique, dribbling (mostly because he only seems capable of going one way), and most of all I question his passing ability (and I am not even talking about his week foot now). Shooting I am not sure, he seems good with taking one kind of shot (curlers from outside of the box) but weak at every other shot he takes (for every curler he misses a sitter). I guess this has more to do with poor decision making and can be improved, but that is the case. People get overexcited to see him getting chances because sometimes the ball ends up at his feet, but I've seen Sancho and Bruno doing the same and making much more of those situations compared to Antony, who will basically always take a shot. It drives me crazy when he seems totally unaware of what's going on around him and never passes the ball (although I changed my mind on that and at the moment I believe he simply doesn't have trust in his passing). That will give him a few nice goals but over a season he still wastes more chances than expected.

I was told he just needs to work on his weak foot, or it's too early to judge, or that he had no preseason and so on. Well those excuses are no longer valid so let's see how it works for him now. I always considered him more of a midfielder because he seemed to have different tasks to all other attackers - keep the ball, stay wide, recycle, carry the ball forward, pass back instead of challenging the fullback. In that light he's quite useful, no issue with that. But a threat he is not.

 

[Someone]

I don't have faith that we'll get a better season from him but I hope he proves me wrong. Dude has no right foot and is so easy to play against. He can't take on players or cross, so basically the only threat he provides is his trademark shot from outside the box. Which everyone can see coming now.

I don't know how he can improve but his game is fundamentally poor, he needs to completely change how he plays to be useful. We'll probably be looking to replace him next summer.

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

Well about the bolded part - I don't see it. It seems like a thing people say for the sake of keeping things positive. What attacking quality exactly does he have? Is work rate a quality that really applies for an attacker? It's certainly not something we should be looking for in the first place, and yet it's definitely the strongest side of Antony.

I question his technique, dribbling (mostly because he only seems capable of going one way), and most of all I question his passing ability (and I am not even talking about his week foot now). Shooting I am not sure, he seems good with taking one kind of shot (curlers from outside of the box) but weak at every other shot he takes (for every curler he misses a sitter). I guess this has more to do with poor decision making and can be improved, but that is the case. People get overexcited to see him getting chances because sometimes the ball ends up at his feet, but I've seen Sancho and Bruno doing the same and making much more of those situations compared to Antony, who will basically always take a shot. It drives me crazy when he seems totally unaware of what's going on around him and never passes the ball (although I changed my mind on that and at the moment I believe he simply doesn't have trust in his passing). That will give him a few nice goals but over a season he still wastes more chances than expected.

I was told he just needs to work on his weak foot, or it's too early to judge, or that he had no preseason and so on. Well those excuses are no longer valid so let's see how it works for him now. I always considered him more of a midfielder because he seemed to have different tasks to all other attackers - keep the ball, stay wide, recycle, carry the ball forward, pass back instead of challenging the fullback. In that light he's quite useful, no issue with that. But a threat he is not.

Exactly my point and has been for months. People saying "he's just raw, he has loads of talent" don't actually seem to watch or pay attention to him past knowing he's an expensive young Brazilian winger with some tricks. It's telling that Garnacho already provides more of an attacking threat as an 18 year old who actually IS super raw and unrefined. Players that can't provide a threat 1v1 or running with the ball that also are poor passers aren't going to magically improve the next season at those two things. This isn't a case of Antony skinning his man or getting in behind constantly and fecking up his finishing like it often is with actual highly touted raw wingers. And to top it all off he's one of the more one footed players I can ever remember watching.

 

[Howl]

Don't think Sancho has any chance as a midfielder, if we play defensively strong CM next to Casemiro then Sancho can play as 10. If we are playing with Mount, Bruno combination then don't think he has the work rate to replace either of them.

I should have said as a 10 like Bruno. When I look at Sancho's best qualities I see his abilities to play balls through the lines, his coolness in the box, and his first touch/close control is good. I think those attributes would make him a good 10. His downfalls are his movement off the ball, work rate, he's slow, weak etc. Which make him a terrible winger for the league, hence why he was better in Europe than in the league. Strikingly similar to Depay in my opinion who also got moved into the middle.

 

[Howl]

The bolded part is very questionable.

I'm not so sure. He's quick, tenacious, defensively aware, a good passer of the ball, good control, able to keep and recycle possession, good left foot. He just needs to show more of his ability which in my opinion he was towards the end of the season, he was taking players on more for instance. I also consider the jump from the Eredivisie to the Premier League, from which he has to adjust as its a completely different level when it comes to physical abilities, and is probably the hardest league to be a winger in, as the full backs are all quick, and strong. The fact that he can take players on in this league gives me hope for his future. We've seen hyped up wingers come to the league and fail because they no longer have the pace advantage to beat their man. Sancho, Depay, Lamela for instance.

 

[zaafi]

As I said, I was curious. With Sancho, we at least saw what he was capable of. Antony hasn't shown anything close to that. Of course I'm hoping he turns it on this season as well, I just wanted to see where your confidence was coming from.

"need to start converting the easy chances" that's a big IF. If weggy converted his chances he'd be a PL striker.

Yes, he has. In his first season for Ajax, he scored 9 goals and 8 assists in Eredivisie alone. He did this in 1762 minutes.
In his second season, he scored 8 goals and had 4 assists in 1724 minutes.

In Sancho's second season for Dortmund, he scored 12 goals and had 14 assists in 2461 minutes and in his last season, he scored 8 goals and 11 assists in 2062 minutes.

Sancho also had a freak season where he was scoring and assisting Haaland for fun.

Obviously Sancho's numbers are better, but he also played more than Antony did in Ajax. When you look at these numbers and their minutes played, would you say Antony hasn't shown anything close to what Sancho has?

It's quite clear that Antony is more of a goal threat than a provider himself. He constantly gets into dangerous positions, and looking at his non-penalty xG per 90, he's up there with some of the most threatening goal scoring wingers. I expect him to be much better this season and score a lot more goals.

 

[Borys]

I'm not so sure. He's quick, tenacious, defensively aware, a good passer of the ball, good control, able to keep and recycle possession, good left foot. He just needs to show more of his ability which in my opinion he was towards the end of the season, he was taking players on more for instance. I also consider the jump from the Eredivisie to the Premier League, from which he has to adjust as its a completely different level when it comes to physical abilities, and is probably the hardest league to be a winger in, as the full backs are all quick, and strong. The fact that he can take players on in this league gives me hope for his future. We've seen hyped up wingers come to the league and fail because they no longer have the pace advantage to beat their man. Sancho, Depay, Lamela for instance.

I assume you speak about his "good left foot" because of his curling shots. Well I can partially agree. Partially, because he takes gazillion of shots and only a few go in so not sure if this is the way.

The speed part is interesting. He has a nice burst but it will get more and more difficult for him if he doesn't figure out more moves than cutting inside. There's potential there, but he's far from being an effective dribbler. On bigger distance he is easily nullified

About passing - I strongly disagree. He is very poor passer of the ball, I actually believe this is his biggest weakness. And this is even leaving his weaker foot out of conversation.

 

[lex talionis]

Antony's weakness is that he does the same thing, over and over and over.

That said, you can see that he has most of the tools -- definitely not ALL of the tools as he clearly has no right foot. The high workrate is undeniable. His judgment is at times questionable, such as the occasion (don't recall all the details in my head) his petulance led to handbags which led to Casemiro being sent off for allegedly choking an opposing player.

Antony wants to play to his strength all the time but he needs to develop new strengths so that he can turn a defender either way instead of making it easy for the defender.

 

[Bebestation]

Which player improved dribbling as they aged or did they always have it?

 

[Borussia Teeth]

I think he'll be very good next season and beyond.

 

[El Jefe]

Yes, he has. In his first season for Ajax, he scored 9 goals and 8 assists in Eredivisie alone. He did this in 1762 minutes.
In his second season, he scored 8 goals and had 4 assists in 1724 minutes.

In Sancho's second season for Dortmund, he scored 12 goals and had 14 assists in 2461 minutes and in his last season, he scored 8 goals and 11 assists in 2062 minutes.

Sancho also had a freak season where he was scoring and assisting Haaland for fun.

Obviously Sancho's numbers are better, but he also played more than Antony did in Ajax. When you look at these numbers and their minutes played, would you say Antony hasn't shown anything close to what Sancho has?

It's quite clear that Antony is more of a goal threat than a provider himself. He constantly gets into dangerous positions, and looking at his non-penalty xG per 90, he's up there with some of the most threatening goal scoring wingers. I expect him to be much better this season and score a lot more goals.

This post is everything that is wrong with the over reliance of stats in football dicussions.

You might as well not watch games if this is how you compare players.

I get everyone has opinions but it's near impossible to believe Antony reached close to the level Sancho did at Dortmund. It's just wrong.

 

[zaafi]

This post is everything that is wrong with the over reliance of stats in football dicussions.

You might as well not watch games if this is how you compare players.

I get everyone has opinions but it's near impossible to believe Antony reached close to the level Sancho did at Dortmund. It's just wrong.

Go on then, enlighten me how you compare attackers if not for their output.

Are you going to tell me you watched Antony play for Ajax on a weekly basis? So how do you know how he performed if you don't go by goals or assists?

 

[El Jefe]

Go on then, enlighten me how you compare attackers if not for their output.

Are you going to tell me you watched Antony play for Ajax on a weekly basis? So how do you know how he performed if you don't go by goals or assists?

I'm not even going to bother that's how pointless it is.

You already showed your hand when you said "Sancho also had a freak season where he was scoring and assisting Haaland for fun". This already tells me you don't really know what Sancho did at Dortmund.

Sancho was so clear of Antony that it really doesn't need to be debated.

 

[zaafi]

I'm not even going to bother that's how pointless it is.

You already showed your hand when you said "Sancho also had a freak season where he was scoring and assisting Haaland for fun". This already tells me you don't really know what Sancho did at Dortmund.

Sancho was so clear of Antony that it really doesn't need to be debated.

I honestly don't understand what you're trying to say.

Not once did I say Antony was as good as Sancho or had shown as much ability. What I said is that claiming Antony hasn't shown anything close to what Sancho did is objectively wrong, and statistics will show exactly that. Not sure why you're struggling to understand that.

And how does that tell you I don't know what he did at Dortmund? The only thing it tells you is that he had a season where he scored 17 goals and 16 assists in 25 starts, which is a freak season.

Your condescending approach is a bit weird. Can you honestly tell me that you watched Antony for Ajax and Sancho for Dortmund on a consistent basis, or is your whole idea based on compilations from YouTube or what everyone else and the media said?

 

[IHateTheEightyEights]

I wish we'd stop with all this 'he has the tools' nonsense. Garnacho has the tools. He's fast, can dribble, can shoot and, most importantly, is already an effective player.

Antony cant cross, can't beat his man, can't pass forward, doesn't create chances, is kinda slow, is not intelligent on the ball, he kills transitions more often than not and is generally an ineffective player.

He's not that young, not that inexperienced.

I hope he can become a good player, let alone a top one, but I can not see it at all.

 

[morree]

same old story, he works hard but need at least 10 shots to score a goal. Hopefully we see somewhat of an improvement on his finishing before the season starts.

 

[Strelok]

Absolutely need some serious shooting practice here imo. Might drop the Robben wannabe shit and start from the very basic as well.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

He needs to work on his shooting. Given he doesn’t open teams up with his passing or crossing he can’t be so erratic with his shooting. Had a brilliance chance he got nothing behind where Bruno set him up and then the usual meek curlers.

I defended him lots last season but he needs to wake up this year and show genuine improvement.

 

[Blood Mage]

I love his passion and pressing but good god his finishing is shit.

 

[Newtonius]

How the feck is this guy a winger he sucks, seriously what area of his attacking game does he excel in would be better off playing him at RB.

 

[simonhch]

fecking hell, you lot are such a gaggle of mewling quims. Going into utter meltdown over a 45 minute performance. The same cretins who were undoubtedly creaming their pants after his debut.

Just calm down. He’s a good player. Let’s see how the season goes.

 

[NewGlory]

Antony - presses brilliantly, always works very hard. Consistently winning attitude. Alas, shooting and scoring ability often leave to desire far more. Should have scored today and in many matches of the past.
Jadon Sancho - extremely inconsistent, great shooting on his best day. His goal today was brilliant.

We need somebody that can combine best features of the two and then we will be as good on the right side as we are on the left side

 

[pcaming]

This is why you don’t blindly back a manager.

He still has time on his side though, so I won’t write him off as yet.

 

[Bondi77]

Out of Antony, Fred and Anderson you would think one of them would have had great technique with their background...think again

 

[amolbhatia50k]

fecking hell, you lot are such a gaggle of mewling quims. Going into utter meltdown over a 45 minute performance. The same cretins who were undoubtedly creaming their pants after his debut.

Just calm down. He’s a good player. Let’s see how the season goes.

Definitely a good player and we are a better side with him in the team. But I do really he improves his final third work this season - seems he just goes for curlers because he doesn’t know what else’s to do. He’s yong learnin though so there’s hope. With a better team hopefully he also develops over time.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

This is why you don’t blindly back a manager.

He still has time on his side though, so I won’t write him off as yet.

Agree about not blindly backing the player but we have no choice given our capability and pedigree in the executive positions.

 

[bosnian_red]

Out of Antony, Fred and Anderson you would think one of them would have had great technique with their background...think again

Antony has great technique, he just doesn't know how to put it to use. He's ridiculously press resistant, he has great control, he can do crazy skills but doesn't use them towards getting past players that well, he has good technique on his curling efforts but doesn't know how to properly strike the ball cleanly and has a shit finish. He's a reliable passer but not particularly creative and keeps it safer.

 

[Bebestation]

Amazing how Brazilians gets support over other country players arguably just for some wins in the World Cup in past generations.

 

[SAFMUTD]

I don't know how we figured this guy was worth 100M. I mean he's super one footed, has no end product, lacks explosiveness. Has the right attitude and work rate but too many flaws in his game to actually become a top player. I just don't see it with him.

 

[Bondi77]

Antony has great technique, he just doesn't know how to put it to use. He's ridiculously press resistant, he has great control, he can do crazy skills but doesn't use them towards getting past players that well, he has good technique on his curling efforts but doesn't know how to properly strike the ball cleanly and has a shit finish. He's a reliable passer but not particularly creative and keeps it safer.

He has great technique but does not know how to hit the ball properly??? that equates to bad technique in my book,

 

[bosnian_red]

He has great technique but does not know how to hit the ball properly??? that equates to bad technique in my book,

Is technique purely shooting technique for you? He knows how to curl the ball well, and he's got great control under the press and in pretty much every other aspect. Literally just hasn't shown that he can finish or strike with power which is the only thing. That's good technique in my books.

 

[Sky1981]

We're so shit at buying players. For 80m players and still need to works on his basics...

 

[KikiDaKats]

His stand out traits and Sancho’s, combined gives us a world class play. It’s a shame because it’s just 50% in each and that just an average top flight player.
Hopefully they’d both learn from each other and get to 75%.

 

[Strelok]

He has great technique but does not know how to hit the ball properly??? that equates to bad technique in my book,

Ozil has great technique but pretty shit when it comes to shooting I think.

 

[Bondi77]

Is technique purely shooting technique for you? He knows how to curl the ball well, and he's got great control under the press and in pretty much every other aspect. Literally just hasn't shown that he can finish or strike with power which is the only thing. That's good technique in my books.

If he could curl the ball well most of his shots would hit the target instead of missing it.
An attacking player should be able to strike the ball well as it is his job to be accurate with passing and be able to score goals so good technique is useful in that regard.