[Mullet_Man]

He can't do the basics like pass to a teammate, his passes are either to weak or he loses the ball. He needs to concentrate on these basics before trying the stupid back heels, flicks etc.

 

[santeria13]

Watched the game again and focused on his performance. He lacks technique, don't let the curled shots trick you. Executing a pass with the proper weight, passing angles etc he's rubbish at all of them. Give him the ball and ask him to pick out one of our players while we're on the break and he'll either mess it up or keep hold of the ball until the opportunity is gone.
He barely spots the pass anyway, running full speed until he meets the first defender before cutting in and laying it off to one of the midfielders or passing back to AWB which is quite frankly hilarious.

He lacks the technical excellence that's essential to play for a club like this. Sancho and Amad are lightyears ahead of him when it comes to creating danger in the opponent's half. I don't think he's even better than Pellistri. If #11 was still around Antony would barely feature in the starting XI. He's a squad player, not a starter. Just a nothing player really. If he can't get space to try his signature shot he might as well not be on the pitch. I'd rather try Mount at the RW position, at least he should be able to beat a man and whip in crosses for Højlund. £85m for this guy, really. There are tens of better RWs playing around europe.

I agree with all your analysis here except for the part about Sancho'. 95% of his performances he has the exact same problems as Antony, except his defensive work is also shite. He's had a lot more game time over two years to prove himself and failed miserably. He was even given a special mental health vacation last season, came back, looked good for his first cameo and then reverted to pre vacation form. Can't we just accept both Antony and Sancho are absolute flops and should both be moved on or at the very most be used as a back up option? That is, if we want to have any hope of competing at the top again.

Just felt the need to post this as I've seen a lot of posts suggesting Sancho on the right is the answer to all our problems.

 

[Ricardo de la Vega]

Watched the game again and focused on his performance. He lacks technique, don't let the curled shots trick you. Executing a pass with the proper weight, passing angles etc he's rubbish at all of them. Give him the ball and ask him to pick out one of our players while we're on the break and he'll either mess it up or keep hold of the ball until the opportunity is gone.
He barely spots the pass anyway, running full speed until he meets the first defender before cutting in and laying it off to one of the midfielders or passing back to AWB which is quite frankly hilarious.

He lacks the technical excellence that's essential to play for a club like this. Sancho and Amad are lightyears ahead of him when it comes to creating danger in the opponent's half. I don't think he's even better than Pellistri. If #11 was still around Antony would barely feature in the starting XI. He's a squad player, not a starter. Just a nothing player really. If he can't get space to try his signature shot he might as well not be on the pitch. I'd rather try Mount at the RW position, at least he should be able to beat a man and whip in crosses for Højlund. £85m for this guy, really. There are tens of better RWs playing around europe.

Why doesn't AWB ever bomb on beyond him though? Dalot does it. AWB doesn't. I'm not defending Antony here but his game rather depends on him having space to cut left into which can't happen (because everyone knows this so they show him outside) unless he has a full back bomb on outside him that has to be honoured.

 

[Betson]

Nothing wrong with his effort , he tries hard but does not look like he has the ability or pace to make it at a top club , and that is very worrying as these are things you can't coach into someone.

 

[RedC]

You've come to the conclusion that you'd like to see one of the best wingers in the world play for us- one who can go past a man, create, make good decisions, be a goal threat... Yep. sounds like something you should want.

A player of Antony's style, who offers zero attacking threat but is good at tracking back, keeping shape, and a bunch of other vague things that managers seem to rate much more than fans-

he can only be accommodated and compensated for if he has a very very attacking FB behind him who is a real threat,
and if the striker & winger on the other side of the pitch are capable of doing all the attacking themselves.

It's a really odd way to want your team to play if you ask me,
but I guess it can work to some extent. ETH surely thinks it can work,

But I bet he sees Antony as a bigger attacking threat than any of us.

Maybe if you learned how to read properly, you'd come to the conclusion that I preference a direct winger that will beat a man and not turn back to try and beat them again 4 times.

 

[RedStarUnited]

If he scores that chance…

In a way its almost good he didnt. We didnt need his performance to be covered up with a goal.

Just like when he eventually scores or assists, his fans will come in here and make it out as if we are all wrong and they were right about him all along.

 

[AndyMUFC]

I do think he'd be better with a proper overlapping fullback but yeah he is extremely frustrating and quite one dimensional.

 

[littlepeasoup]

I am very rarely negative about any of our players, but I don’t see anything he can offer us other than a willingness to track back.

He’s got a belting shot from his left peg but it’s the easiest most predictable facet of his game to nullify. I thought he would be one of those players you get excited about every time they get the ball but it’s just shades of Valencia for me.

I just hope we can see more from him with a proper centre forward for him to look for, because at the moment it seems like he feels he needs to do it all on his own.

 

[arthurka]

Pellistri needs to start Antony is as embarrassing on the right as Rashford is as a 9. Brutal watch.

 

[Cassidy]

Watching Diaby at Villa and I’m getting very annoyed

 

[newgiz]

I am very rarely negative about any of our players, but I don’t see anything he can offer us other than a willingness to track back.

He’s got a belting shot from his left peg but it’s the easiest most predictable facet of his game to nullify. I thought he would be one of those players you get excited about every time they get the ball but it’s just shades of Valencia for me.

I just hope we can see more from him with a proper centre forward for him to look for, because at the moment it seems like he feels he needs to do it all on his own.

I am with you on this. Its not often that I feel so negative about a player, but Antony annoys me.
Its the start of his second season here, and other than defensive contributions, I don't see any significant and consistent contribution he has made in the attacking third since his arrival. And if we really needed a defensive winger it sure as hell shouldn't have costed €95m.

The only things that have been constant throughout his tenure here are

1. Crosses which are overhit and sail over the bar
2. Crosses/Passes which are under hit and end up in an interception or in the hands of the opposition GK
3. A curling effort that sails over the bar or goes wide after cutting inside
4. A curling effort that ends in the GK collecting it since its hit with not much power
5. And the most infuriating of them all, a grimace on his face/apological hand he holds up post any of the above 4 listed actions where he makes it feel like he was so close to getting it right. (Gives me Lukaku thumbs up vibes)

All I can think of when I see him play is a left footed late stage Antonio Valencia. (As opposed to the Valencia of earlier years where he was very good)

I am sorry but I cannot see why we paid a significant amount of money for him. I really hope I am wrong and EtH can develop him into a good player, but at the moment I believe Pellestri/Amad could contribute more.

 

[ZainCRse7en]

We are really poor at scouting and recruiting wingers aren't we? We rejected martinelli while on trial and spunked 150m on Sancho and Anthony.

 

[Lay]

Watching Diaby at Villa and I’m getting very annoyed

I watch any other team and feel annoyed that their wingers have more in their locker than £80m Antony

 

[RedRonaldo]

I know he has near 0 threat/creativity and looks bad technically/lacking any genuine pace to beat any defenders. But his work rate, ball progression from midfield to final third, pressing and being press resistant are all valuable/irreplaceable to the team.

 

[joedirt87]

I do think he'd be better with a proper overlapping fullback but yeah he is extremely frustrating and quite one dimensional.

I'm not quite sure what were doing this with these fullbacks right now. Antony was brutal, that spot he lost the ball twice in 5-10 seconds must of had all of us shaking our heads in disgust. On to next week, lets see if things get better and he can get a goal for some confidence.

 

[El Jefe]

Apparently he doesn't cross because there is no No.9 to aim for. There were two peaches of a cross put in yesterday, one by Bruno and the other by Shaw which clearly should have led to goals, offside notwithstanding.

It's another in a long list of flimsy excuses of why he's poor. We could have Bierhoff and Yorke upfront and he still wouldn't find his target.

 

[Red-17]

Apparently he doesn't cross because there is no No.9 to aim for. There were two peaches of a cross put in yesterday, one by Bruno and the other by Shaw which clearly should have led to goals, offside notwithstanding.

It's another in a long list of flimsy excuses of why he's poor. We could have Bierfoff and Yorke upfront and he still wouldn't find his target.

The other problem is he never gets into a good position to put in dangerous inswinging crosses because he never takes it down the line. He ends up cutting back in when he is still 25 yards from the end line which requires a pinpoint cross and also is the easiest for a center back to defend because it is coming straight at you.

If he was a threat to beat his man down the line, every third time he could cut back and have a half second to float an inswinging cross to the back post to a runner, but I can hardly remember him doing that once because he offers nothing on his right side. Compare him to another relatively 1 footed player in Mahrez and it is night and day.

 

[Kaizane]

If I'm Pellestri and I don't start next week I'm on the phone to my agent telling him to find me another club.

Antony isn't fit to clean Nani's boots. And I'm not talking about prime Nani, I'm talking about the Nani that's playing in Turkey right now.

 

[newgiz]

I know he has near 0 threat/creativity and looks bad technically/lacking any genuine pace to beat any defenders. But his work rate, ball progression from midfield to final third, pressing and being press resistant are all valuable/irreplaceable to the team.

Perhaps the above is what could be expected from a player who is playing at a low tier PL side, but being a serviceable winger who can produce the occasional moment is not good enough for a top PL side. And I would still argue that he's not that good a ball progressor either.

Most certainly not for someone who we paid €95M to be our starting right attacker/winger for.

 

[Matt851]

I know he has near 0 threat/creativity and looks bad technically/lacking any genuine pace to beat any defenders. But his work rate, ball progression from midfield to final third, pressing and being press resistant are all valuable/irreplaceable to the team.

ball progression eh, seems to be commonly cited as something Antony brings but what does it mean? To my eyes his dribbling is terrible, he can't beat a man or dribble at speed, and his passing is terrible so how does he progress the ball better than someone else could?

 

[fps]

Apparently he doesn't cross because there is no No.9 to aim for. There were two peaches of a cross put in yesterday, one by Bruno and the other by Shaw which clearly should have led to goals, offside notwithstanding.

It's another in a long list of flimsy excuses of why he's poor. We could have Bierfoff and Yorke upfront and he still wouldn't find his target.

I have more sympathy for him than some of you. There is no striker in there linking play or making good runs. Who is he meant to cross to? And if that isn’t an option, there isn’t much midfield support, and you’re not going to smash a full-back for pace, what else is he meant to do? Cut inside, try to thread a pass or shoot. He did those things. I know it was a bad performance but we’re playing without a central striker right now.

 

[ColvaleGoa]

Why do we buy all the Fake Brazilian's?

 

[Jig1234]

If you rank all the RW in the PL. I wonder where Antony rank. How many would Antony go into and improve? - Not many for me. He seems to shrink or have no idea what to do when he has space in front of him. He rather slow down than just get his head down and run his full back down the line and look to cross. It's always the predictable cut inside routine, Never looks up. Garnarcho had so much space, players like him and Rashford love a ball over the top, but he rarely passes, and when he does, it's behind the attacker, his passes are always sideways or backwards, they never invite the attacker to meet the ball, they always have to check back or turn to receive. He just slows counters and attacks down, and allows the opposition to get back into shape.

I really hope Pellistri starts vs Forest. Antony can not become the RW standard for a Man Utd player. One footed with no end product

(Garnarcho's end product was no better, but you'd expect more from a player with Antony's experience).

 

[Chip]

The easiest quick fix right now is to drop him for Mount, start Erikson, and hopefully Hojlunde is ready so Rashford can go back to the left.

Mount has just as good if not better work rate and far superior decision making.

Who are these players?

 

[Lee565]

Honestly you can make the excuse of he had so and so good stats in such and such game and he does this well but it has not warranted both his transfer fee and almost automatic selection in the starting 11.

It's a shame ten hag will be stubborn and show blind favouritism towards him to the point we will eventually be left with a player of little sellable value and embarrass ourselves again in making huge losses on players

 

[HookedOnAPhelan]

Arguably his worst game for us. Shame that curled shot didn't go in though.

All our attackers have been utter shite these first two games, so he's not alone at least.

 

[Ayoba]

The worrying thing is ETH actually managed him at Ajax. Wtf did he see in him to warrant spunking away 80m. Criminal

 

[Paul778]

Arguably his worst game for us. Shame that curled shot didn't go in though.

All our attackers have been utter shite these first two games, so he's not alone at least.

and none of them showed anything in preseason. This has been coming.

 

[Bondi77]

How long before Erik bins this guy.

 

[fallengt]

I think the price tag has absolutely ruined him. If he costed 30mil, nobody could careless. But he's 100m player! His head telling him to tunnel vision into trick, flick and shit to impress the crowd. Jojo bonito way. Sometimes you want to yell for him to just release the ball quicker instead of whatever crap he's trying.
The same reason number 7 shirt ruined Valencia. A capable player who was good at doing simple trick but tried hard to move out of his comfort zone and failed.

 

[ElDiabloRojo]

Would look great in the Saudi League.

100m and he is yours thank you very much.

 

[saik]

Getting a little sick of watching him play. I cut him a lot of slack in his first season, because it takes time to fit in and all that, but his problems are way beyond that.

Makes bad choices, is not fast enough, too one-footed, and has an attitude problem. It’s amazing to me, that the scouts didn’t pick up on this.

By all accounts, they did. You'll find multiple posts here mentioning that. This signing is all ETH. He pushed for him.

 

[King7Eric]

I know he has near 0 threat/creativity and looks bad technically/lacking any genuine pace to beat any defenders. But his work rate, ball progression from midfield to final third, pressing and being press resistant are all valuable/irreplaceable to the team.

I can only hope this is sarcasm.

 

[Mike Smalling]

By all accounts, they did. You'll find multiple posts here mentioning that. This signing is all ETH. He pushed for him.

Yeah, ETH has shown that he heavily skews towards his previous players and players from the Dutch league that he knows. Martinez, Antony, Onana, Malacia and Mount fall into that category, and Eriksen is also very much moulded in the Eredivisie.

 

[Carl]

Gotta just hope that having an actual striker that will make space by running in behind and running the channels is what Antony needs.

 

[Castia]

Crazy how one footed he is. He must be the easiest winger in the league to play against he does the same cut in every single time.

Its on ETH to sign off on paying 90m he’s worth 40 tops.

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

Gotta just hope that having an actual striker that will make space by running in behind and running the channels is what Antony needs.

. I’m so tired of this excuse

 

[Big Ben Foster]

. I’m so tired of this excuse

The classic "we need a new signing to unlock this player" excuse.

 

[Carl]

. I’m so tired of this excuse

It would be an excuse if I said "he's been shit because of....". I didnt do that though.

 

[philippexyz]

The moment when i realized Ten Hag is going to get sacked, probably relatively soon(in a matter of couple of years) is when i realized how crap Antony is. That moment was around end of last calendar year(December/January). How in the right state of mind could someone believe that Antony is worth anywhere close to €100m. That means ETH's talent evaluation is bad and he doesn't have the proper footballing/scouting structure to back him up and keep him from making these mistakes.

It's just a ticking time bomb, ETH is going to destroy himself with poor talent evaluation/recruitment/squad planning. Antony is the main symbol of that.