I only watched the last 15-20 mins and thought he was alright. Had a decent shot saved and a few good passes. What's the issue?
21
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 38
- Goals
- 3
- Assists
- 2
- Yellow cards
- 6
- Status
Shite decision making, always shooting instead of passing when he can't shoot, doing his backheel behind the other foot touch for a crossfield pass (which he fecks up and slows down the play), floating shot after shot over the net, more interested in megging somebody than doing something with the ball.
He can't hit the target. He is fantastic until he shoots
The shots are getting annoying, EtH needs to do something with that.
But he played well, gives us much more balance on the right.
If he could sort his finishing he’d score a silly amount of goals.
Frustrating.
Frustrating.
The most over-hated United player since Fellaini. I like him, he's by far our most industrious and inventive attacking player.
If only he could finish,still looked our most dangerous player second half though.
Should have scored double the goals he did last season. However some of the goals he did score, no one else in the squad scores them.
Maybe it balances out. Wonder how his xG was.
That's the best I've seen him play in a while. He was taking on players and linking up in dangerous areas.
That said the two biggest issues in his game were on show yet again. Silly shots that are off target and abysmal delivery into the box. Had two opportunities while in acres of space to put a cross in and in both occassions were shit attempts that were barely waist height that got cleared easily.
We could bring in Bierhoff, Shearer and Drogba and he still wouldn't be able to find a man in the box.
That said the two biggest issues in his game were on show yet again. Silly shots that are off target and abysmal delivery into the box. Had two opportunities while in acres of space to put a cross in and in both occassions were shit attempts that were barely waist height that got cleared easily.
We could bring in Bierhoff, Shearer and Drogba and he still wouldn't be able to find a man in the box.
He needs a ST that occupies the cbs so he has only 1 defender to take. Then he can time & aim his shots better.
He has terrible aim. I mean the shots are not even close to being on target. No matter how good his skills are his end product is terrible and doesn't work for us unless he delivers.
Would be nice if he can invent a good pass now and again.
Played okay today, his shooting is what it is.
Would be nice if he could practice in training so that when he shoots he actually hits the target most of the time. Wasn't even close today.
He'll need to deliver this season, it won't be pretty for him otherwise.
Doesn't seem like he has worked on his right foot at all which if he could do would improve him from good to very good.
Imagine if Fellaini cost that much
There was a stretch toward the end of last season where he'd go down the outside and stick in a low cross with his right once a game or so, just so the fullback can't sell out on stopping the cut infield onto his left. He needs to just get back to doing that more often, and maybe he will when we've got an actual striker in there.
Standard performance. Shot every time he had some space and floated multiple over the bar.
Can someone teach this cnut how to strike those curlers with dip so they don’t just float please?
Can someone teach this cnut how to strike those curlers with dip so they don’t just float please?
Is Robben available for a month or 2? Some 1-on-1 coaching would probably do him wonders. I still have hopes he will turn into a world class 1-trick pony.
I’m excited to see Antony this season. I know Sancho will bomb that’s a given. Same as Martial.
All my hopes hang on either Antony or Garnacho turning into a world beater.
All my hopes hang on either Antony or Garnacho turning into a world beater.
This guy is kinda rubbish. And also as dislikable as much as you can ‘dislike’ a footballer.
I know he has been mentioned a lot - but Robben was a bit off shooting in the PL wasn’t he?
I wonder if Antony needs to just fix his shooting rather than all these abilities he doesn’t seem able to do.
I wonder if Antony needs to just fix his shooting rather than all these abilities he doesn’t seem able to do.
He just looks like a frustrating £30-40m player. If he doesn't take a big step up this season, it feels like a position we will need to upgrade. Who that upgrade would be, I'm not sure. Shame that Saka is completely unrealistic.
Another season of delivering absolutely nothing. We overpaid for this guy by £50m. Fair play Ajax. Pulled our pants down here.
The only thing he invents is more ways of shooting the ball off target.
A wing forward who can’t shoot or cross properly and has to complete a complex routine of ancient and medieval tricks in order to dribble past just one marker.
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Tw*t bit of skill to control the ball from a crossfield pass sums him up. Also that fecking look on his face when he cuts inside and skies it over the bar for the 10 time.
Early days without question, but so far we're seeing exactly the same player we saw last season, which is worrisome.
Hit. The. Fecking. Target.
Minimum.
Minimum.
Same as before. His out of possession play is exemplary as is his tracking back. He's a valuable outlet and can hold the ball. But his final third contributions are so dreadful I am still in disbelief. He's the one who has had the opportunity to put us ahead in matches in the first few minutes with tame efforts and he loves striking the ball from the right corner of the box, but he struggles far too often to hit the target, even unmarked.
Said it before, but he needs finishing practice.
Said it before, but he needs finishing practice.
Baffles me how a person who has spent years training almost every day at kicking a ball, can be so bad at kicking a ball. I can't think of any other profession or skill where you could spend that long practising and still not be very good at it.
NBA players and free throws is probably worse.
Moaners here would do well to remember that Fergie used to value CR7 high shot output even though wasteful a lot. He knew his finishing would improve over time and then goals will come. It used to frustrate fans no end but the worlds best ever manager knew differently.
The guy is 23 and has had one season in a big league. There are a lot of very frustrating players at that age that have gone on to be class. You’ve gotta think ETH believes that him and his coaches can take him to the next level.
He’s not his price tag. That’s 100% on the club
He’s not his price tag. That’s 100% on the club
You hit the nail on the head. I bolded the most interesting parts that I 100% agree with.
You are correct BUT - the problem with Antony is he lacks the basic skills that can't be thought when you're a senior player (I don't get the idea that some people consider him a youngster that still has time to work on his weak foot). He isn't going to magically turn this around. His passing looks way off and his long range efforts look good only because of high volume of shots. His finishing of easy chances is atracious. That's the harsh truth about Antony. Like El Jefe mentioned in the comment above, he adapted very well to the league, he also adapted extremely well to his limitations. But those limitations are glaring and I believe it's not fair to expect from him to get over it. That's a huge task.
He will improve his decision making but I'd argue his decisions is also driven by his limitation. A very simple example is he doesn't trust his passing, therefore he always goes for a shot. Might sound ridiculous, but not so much when you actually see his passing.
What do you mean by "inventive"? He's the most predictable player we have. Cut inside, shoot a curler.
He actually is a bizarre example of a player that looks fantastic on the ball until he kicks it. His close control and space awareness on the sideline is unmatched in our team. The way he cuts inside also looks cool and is quite effective to lose the opposition.
The problem is not that Antony doesn’t have the basic skill like for example taking players on from the outside or using his weaker foot.
Antony doesn’t need to improve on all that - all he needs to improve on is his shooting ability on his stronger foot because he gets plenty of chances.
If he literally perfects that ability to be more clinical on his stronger foot - I don’t see why he couldn’t score a goal every two games or even more because he has/creates plenty of this chance.
I know football doesn’t exactly work that simple, but I still don’t see why it’s exactly impossible either.
He improves his shooting and he starts becoming a better goal scorer for us because he gets in to dangerous positions quite easily by himself even with fullbacks like Dalot & Wan Bissaka.
I don't see that hapenning. His shooting doesn't look anything special and is very far off from being "clinical on his stronger foot". IMO that is just as likely as significantly improving on a weaker foot. Can this be done? Yes. Does it happen often? Not at all.
His best (attacking) attribute is the ability to cut inside and lose his marker - I assume this is where you came from with this comment. Because if he does improve on his shooting he will be a threat. However...
This discussion about how much players actually improve after the age of 20 is a very interesting one. Right now my standing is most improvement on actual skills is negligible. Most improvement comes from making the right decision, knowing when to shoot, when to pass, improved spatial awareness, knowing how to make space for yourself etc. That doesn't seem like something that will help Antony if you watch him play.
Passing is the issue with Antony. It's below acceptable level. Everything else is OK-ish overall. I am ignoring the fee obviously.
I think he's got more chance of delivering this season or next than the likes of Sancho have.
Cristiano used to shoot like shit between 18-20 but you started seeing the improvement once he was 21 and by the time he was Antony's age he was elite at it.
People often treat Antony like he's a kid but he's at the age where young attackers really start dominating.
Players like Vini Jr, Saka, Kvaratskhelia, Foden are all younger than Antony and I can name a lot more. By the time you reach 24 you should be pretty established as a wide player in my opinion.
Nani and Rashford had put it all together by this point too. If Antony cannot show significant growth after this year I think its safe to write him off because at 24 the type of player he is should be confirmed by then.
firstly no one here, and I do mean no one, is criticising Antony for not being world class so lets drop that silly point. Secondly, my position is not reactionary, its a reasonable response to a player's first season at the club, wherein he played a lot of games and his many weaknesses were apparent regularly.
Okay so Cristiano improved from the age of 22 to 24, great. Lets sign a 22 year old from the park, maybe he'll improve too????
Obviously, young players show their potential in game and you decide how good they're likely to become by how they play while they are developing. Antony isn't even that young.
He is currently not near good enough. If that changes this season (unlikely), then I will say so. History actually isn't full of players who were written off and then became great, most top players were predicted to be top players from early.
Rashford had two 20 goal seasons before his bad one. How is that the same
I am chill mate and Antony isn't now and probably won't ever be good enough for us
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