red_de_pologne
Full Member
He's completely out of form that's one thing, but it seems it can only end with a 15m transfer to Brazilian or Dutch league
He's completely out of form that's one thing, but it seems it can only end with a 15m transfer to Brazilian or Dutch league
I'm generally not one for conspiracy theories but I wonder if ETH did his old mates at Ajax a favour here. That transfer fee is so unbelievably inflated, no one in their right mind is paying over 20 for this guy and yet here's the clubs ex manager forking out near on 100 for him.
Apt for here because it highlights both the 1 on 1 aspect as well as the good footballer aspect. You obviously want all attackers to have both, ideally, but usually wingers are heavily tilted toward the 1 on 1, as it's their job, for the most part. The good footballer bit, more reserved for play-making wide-men, even if applicable to other wide-types, it's more expected that a play-maker will be a very good/exceptional footballer.
.... I think the problems we have are pretty clear...
He gives us balance.£ for £, gotta be our worst signing EVER
I'd blame Murtough, he is utterly incompetent for the role.Pep: I need a winger, good at 1 vs 1
Txiki: No problem. Signed Doku
Pep: He is better than I expected!
ETH: I need Antony
Murtough: No Problem. Signed Antony for 80M.
ETH: He is a fighter, he will become good.
I don't know who is worse, Antony the player, ETH who coached and demanded this player, or Murtough who signed the player.
We should try to cut losses and move him on but knowing us we won't. The search for that RW continues.
Other than Suarez and Eriksen, how many have actually successfully taken the step up from Eredivisie to the EPL?I'd blame Murtough, he is utterly incompetent for the role.
EtH more seem clueless and stunned his anemic Eredivisie players can't cope the EPL, he will learn. He need to let go of the past and his comforter Ajax and quickly develop a winners mentality.
They produce nice ballplayers for sure, and many of their deficits I think get masked in their great system and weak opponents, so it's hard to judge. That said some of them have been immense for us over the years. Didn't watch Antony at Ajax so can't say if he was this bad then too or not, but he was sure a proper noname option. We got skinned.Other than Suarez and Eriksen, how many have actually successfully taken the step up from Eredivisie to the EPL?
*edit: Forgot many others, lack of coffee. Ruud, Bergkamp, RVP ect.
Maybe Antony is just extra shit.
Because the club dithered and dallied like it always does, wasted the entire summer chasing a player with zero interest in coming here instead of focusing on serious targets, and as a result left Ajax in a position to demand anything they liked because it was the end of the transfer window. And, of course, since there's nobody at the club with two brain cells to rub together, instead of walking away or switching to another, far cheaper target like Gakpo (who seems to be roughly eleventy billion times the player Antony is), they simply coughed up the money rather than say no to the new manager.Why did he cost so much?
Robben too but that was an age ago with him so in recent years not so many ultra successful ones.Other than Suarez and Eriksen, how many have actually successfully taken the step up from Eredivisie to the EPL?
*edit: Forgot many others, lack of coffee. Ruud, Bergkamp, RVP ect.
Maybe Antony is just extra shit.
Did anyone watch him regularly at Ajax? I assume he offered more there?
£ for £, gotta be our worst signing EVER
Antony has been a rather fascinating signing for me ever since we were pursuing him and he was an unknown entity pre-Hag. I thought he'd be a success here for a few reasons:
- We'd cater to his game absolutely, by bringing in an electric, highly skilled overlapping fullback (I'm talking Mazraoui / Hakimi level)
- He'd be coached and the weaker parts of his game eliminated
- We would have a cohesive, Ajax-style attack, with lots of movement and chaotic actions orbiting him
- He would be a better athlete than he is (this has probably been the biggest surprise)
- He'd be far better at combination football as a whole than he is.
- He'd be downright better skilled as a footballer
Goals, in and of themselves weren't as important as him being a playmaking winger who would constantly probe opposing backlines for pockets of space before threading balls (or himself) through them. I'll maintain he's the kind of signing you simply bypass if you're not going to give him what is essentially a world class overlapping FB; he *needs* a support flanker to the point of dependency. I didn't expect him to be so reliant on that, but the PL is like the slaughter house if you don't have the athleticism and/or wits or skill to cope - you have to find an effective lane, and it has to be known by all so that they have something to fear/respect you for. Antony's really is eroding now, as the level of respect he's being given is reducing.
Ultimately, if we are to ever see the real Antony, the conditions are the same; he never came up (made his name) without that level of FB who is a dream over-lapper. That is just a fact, so being shorn of that gives a skewed perspective of the player - if he ever manages to play with a Mazraoui/Hakimi level FB here and is just as atrocious, then that's really all there is to it. The question in the meantime is whether he has enough about his game in - what are for him - inopportune conditions - as an isolated, sole entity. A more natural winger who is expected to go it alone with no concern for anything around him. Does he? Well, the first issue he has is that he's really not good with progressive passing. If you can pass and move, you have no reliance on dribbling to evade markers, and you can still have them on toast without a single piece of trickery, so much so, even, that they don't know how to treat you because a lot of the same tenets of then getting too close and leaving space to be played around, are there. Jadon Sancho at his best is a perfect example of how a playmaking winger can use team-mates for intricate passing chains that leave markers for dead. Antony, however, is very inconsistent and unsure of himself when it comes to those simple, but rapid passing interchanges. Confidence is playing its part there, too. He's no Sancho at that stuff, but he's better than he's showing.
The second issue is he has to be able to beat at least a man more often than not, he's supposed to be wide man, ffs. Obertan, Richardson, Bebe, you name it, amongst our worst wide players, they could all beat a man. It's actually alarming how bad he is at getting round a single marker - you don't see that in the PL. Every wide player can beat a FB! It's part of the remit, otherwise how are you a wideman? Even if your preferred avenue is pass and move, beating a man as and when you have to is bread and butter. I'm not talking about slaloming through bodies, just a single man 1on1. Quite honestly, if this is something he truly cannot do, there shouldn't be a place for him as a starting winger. It's inexcusable and unfathomable and a lot of it has to be confidence based for him. I understand his issues with staying ahead of his FB, but beating them initially is paramount otherwise how can you be considered any type of winger? I'm going to put his woes down to his head being scrambled here because even if passing and moving is preferred, a winger has a prerequisite to be able to beat *a* man as and when needed to keep him honest.
My issue with Antony will always be that he doesn't warrant all the PT to work on his game. It's totally unfair on the others vying for the position, especially so when they too have things to work on and improve. Antony should not get all the PT because he excels in a few attributes. It's ridiculous for him to get runs of games where, say, a Pellistri gets hooked and not seen again for weeks on end. When Amad enters the fray, he too, needs to be given a fair chance to make his impression. It's even more poignant because neither Pellistri or Amad have that utter dependency on their FB to be effective, which, even in itself, gives them an inroad for Antony's PT. We don't need a defensive winger to the extent offensive contribution can be overlooked. Right now, Antony's no Dirk Kuyt, for example, who is considered a donkey who at least had his say on the offensive end - compared to Antony's contribution's, he's Cristiano Ronaldo... a Manchester United wide-man simply should not be a lesser Dirk Kuyt under any circumstances.
He's just not good enough and although we were desperate, we should never have sanctioned that kind of money for him. He's not likeable, either, from what I've seen. With Hojlund he seems passionate and you can see it might click with the right service and a month or two. With Antony, he looks stuck in the mud and has an ego that doesn't justify anything he's done since joining. And that stuff that came out about him being a womaniser. Guilty til proven, but he has that sulky Ronaldo pout that makes me think he's a douchebag off the field. Little man syndrome.
He's only 23, they must have thought there was potential there. He probably looked good in Dutch league where lack of pace wasn't such a liabilityI'm generally not one for conspiracy theories but I wonder if ETH did his old mates at Ajax a favour here. That transfer fee is so unbelievably inflated, no one in their right mind is paying over 20 for this guy and yet here's the clubs ex manager forking out near on 100 for him.
If the rumours in the mirror are true, do the swap deal for Barbosa in January.
Knowing us we probably gave him stupid wages so we have to pay him to leave
He's only 23, they must have thought there was potential there. He probably looked good in Dutch league where lack of pace wasn't such a liability
Such a terrible signing and why ETH should and I suspect will be sacked. Incredibly limited yet somehow ETH who knew him inside out felt he could compete in Premier League. EMbarrassing all roundI’ve honestly seen much better dribbling from AWB than I have from Anthony.
Dan James has 3 goals and 4 assists in 13 games so far this season. Perhaps he could replace Antony...There is championship wingers genuinely better and more productive.
I can't recall another wide-man in the PL who cannot beat FB's 1on1; even Mata at his slowest could get by FB's. Granted, he had no pace or strength, but enough sleight of foot to send a man the wrong way and buy enough time and space to do something else with the ball. Mata also bought extra time by simply passing the ball off if the FB got too aggressive, so he was always respected in anything but straight up physical contests.This is the biggest problem with Antony in terms of playing against Premier League defences. He simply isn't a threat in a 1v1 situation.
Antony kills our transitions, not simply because he's slow but because he's easy to fend off. Bernardo Silva, for example, isn't exactly Usain Bolt. However, like many 'slow' wide players, Bernardo is good at drawing defenders in, getting them on their heels and then going past them. Antony has shown no ability to do that and, as you say, if you're going to succeed in the Premier League you need to be able to.
I recognise that it can take a lot to adapt from Dutch football to English football. Nonetheless, the drop off in Antony's take on stats has been shocking. I can remember we used to joke about how Memphis found it easier in the Europa League than in the Premier League. However, I don't see any real difference between Antony's performances in Europe and domestically. Its a proper head scratcher. Sometimes it really is like watching a boy against men.