Is there a way to get more out of Antony?

Borys said:
The problem is playing Antony on LW will expose his biggest weakness to (contrary to many people's belief it's not passing with weaker foot, it's passing with the stronger one), and will nullify his biggest strength - cutting inside. I don't understand what is the rationale behind this idea.
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Well, if you're right that his passing is worse with his stronger foot, there isn't one.

Not sure where that leaves him. Low-impact sub?
 
Stop pretending that he is a winger and play him as AM behind CF. He can fall back to additional defensive midfield position in case we need to defend a lead.
 
Tony247 said:
Stop pretending that he is a winger and play him as AM behind CF. He can fall back to additional defensive midfield position in case we need to defend a lead.
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The thing is would you play him there ahead of Fernandes, Mount, Eriksen or even McTominay?
 
Borys said:
The problem is playing Antony on LW will expose his biggest weakness to (contrary to many people's belief it's not passing with weaker foot, it's passing with the stronger one), and will nullify his biggest strength - cutting inside. I don't understand what is the rationale behind this idea.
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Antony cutting inside is a myth I want to witness from him in United shirt.
 
Playing Antony as CAM would get us relegated. He's decision-making with the ball seems to be among the worst in our squad for several years. Placing in more centrally would give him more time on the ball, and God knows he won't produce anything. I'd rather have him as a terrible number 8, as he has decent work ethics. Then he could short-pass the ball to Mainoo or Fernandes. Antony is an adult, well paid footballer. He can go practice his right foot, so he actually can use that. Today, defenders know that he's going to cut inside before they even step into the field. He's not fast enough to go on the outside anyway, and he needs to get so far ahead that he can cut back to his left foot for the cross. I can't believe we wasted 80M on him. We overpaid for a downgrade to Daniel James, at least he was fast.
 
The man is gonna get a brace against Newport or Eastleigh and we will be back to Ten Hag selecting him to no avail for several weeks again.
 
Borys said:
The problem is playing Antony on LW will expose his biggest weakness to (contrary to many people's belief it's not passing with weaker foot, it's passing with the stronger one), and will nullify his biggest strength - cutting inside. I don't understand what is the rationale behind this idea.
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Yup, his left foot is relatively poor as well. He's not a great crosser, his passing is poor with regards to its weight, direction & range and he's only got one type of finish with it - and even then he can't shoot with any real power consistently.

There are plenty of one footed players that are effective. Most players heavily favour their strong foot wherever they can. Antony's just technically poor and awkward on the ball so the one footedness looks even more stark.

I'll post this video of Bernardo Silva again:



Count the number of times he touches the ball with his right foot. It's barely used for anything more than standing up - but because he's so technically good, it doesn't even look like he's one footed. He's perfectly poised and balanced so he can go either way, and the balls stuck to his foot. Antony just looks so awkward in comparison - even though they use their right foot with the same frequency.
 
Dans said:
What does it say about Ten Hag, who managed him at Ajax, that he wanted him so bad?
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Well, it says something.

When you factor in that ETH apparently doesn't want to play Ajax style football at United, it says even more.

Because the only possible reason for paying that kind of money for an utterly mediocre player would be that he is a perfect fit for a very particular system that you intend to implement - and that he, the mediocre player, is crucial for this system.

But ETH isn't trying to replicate his Ajax system at United (as per his own statements).

So...feck knows.
 
Probably selling him, make some money and reinvest in a player that can beat an opponent, can cross and can use both feet.
Best way to use him
 
Sylar said:
Probably selling him, make some money and reinvest in a player that can beat an opponent, can cross and can use both feet.
Best way to use him
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Agreed. Sell cut our loses. Then try and get Olise or Rony from Copenhagen. Antony will never be good enough to play in the prem.
 
UnitedRepublic said:
He is worse than a broken down Martial even when he is in top form Antony got nothing on Martial workrate is the only thing he got on him. People are acting like Martial is some guy who never has shown anything at all at this club and that he’s been kept because of pity.
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Martial has been kept through incompetence; a properly run club would have ditched him years ago.
 
We need to change the rule of the game for Antony’s sake. The change being the opposition can’t use the left side. Wait.. he still can’t pass, cross nor shoot. He is the worst player in a United shirt I ever saw, and right now, he is the true definition of Ten Hag era.
 
KDB plays 20mins and has more goals and assists than this guy already. I think it is hopeless for us..
 
I honestly don’t think we would get £20m for him right now. Horrendous transfer, the most punchable face in world football (given Phil Foden and Haarland play, that’s some accolade), and he’s just very frustrating to watch and not very good at all. Most likely our worst signing ever given outlay and wages.
 
John Blund said:
U mad bro? The worst signing since I don't know when, and you want to play him out of position? We just have to accept that we've overpaid, and he's bang on average on his best days.
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Garnacho has been excellent playing “out of position “
 
Well he can do his fidget spinning act at half time to entertain the crowd. He can also be the water boy. Apart from these cant think of a way he can contribute to the team.
 
alexthelion said:
Rather extreme view, considering some of the dross we've signed over the years.
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We've signed a few, but convert it to value, for us, both on their contribution, wages and what we sold them for, I can't see many much worse than Antony. Then again, I'm not his biggest fan.
 
John Blund said:
We've signed a few, but convert it to value, for us, both on their contribution, wages and what we sold them for, I can't see many much worse than Antony. Then again, I'm not his biggest fan.
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I agree, total cost of ownership vs ability and especially output. IMO the worst. Almost criminal and remains a massive, massive red flag over ETH over his judgement and knowledge of the game. Then Mount rapidly moving up the list, especially as we could now have signed a free contract.
 
I don't think there is much more United can get out of him. I think he could be a decent option at LWB for a Serie A team though.
 
The only thing we are getting is a bag of crisps in exchange, when he is finally shipped off to some other team.
 
I believe martials mantra for life is about finding out what he does best, and finding more ways of doing less of it better.

Additionally, he has one of the most punchable faces since Peter Beardsley.
 
alexthelion said:
Rather extreme view, considering some of the dross we've signed over the years.
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It's not extreme, he's correct. For what we paid for him, and what he's delivered, Antony is the worst signing the club has ever made.

And very damaging to Ten Hag's reputation. Whatever club Erik ends up with after United, if and when that happens, he's going to have trouble getting any players he wants, purely because the Antony signing will follow him around like a bad smell. It's that bad.
 
alexthelion said:
Rather extreme view, considering some of the dross we've signed over the years.
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I'd find it an extreme view to say he's not. He's probably one of the worst wingers I've ever seen in the Premier League and he cost nearly 100 mil. He can't beat a man, he can't score, he can't assist. He can't use his right foot. Not great with his left. Can't head. Fairly weak. Has no plan when he has the ball. Gets very narky when things go against him, which is a lot. Utter waste of money and whoever had any impact in signing him should be sacked from the club immediately.
 
Think he needs a loan. He's not good enough for the prem, and the team isn't functioning well either.

It's doubtful he'll work out here long term but I'm certain if he stays he's going to destroy any value and possibly his career.
 
He is not going to improve, virtually no threat at all when he has the ball.£85 million FFS. Get rid and get some money back.
 
Think he can only play RW. Don't see any other possibility. Then we need to assess which successful player who plays/played RW has similar physical and technical traits. And the only player I can think of is Mahrez.

Mahrez wasn't exceptionally quick, was mostly one-footed but still had a workable right foot, had decent vision, crossing and shooting. Antony does have a defensive work rate advantage over Mahrez in my opinion. So the question is how can we turn Antony into our Mahrez. Here's my 4 point plan:
  • Reduce the one-footedness: Naturally, we have to start with the most obvious flaw. And it isn't unsolvable. We don't need him scoring 30 yarders with his right. Just enough danger element where him going to his right and crossing remains a plausible chance-creating scenario.
  • Overlapping RB: Since Antony's natural instinct is always to cut inside, not having an overlapping RB further congests the area where we'd rather have space to create goal-scoring chances. The Dalot goal away at Forest last season is a clear example of Antony having space to cut inside and picking the right pass. It was an overlap from AWB which created that space. Our RBs, especially Dalot, have good physical attributes to run from end to end though both lack the final ball. But if we were to play Antony, leaving him on his own to take on the one or two of the opponents is never going to work.
  • Improve long-range passing: Don't think I have ever seen Antony play a long cross field ball. If we go by the above point of having an overlapping RB, there is a decent chance for the opposition to overload on the RW creating space on the left. This is where we need accurate long balls from Antony for either the LB/LW or directly into the box.
  • Restrict his long-range shooting: Antony may believe that curling one in is his best attribute but he's significantly off it, especially this season. He needs to earn an opportunity to shoot and more often than not, shooting from distance is the cowardly way out where he'd rather have a go than put in the necessary thought or legwork
 
Don't think he will ever be good enough for the aspirations you have as a club or fanbase. He's a midtable to EL player at best that's capable of rare 'special' moments and goals but has nowhere near the consistency to become a great player.
 
Try to play him in midfield as an 8 or 10. He simply can’t beat a defender so a big team can’t play him as a winger
 
He needs to play for a dominant team in a smaller league. A team that bosses possession, where his simple passing style helps recycle possession. Problem is his wages, no top team in a league like Turkey, Belgium, Holland or Portugal could afford them. I can't ever see him being a decent player for us.
 
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