Is there a way to get more out of Antony?

Nickelodeon said:
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
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Agreed, particularly on the second and fourth points. I think the first and third go hand in hand and just take lots of work on the training pitch. The second is tactical, and is also a problem on the left at the moment with Shaw out. Rashford doesn't drive in towards the middle as much and isn't scoring like last season. But Antony does it even less and that's always been the case. When Dalot is on the right, he's usually the one going in while Antony stays out wide. AWB does go wide more and Antony cuts in, but all too often Antony stays wide and AWB backs off. If that gets fixed, then I think his long-range shooting quiets down as he'll have more options than just wasteful shooting. And I don't mind him taking two or three long-range shots a game and missing, but I do think he needs to get better at that shot.
 
poleglass red said:
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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How much do we pay him? I've read either 150k, 200k or 236k
 
Unless we keep the ball more ! That's not happening yet?
When we're disjointed and he has to defend more than attack he can struggle although imo he is one of the better ones to track back.
If we can control games more play higher up and we can sustain pressure on the opposition longer he can be better.. plus he needs to practice and train on his right foot ..
 
Play as an outside left, or as a No 10.It will make him a little more effective.. but I think his limitations will always be his issue in a decent league. When he plays against better teams, better defenders, he'll struggle.

Maybe he needs to return to Eredivisie, mid-table club.
 
I find it hard to believe Barcelona are interested in loaning him as was reported earlier today. If they are we’d be crazy not to accept, his future is going to be multiple loans because the FFP hit and his wages make him impossible to get rid of.
 
I think all of our right "wingers" are doomed as they are coached to cut inside more often than not.

Telling Antony to get to the byline and whip some crosses in would create panic in the opposition box. At least sticking some percentage crosses into the box is better than what we're currently doing
 
Maybe if we had a great attacking RB that teams had to account for it would open up some space for Antony, otherwise I don't think so.
 
Not sure there is.

However, there’s some out of your box thinking over at the Anthony for left back thread.
 
SilentWitness said:
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.
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I'd take McNeil over him! Swapsies?
 
Yes sell his 360 degree useless self to somebody stupid enough to pay 50 mil for him
 
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Imagine how he felt when United,/ETH went for him, at that wage package? Must have really felt that he was the luckiest guy on the planet. He must have felt he struck the lottery.
 
I don’t think so. I don’t even think relegation teams would be interested in signing Antony. We simply need to cut out losses even if that means loaning him out for a couple of seasons because no chance we are going to sell him after only two seasons with his high wages.
 
He probably would have performed better if he didn't cost so much and wasn't on such ridiculous wages. Aside from the fact he'd still have something to work towards, an element of guilt must creep into your mind when you're so expensive and produce so little.

Clubs just don't seem to learn that transfer fees that high rarely work out unless it's for the crème de la crème. The likes of Zidane, Figo, Ronaldo and Mbappe could handle it because they were some of the best players on the planet proven in the biggest competitions on the world with egos to match.

The likes of Antony, Dembele, Maguire, Coutinho and Lukaku were never anywhere close in terms of talent or mentality and it was pretty obvious they wouldn't handle it because they'd never achieved anything remotely close to justifying those price tags in the first place.
 
Why the hell would you change his position?
If he can't play in the position he was brought in for, get rid of him. Cut our losses.
If we want a RB, we should buy a orthodox RB.
Trying to fit square pegs into round holes is totally unnecessary.

Personally, Antony should be sold this Summer. We need to be ruthless with these average, over paid players.
And mark my words, after we have sold him, he'll become a nothing player, just like so many players who left us became.
Remember P.Jones. We hung on to him for dear life. When we released him, he essentially retired cuz no other team would take him.
Remember Lingard? We hung on to him for so long. He left us and no other team is prepared to let him play for them.
I can keep naming these types of nothing players but you get my drift.

It does seem that we are like a retirement home for failing players and this has to stop.
If a player is shit, get rid of him the following Summer. Don't even give him 1 year. He has to prove himself in a few months. If he can't, GET OUT!

Be ruthless.

These shithouse players who are not good enough to play in the EPL, need to be weeded out. McTomminay, Antony are 2 very good examples and I'm sure we have plenty more.
 
It’s no exaggeration to say that us buying Antony for that money may be the worst transfer in football history.
 
Quite impressive to be involved in so many attacks and feck it up every time.
 
What infuriates me is that he is constantly trying to explain to his teammates what was the idea, always with that smug smile on his face, like he was about to pull the play of the year. Which is scary, as it makes me feel he does not realize how bad he is. The sooner we sell him the better.
 
Useless footballer. So one dimensional. If they haven’t tried to adapt his playing style by now, then it’s clear they won’t. Maybe he just isn’t good enough on his right. Needs selling, without a doubt.
 
I know this is just some kooky conspiracy nonsense to cope with how bad this deal was, but I'm convinced by the day that the Antony deal was part of some sort of a shady backhanded payment.
 
He has only one trick up his sleeve and even that is complete shit. On the other hand, he slows down every play significantly whenever he has possession which allows opposition to regroup.
 
There's the saying 'Don't cling on to a mistake just because you spent a lot of time making it' - replace 'time' with 'money'

How many good games has Antony had? The experiment didn't work. Sell him for whatever we can get.

edit: scratch that, best player in the world!
 
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without offering an opinion on antony as a player- this is what he is statistically good at, and bad at, compared to other players in his position:

Good:
Pass Completion
Progressive Passes
Tackles
Interceptions
Blocks

Bad:
Goals
Assists

About average:
Take ons.

So i think that's what you're working with if looking at what sort of player he is, obviously he needs to be made a more direct sort, who uses his right foot more. whether or not thats worth trying to persevere with is one for the people in charge.
 
arthurka said:
Sell him to Germany, that will get more out of him.
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He scored for the first time in 9 months against Newport. We must first give him a new contract to protect the re-sale value before thinking of selling him.
 
Ok, he's finally done something, never mind the opponent.
But, what the hell was that celebration all about? And that cheeky smile of his...
 
He was fine today, and won us the game, but it's reached the point now where every single mistake he makes during a game triggers a wave of green laughing emojis in the match day thread.
 
Goal and assist. Fair play. I still think he's shit and beyond frustrating as a player.
 
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