What do rivals fans think of United pursuit of Antony.

Trex

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How desperate do United seem making a €90m offer, he isn't the flavour of the month the way Nunez was or other players who cost similar or more.
I've had from Ajax and United fans, but both parties are invested in this, what about other fans?
 
If you were a more sane outfit I might be thinking "wow, you must really rate him and are backing your judgement."

But Maguire etc makes it just as likely that you are paying out of desperation to appease fans and what not.
 
SATA said:
Probably the same way we thought when the dippers signed Nunez
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This is where I - as a Bayern supporter - am at as well. Both fees and the Isak one make no sense to me and there are other alleged transfers that are also insane. But if this is a pattern then I assume this is the new normal. Every promising attacker from the Portugese/Dutch league is now a €100m transfer. Madness
 
My impression is that striker/winger is very expensive for EPL clubs.
Richarlison and Isak £60m
Pedro Neto rumored to be £50m
Anothony Gordon £60m?
 
I am an oddity in that I have a rooting interest in how well United do. They aren’t the team I support, but two of my closest friends do, one a Manchester transplant. I would enjoy beating them, but I would be happy for my friends if you finished second.

So Antony… I would be concerned. His YouTube videos are fantastic. But digging into analytics and watching full matches? He is extremely one footed, has a low work rate off the ball, especially in defense. His production was anemic considering he played for the very best team in a weak league. Players are supposed to flash those 20 goal 16 assist seasons there before they underwhelm here … historically at least. He had 8 and 4?

He doesn’t seem to be effective working out wide or crossing the ball in like Ziyech was at Ajax, and if you read his scouting reports the areas of concern are his maturity, decision making, and production. That’s … a lot of concern.

All those little back and forth flicks and tricks he uses to get by players won’t work the same way in the Prem when top defenders know you only have one foot. And judging by his dribble success numbers, they dont even work that well at Ajax.

He is a cut inside player on the right. For it to work you NEED a better two way right back. I mean …essential. So that would need to be addressed.

He could turn around and become great, who knows. But if you’re asking for takes, that’s it.
 
If you'd done this earlier in the window then I'd say he's a target you really want and are willing to pay what's needed, which is fair enough. This seems to be a bit of panic from United following a below par start considering how late it is in the window.

I think you only signed Casemiro because ETH realized he didn't have a good option to play as a holding midfielder. If you'd won your opening two games I don't think you sign him.

It's annoying watching United run around trying to sign whoever they can when Klopp and FSG are so stubborn and do the exact opposite even when we're desperate for a midfielder. De Jong would is exactly the type of midfielder we should be looking at imo.
 
Why would anyone give a feck what rival fans think of this?

Liverpool have spent just as much if not more on Nunez
Chelsea are looking to spend similar on Fofana

Lions don't concern themselves with the opinions of sheep
 
charlenefan said:
Why would anyone give a feck what rival fans think of this?

Liverpool have spent just as much if not more on Nunez
Chelsea are looking to spend similar on Fofana

Lions don't concern themselves with the opinions of sheep
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Whatever you say Tywin.
 
Trex said:
How desperate do United seem making a €90m offer, he isn't the flavour of the month the way Nunez was or other players who cost similar or more.
I've had from Ajax and United fans, but both parties are invested in this, what about other fans?
Click to expand...

It’s no different to Liverpool spending €100m on Nunez. Infact I’d argue that’s part of the reason why they are valuing him so high.
 
Plant0x84 said:
Why do we care what other clubs fans think?
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Exactly.
It seems like all our fans do now is think about what other fans have to say.
This is how we got the "embarrassing" theme of this forum
 
This is exhibit A of why you should never empower your manager on transfers to the degree United do

Tommy Tuchel and Chelsea's pursuit of Gordon are exhibit B

Klopp blocking Liverpool's move for Mateus Nunes is exhibit C
 
giorno said:
This is exhibit A of why you should never empower your manager on transfers to the degree United do

Tommy Tuchel and Chelsea's pursuit of Gordon are exhibit B

Klopp blocking Liverpool's move for Mateus Nunes is exhibit C
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Agree on A & B.

I think a manager having veto power on signings is fine though. You end up missing out on some talent, sure, but at least you don't end up with a situation where an unwanted player is forced onto a manager who has no plans to play him.
 
SATA said:
Probably the same way we thought when the dippers signed Nunez
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Bingo.

Yes we would be overpaying but if he's genuinely becomes a top player nobody will care in the future. I don't think we are in a position to stinge on players we and our manager truly believes in. There's no time to do other smart business.
 
charlenefan said:
Why would anyone give a feck what rival fans think of this?

Liverpool have spent just as much if not more on Nunez
Chelsea are looking to spend similar on Fofana

Lions don't concern themselves with the opinions of sheep
Click to expand...
Our fans are overly concerned about being meme-ified. For me what matters- how big a talent the player is and how badly ETH wants him. If on both counts it fabours the player heavily then I just want us to sign the player. As I said we aren't in a position to be prudent and clever anymore. That train had passed. Sign the fecker and give ETH what he wants. You haven't given him a CF, playmaker or RB, at least give him the RW he rates.
 
I don’t like it one bit. The money means nothing to me when it comes to other clubs. What does matter is if he improves your team even a little bit it’s bad news for the rest of us.
 
Plant0x84 said:
Why do we care what other clubs fans think?
Click to expand...
This. Utd fans themselves don't think the fee is justified so why the feck would you want to check on rival fans for "neutral" opinions.
Klopper76 said:
If you'd done this earlier in the window then I'd say he's a target you really want and are willing to pay what's needed, which is fair enough. This seems to be a bit of panic from United following a below par start considering how late it is in the window.

I think you only signed Casemiro because ETH realized he didn't have a good option to play as a holding midfielder. If you'd won your opening two games I don't think you sign him.

It's annoying watching United run around trying to sign whoever they can when Klopp and FSG are so stubborn and do the exact opposite even when we're desperate for a midfielder. De Jong would is exactly the type of midfielder we should be looking at imo.
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See this for example. Just flies on the face of publicly available info but yeah, let's rely on Klopper76 for an unbiased view of Utd transfers.
 
Who cares what they think? no need to make this thread, there are more than enough rival fans in every thread laughing at at the club as it is.
 
Varun said:
This. Utd fans themselves don't think the fee is justified so why the feck would you want to check on rival fans for "neutral" opinions.

See this for example. Just flies on the face of publicly available info but yeah, let's rely on Klopper76 for an unbiased view of Utd transfers.
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That’s my genuine opinion of your pursuit of Antony. It’s not about bias. When a club is running around last minute after a couple of bad results trying to sign players it looks a bit desperate. I’d say the same about Liverpool if we did it.

I do think you’ve got a worldy with Casemiro. He might end up being the best signing United have made post Ferguson.
 
It’s obviously a massive overpay. But I’m more curious about what kind of player he is and how he’d do in the PL.

He seems to have an exciting skill set but the modest g+a production in the Eredivisie would give me a lot of pause. On a per 90 basis he has been only on par with other ETH wingers like Neres and Promes and way behind Ziyech, who flopped hard in the PL.
 
Although I'm not really a rival fan I think that United should have finalized the deal months ago.

The early reports (late June/early July) were that he was available for €70m and the expected fee has grown steadily since.

I'm a big believer in "What must be done eventually should be done immediately" and I just don't understand why you not only lose out on having the player available for preseason/ the opening games because you feel he is too pricey but then you pay more 6/8 weeks later because you are in a weaker/ more desperate situation.

If I was a United fan I would have liked to see EtH get his targets in early so he had time to embed them into the squad before the competitive games started.

I feel bad for Antony too because that price tag comes with enormous expectations and if he doesn't hit the ground running he will be under enormous pressure (look at the criticisms of Nunez, which I feel contributed to his meltdown vs Fulham) which I think is unfair.

Then again I'm pretty sure the whole Ronaldo fiasco has probably forced Uniteds hand and if it wasn't for that drama you would be going in for him next summer.
 
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charlenefan said:
Why would anyone give a feck what rival fans think of this?

Liverpool have spent just as much if not more on Nunez
Chelsea are looking to spend similar on Fofana

Lions don't concern themselves with the opinions of sheep
Click to expand...

The table don’t lie
 
As to the question of Antony, I’m very cautious of how good players look coming out of that league. If he looks anything like he does in the PL, it will be a good buy. Prices are unreal for everyone.
 
Okay his price has increased. The timing is total shit. But think about it, if we wait till next season is there any guarantee he will cost less than now? especially if he performs better overall or if there are more clubs wanting him.
 
Klopper76 said:
That’s my genuine opinion of your pursuit of Antony. It’s not about bias. When a club is running around last minute after a couple of bad results trying to sign players it looks a bit desperate. I’d say the same about Liverpool if we did it.

I do think you’ve got a worldy with Casemiro. He might end up being the best signing United have made post Ferguson.
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You're confusing our incompetence in how to do deals with the players not actually being targets.

Antony has given an interview confirming he'd informed Ajax months ago that a bid was coming and he wants to leave. ETH wanting him and us pursuing a deal is common knowledge. Why the geniuses that run our business thought Ajax wouldn't fleece us if the deal was still not done so late or why we could only work on the FDJ negotiations for 2 months is a different question.

Similarly, ETH has confirmed in an interview that Case was in the first list of targets we put together. That one's understandable given FDJ was clearly first choice but again shows we've not gone for him only because we lost 2 games.

Thats what I mean by ignoring known stuff to diss on the club. We're run by absolute idiots anyway so there's plenty of material to take the pics out of without creating false narratives.
 
Varun said:
You're confusing our incompetence in how to do deals with the players not actually being targets.

Antony has given an interview confirming he'd informed Ajax months ago that a bid was coming and he wants to leave. ETH wanting him and us pursuing a deal is common knowledge. Why the geniuses that run our business thought Ajax wouldn't fleece us if the deal was still not done so late or why we could only work on the FDJ negotiations for 2 months is a different question.

Similarly, ETH has confirmed in an interview that Case was in the first list of targets we put together. That one's understandable given FDJ was clearly first choice but again shows we've not gone for him only because we lost 2 games.

Thats what I mean by ignoring known stuff to diss on the club. We're run by absolute idiots anyway so there's plenty of material to take the pics out of without creating false narratives.
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Fair enough. The FDJ situation seems somewhat out of your hands. That’s an issue between Barcelona and the player based on what I’ve heard.
 
Big Ben Foster said:
Agree on A & B.

I think a manager having veto power on signings is fine though. You end up missing out on some talent, sure, but at least you don't end up with a situation where an unwanted player is forced onto a manager who has no plans to play him.
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Indeed.
 
We are fecking desperate in transfer market, and Ajax is treating us like a complete joke.
 
Bluelion7 said:
I am an oddity in that I have a rooting interest in how well United do. They aren’t the team I support, but two of my closest friends do, one a Manchester transplant. I would enjoy beating them, but I would be happy for my friends if you finished second.

So Antony… I would be concerned. His YouTube videos are fantastic. But digging into analytics and watching full matches? He is extremely one footed, has a low work rate off the ball, especially in defense. His production was anemic considering he played for the very best team in a weak league. Players are supposed to flash those 20 goal 16 assist seasons there before they underwhelm here … historically at least. He had 8 and 4?

He doesn’t seem to be effective working out wide or crossing the ball in like Ziyech was at Ajax, and if you read his scouting reports the areas of concern are his maturity, decision making, and production. That’s … a lot of concern.

All those little back and forth flicks and tricks he uses to get by players won’t work the same way in the Prem when top defenders know you only have one foot. And judging by his dribble success numbers, they dont even work that well at Ajax.

He is a cut inside player on the right. For it to work you NEED a better two way right back. I mean …essential. So that would need to be addressed.

He could turn around and become great, who knows. But if you’re asking for takes, that’s it.
Click to expand...
That's well said.
 
My opinion is that I hope you go to €100M and actually get him. That tends not to be a great sign.

However, looking more in depth, if he makes the step up, it could work out well. You might finally have a creative left footed right winger, which then in turn would allow you to have Sancho on the left, where I think he should have been playing all the time. I believe this should give you better balance in attack.

Casimero should help provide balance and quality in midfield as well. More balance in midfield, more balance in attack, should make you a better team.

What these signings will mean for Utd, is anyone's guess. What I'm becoming more convinced of, is that as much as quality plays a big part, and the attitude / work rate of the players can often be the decisive factor. We've seen that no more evidenced than the last 2 Man Utd games.

For me, the challenge in front of Ten Hag, Tuchel, Conte & Arteta, is not so much about acquiring a good squad of players. The EPL is by far the richest league in the world, the big teams will buy big players, that's a given.

What sets Klopp & Peps teams apart is taking these players, and getting them to have their attitude, work rate etc spot on week after week after week. They believe in the their coach, in their team, and the demands that the coach places on them. Conte seems a master at this as well. Let's see how the others get on over the course of a season.
 
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