It's the old inflating the price trick. Convert the cost in pounds to euros but leave the pounds sign. Repeat as necessary.
Antony: why the concern - use the player performance thread
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Did any of them cost 80m to buy at that age? If not you've just cherrypicked some totally random and unrelated names.
For every Mahrez, Salah or Mane there will be 10 of Pato, Quaresma, Walcott, Götze etc. who turn out to be flops. Just because you've picked three random attackers that fit your narrative doesn't mean Antony will turn out to be as good as those.
If he cost £30million there would be very little being said. He's adapting to a far tougher league, he's clearly got bags of talent and ability just needs time to adapt.
I think right now his confidence level is very low. That's why he squanders all those easy chances and sometimes can't make a simple pass. He reminds me of Nani in his early days with us. We need to be patient with him, the talent is there.
No, I expect him to improve on absolutely nothing. Because that makes more sense right?
By the way ETH has proven to be the most ruthless manager we've had post SAF so if Antony with time doesn't start performing the way ETH wants then yes, even Antony will be gone.
The talk about Antony has become a headache..
The talk about Antony has become a headache..
The bolded part is exactly my worry. You can teach a player to be good at things Antony is already pretty good at. But I really don't think there's much to be done about his flaws.
Come back once you have a point to make - like what do you expect Antony to improve in his game. Otherwise this kind of discussion is not interesting for me.
Okay man, saying that a player at the age of 23 has no room for improvement on the basic stuff is far more interesting...
That has been the trajectory for all footballers right? At that age no one ever improved or became better at the things you described? Okay bro..
He’s still only 22 and getting acclimated to a new team and league. The negative snap judgements on him are just mad to me. He’s certainly not a polished player, but he’s shown plenty of flashes to justify some positivity at least.
Concern is warranted, but I don’t see anyone writing Antony off yet. Why is concern warranted? After 6 months in the league, he’s still not meeting expectations. Maybe it clicks for him in the next match, maybe next season. As club supporters we understand the importance of patience, but we’re at the point where meeting expectations is expected now.
Yeah it's tedious enough when the BBC insist on doing it, let alone our own fans.
Alot of my money has been spent on him.
Thanks for letting us know, we weren't aware.
I just haven't been convinced by his performances. There's also the fact he doesn't come across as very likeable. I have a lot of hope and expectation that he will come good though, purely because ETH is certain he will. I expect he will be an asset for us long term.
It's because we paid almost 90 million for him and at times he looks average, you can't afford in this day and age to have so many expensive high profile flops.
That's not to say I think he is one, hes 22 and it's his first season in a brand new league where already acclimatised players have trouble even in great teams (Grealish).
But short term it's not surprising why somefans are concerned.
That's not to say I think he is one, hes 22 and it's his first season in a brand new league where already acclimatised players have trouble even in great teams (Grealish).
But short term it's not surprising why somefans are concerned.
You're welcome babe x
I think part of the reason that people are impatient with him is that we have a far more proven RW who is on sabbatical (Sancho), a highly rated RW kid who is tearing it up in the Championship (Amad), and a talented young Uruguayan who has shown more in around 20 minutes of action for us than Antony has so far.
Basically, it's frustrating watching a player who costs €100m (or maybe marginally less, for the bookkeepers out there) be terrible. It's even more frustrating when the club has other options who are either unavailable (JS and AD) or simply being ignored for some reason (FP).
Basically, it's frustrating watching a player who costs €100m (or maybe marginally less, for the bookkeepers out there) be terrible. It's even more frustrating when the club has other options who are either unavailable (JS and AD) or simply being ignored for some reason (FP).
As silly as it sounds I think antony will be better as it gets warmer.
Lack of pace AND no ability on weaker foot is a terrible combination for a winger.
Now I'm being very serious when I say that I would like to hear examples of senior players (at 23 he is a senior player) improving his pace and weaker foot.
I'm fine with giving him time, I'm just very sceptical about it.
He's simply a decent player who we overpaid for by quite a lot. I don’t expect him to improve much.
Still makes us a better team.
Still makes us a better team.
Great points.
It's because of his price tag. If he had come up from the academy people would be desperately wanting Ten Hag to throw him in the team
Officially the club paid €95M, which was at the time £81.2M, that is what Ajax announced here, with €5M add-ons.
But it's just simply 100M in the caf so let's just run with it, 95M is just boring fee
On the topic, even though I am bit worried about Antony, I think I am relaxed overall since EtH is doing such a good job at the moment, elevating the whole team, hopefully, Antony starts perform better as time goes by.
Weak foot I will give you, I have my doubts we will ever see a big improvement there. He sadly seems one of those players that truly fit the ''one footed'' category.
Lack of pace? This is just not true, he does have pace! What he does all the time is try to cut in and shoot. Heavy practice on shooting could make him a deadly player.
Overall he has attributes that can make him a very good player. It's all about mentality and attitude.. Will he work hard and try to perfect his skills in order to level up his potential to the max?
Or will he he be one of those who just fades away because of lack of hard work? This is something only time will tell and only he can answer..
Some of the criticism is a bit harsh, especially when writing him off completely. But I also dont understand when people say its too early to judge. 22 years old and 6 months in the league, these are irrelevant because he hasn't shown anything in his career to suggest he has a high ceiling. I remember these concerns during the summer when we were looking at his Ajax videos, they were the same clips rehashed over and over.
With Nani, you could see the crazy talent, it was just a matter of his brain clicking and improving his decision making. With Antony it's almost the complete opposite, his decision making is decent in that he's super cautious and hardly loses the ball, but he hasn't shown the talent that makes you think: well this kid might just be it one day.
The unlikeable ones are the best. Messi won the world cup recently being very "unlikeable."
This is quite a simple one.
Do I think Antony is crap? No.
Do I think he possesses many of the key attributes needed to lock down a starting spot in the front 3 of title challenging side? No.
Should the previous answer really be a yes for a player that cost £80m+? Yes.
I would answer exactly the same if talking about Sancho.
Neither can beat a man 1 on 1. Both slow down our counter attacks. Neither are going to suddenly going to become significantly more athletic.
Ironically, I think both are probably more technically gifted footballers than Rashford, but his outright pace and athleticism compensate for it.
Final (doom and gloom) prediction....
Rashford is playing out of his skin atm... we are as a team. I'm very happy. Long may it continue. But I do fear that Rashford himself is a bit of a one trick pony, and if/when his goals dry up the boo boys will start getting on his case again because the other aspects of his game are rough around the edges.
Do I think Antony is crap? No.
Do I think he possesses many of the key attributes needed to lock down a starting spot in the front 3 of title challenging side? No.
Should the previous answer really be a yes for a player that cost £80m+? Yes.
I would answer exactly the same if talking about Sancho.
Neither can beat a man 1 on 1. Both slow down our counter attacks. Neither are going to suddenly going to become significantly more athletic.
Ironically, I think both are probably more technically gifted footballers than Rashford, but his outright pace and athleticism compensate for it.
Final (doom and gloom) prediction....
Rashford is playing out of his skin atm... we are as a team. I'm very happy. Long may it continue. But I do fear that Rashford himself is a bit of a one trick pony, and if/when his goals dry up the boo boys will start getting on his case again because the other aspects of his game are rough around the edges.
Ten Hag knew what he was getting when he asked Utd to buy Antony. I dont like the fact that he appears to be completely one footed however, ETH would have already known that and obviously still believes he can do a job for us. He definitely works hard and tracks back defensively so I'm not worried at all about him. People making comparisons with Sancho are well off the mark imo. Sancho has clearly struggled mentally since joining Utd and often appeared disinterested on the pitch, I have seen that with Antony at all.
Agree with everything as above, but I'd also add to his talents by pointing out his general decision making and ball retention has been huge in our transformation towards being a possession based team.
The notion that we are buying a player for what we think he will become, rather than what he is now, is sadly lost on this generation of instant impact obsessives
I hope Garnacho is enjoying this period he has before everyone also decides he is sh*t
I hope Garnacho is enjoying this period he has before everyone also decides he is sh*t
Aye.
When I were a lad before all these new-fangled changes, attackers attacked and defenders defended. And men were proper men.
I definitely don't agree that Antony has pace, I've seen defenders catching up with him quite easily (and they were both chasing the ball so just a simple race).
I just don't see those attributes that will make him a very good player, because I don't see his ceiling. His attributes make him a good squad player not a first choice RW for a club aspiring for top. I really hope he proves me wrong here, but I am just trying to explain my "concerns" which I think are pretty valid.
He's been here for a few months but I think we already know what kind of player he is. Allow him to cut inside, he can be dangerous (rather with shooting, because his creativity is non existent). Don't allow him to cut inside and the best you can say about his performance is "he works hard and keeps the ball well".
This exactly. Seems like we got exactly what we paid for so far. That is hardly Antony's fault btw.
Antony would be fine, the potential is there to become a world class player. He could soon become a craque!
ESPN, SkySports, Forbes, and Romano have reported the price to be around £85M or €100M, which includes the addons. Without addons reported fee is €95M.
Romano
SkySports
Forbes
ESPN
Transfermarkt
The Athletic
Eurosport
The Guardian
€100M euro is also the fee quoted in Wikipedia's page of Dutch football transfer records
We don't know what the conditions on the addons are, but quoting the fee at €100M is absolutely correct.
Antony not living up to his reported Price tag has now taken the focus off Sancho not living up to his price tag. Sancho will come back now and rip it up and then all we have to do is spend 100m on someone else to underwhelm so Antony can kick on out of the spot light.
United fans desperate to have a United player to hate on and pile the pressure on him even more. Same people who have spent two years hating Rashford.
Yes he cost a lot of money - but he cost a lot because Ajax didn't want to sell and ETH was desperate to have him. That fact alone and the faith that people surely have in ETH, should at least make people hold back judgement on Antony and be supportive of him, who cares what windup merchants from other clubs say on twitter, instagram etc..
He does look one footed and he does need to improve - but his start isn't as bad as people are making out, 5 goals already from the wing, and he's already improving, he was arguably our best player against Forest.
For the time being just trust the manager and don't create an agenda against one of our own players.
Yes he cost a lot of money - but he cost a lot because Ajax didn't want to sell and ETH was desperate to have him. That fact alone and the faith that people surely have in ETH, should at least make people hold back judgement on Antony and be supportive of him, who cares what windup merchants from other clubs say on twitter, instagram etc..
He does look one footed and he does need to improve - but his start isn't as bad as people are making out, 5 goals already from the wing, and he's already improving, he was arguably our best player against Forest.
For the time being just trust the manager and don't create an agenda against one of our own players.
Not bothered at all. He's still young and developing and is 2nd top scorer (all comps) behind Rashford and tied with Martial.
He will only improve in time.
He will only improve in time.
A guy at work who’s a city fan was giving me stick about him today. He’s like the money you’ve paid and he’s been awful, I said woah hang on a minute, what about 100m for grealish, what’s he done this season, he knows the league inside out where as Antony is foreign coming into a new league. Also Antony’s game is more than just scoring, he’s doing quite well defensively. English players get let off so much… well if they don’t play for us they do anyway. Foreign players get criticised all the time. A joke really.
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