ETH didn't play Amad much because he didn't want to admit he spent 90m on an inferior player. That's all.
16
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 12
- Goals
- 2
- Assists
- 1
- Yellow cards
- 2
- Red cards
- 1
He should be our starting RW for next season.
Given that Sancho, Pellistri and Greenwood are more likely gone than not and safe to assume that Antony will be sold if a respectable bid comes in or loaned out, should we not still target a specialist RW to provide competition for Amad or a player like Nico Williams that can play well on both sides (He has a fairly affordable buyout clause, so cheaper than Olise as well).
Say the Sunderland fans enjoyed that goal last night. What a talent he is.
Agreed, good post.
It was also not a accident that players like Garnacho, Mainoo and Amad were options for ten Hag because they're players who were signed by John Murtough and obviously he was going to push them into the first team fold once he made the decision to hire ten Hag. And I think you make a very sensible point about the number of young and inexperienced players that have been pushed through this season and it's not always feasible to play all of those players at once due to their inexperience. But I think the experience gained by the younger players this season will help propel us forward in seasons to come. Players like Hojlund, Amad, Garnacho, Mainoo with more youth team talent joining the first team will further improve us along with the introduction of already established first team signings.
I think a combination of Garnacho playing well on the right with Amad being affected by injury has meant Amad unfortunately has had his season disrupted by injury.
Ralf Rangnick preferred Elanga over Amad and Solskjaer preferred to sign Sancho over developing Amad. Both decisions I didn't agree with but I think right now Amad has shown in his last two starts that he deserves to start games on merit. And I honestly believe Amad is ahead of Antony in the pecking order as things stand and will be rewarded for his good form.
Why did badly keep playing Antony? Inexcusable.
Better late than never, I guess.
I think you're correct we do need competition in every single position and I think it depends on the budget. Do we go with someone already at the club to provide depth in the RWF position and invest more money into other areas of the pitch that requires upgrading or do we sign a Williams or Olise instead? It all depends on the budget and I'm fine with both scenarios but would prefer we looked to find solutions internally for the RWF positions and pay special attention to the deeper midfield area along with signing two capable CBs who are adept at handling 1v1 situations. To control the game with and without the ball requires CBs and midfielders who are adept on the ball and strong defensively where they can evade, resist pressure and break lines whilst also having the pace and physicality to control or contain defensive transitions in larger space.
I don't think it's difficult to bring in the right profile of players and I do have faith in the likes of Wilcox and Ashworth because they're footballing people. But I am slightly worried about INEOS because they've recently again failed at Nice where they were pipped to 4th spot in the league by a Stade Brestois team that have built a team on meagre means and only spent €500k in the last transfer window. The Nice head coach has departed to Ajax and their Sporting Director is looking to leave due to being disillusioned at how the club is being run. Hopefully we see ambition from INEOS at United and also hope they've learned their lessons from the mistakes made at Nice in the last 3 years.
Antony would have went for the curler there and stuck it wide or hit the first man. It’s amazing what confidence will do to a players game. Amad has been well managed this year. He’s looking stronger and has taken his chances well. I think he’s probably forcing a rethink about Olise if we can’t move Antony on. Nows the time to sell Antony if we don’t believe in him anymore. Take the loss and change it up. Amad has done more in a few games he’s been fully fit than Antony all season. It’s there for all to see
Was it that incredible a performance? I really like him but he is 22 in a few weeks, I don't think that was an earth shattering performance for someone at a first team age for a team with title aspirations. He was also playing on one of our rare good team performances, albeit a part of that. Hopefully get gets chance next season but in reality he will have to do more than he has in his minutes this year to be at a top level.
Can't tell if this is a mistake or not
Agree with this. He's looked better than our other options there for sure but he's not pulled up trees, really. Granted, he's not been given much of a chance and hopefully he can become a regular difference maker with more game time. I was quite 'anti' - thought he was a bit lightweight and didn't impose himself on games enough while having a play style that's easy on the eye - but it's looking like I misjudged him.
Pull your head out of the sand, one of those is never playing for United again
It fits either way right?
Fixed
Maybe, maybe not, I suspect Garnacho gets a rest this weekend so Rashford will play in his place, Diallo will get the game as well and then we'll see
He's one of the best footballers in the squad. The difference in ability between him and Antony is laughable.
Where are the man on this thread that said he wasn't ready
It wasn't a world class performance by any means but it was a high standard. Even outside of the assist and goal his overall game was good and he has a way of controlling the ball that probably only Mainoo also has in this team.
I think the part about being a rare good performance is missing the point as he was a big contributor to this. If Rashford had started, we would have given the ball away a lot more and Bruno typically then reverts to Hollywood pass mode. With Amad, Bruno was able to play a lot more give and go's which helped us be better in possession.
That being said we still have weaknesses in the team and gave the ball away too much.
I like having Garnacho and Amad - they very much offer completely different things. One is pacy, excellent at taking the man on and generally being very direct, while the other is much better at ball retention, link up play etc. It's a good balance in my opinion
Didn't want to admit that he was wrong about Antony ?
I agree that a lot depends on the budget. 2 CBs and 2 CMs are a must given the likely departures there. However if we sell Sancho and Greenwood, that in itself pays for a replacement RW. If we want a like for like replacement for Amad, then it makes sense to go for Olise but if we want to improve the athleticism and speed in the frontline, then it makes sense to go for Nico Williams. Both players are on the radar for the top teams this coming window so signing either will take some doing.
Nice not finishing in the top 4 also has a lot to do with the game plan by the head coach. They were very defensive and getting a lot of wins by a single goal, that was likely to be unsustainable over the full season. So i think that had a lot to do with tactics as opposed to Ineos not showing enough attention to the club. However there are concerns with their ownership as you say, if we go just by their track record at Nice. They haven't consistently finished in the top 4 and made a lot of mistakes. Let's hope that the visibility at United will force them to up their game, their appointments have been solid and they are the ones likely to drive things at the club while Ineos provides strategic advice in the background.
Yea, I think you are right about the pecking order, even if I don’t think Amad would have helped matters for Rangnick or Solskjær if they’d played him ahead of Elanga or Sancho back then, for very different reasons. Remember how close they were to getting lynched and/or sacked much of the time. Could they afforded that?
Gio Van Bronckhorst wouldn’t risk playing Amad for Rangers against Hamilton at that point in his carreer. I think he recognized the cost of developing Amad, the needs, and didn’t see that he stood to gain from that cost, rightly or wrongly.
Mowbray at Sunderland had the patience, but also the time, to develop Amad to perform at a Championship level, and whats more, he had a space in his team for that competence, and even more beneficial maybe, a player alike and different enough to Amad that he worked incredibly well in tandem with (Patrick Roberts), getting the best of both players.
Ironically, at least for those that see Ten Hag as an impediment to Amads chances, I rather believe that it could hurt his opportunities at United with a change in management this summer. At this point, it seems to me Ten Hag is becoming convinced that what Amad can offer the team and his scope for development, is worth sacrificing others’ playing time for and worth what it takes to complement his weaknesses (that he still has a fair few of). It’s not obvious to me that a new man coming from the outside would see it like that, nor even that an Ashworth nor Wilcox will, never having scouted and invested in him in the first place. But I do think that at this point, he has Ten Hag’s attention.
He's a rare positive in our dour season, so I get the excitement. Couple that with him being linked to all the time Antony stunk the place up, you can see why it evokes the reaction it has. I think we need to see a lot more of this though and my heart still sinks every time he gets clattered, as I feel he's never too far away from an injury. He is playing himself into contention to be our first choice RW (long term) though, so hopefully he keeps his place for Brighton and puts another good performance in that will likely secure his place in the final.
Yeah probably true. Will sum up United's last decade quite decently in line with other achievements. We buy 100m asset in Antony that is worth 10m and we will give away asset that still can achieve 100m value for peanuts. To top it all even after all the hassle, not playing for half a year and transferring to a new league and new team he still has more goal involvements (8 goals and 6 assists) in worse team than all but three United players (Bruno, Rasmus, Alejandro).
youtube.com/watch?v=wudN1VRU8J8
It's looking like he is finding his mojo back. Exceptionally two footed, majestic shooting technique, effortlessly beating players, great footballing intelligence. What could have been. Instead we are treated to Antony abominating the right wing.
Sell Rashford, Antony and Sancho and sign Olise.
Time to trim and remould the squad.
It was a really excellent performance. More shots (and equal highest shots on target) than any other player on the pitch, second most passes completed of any attacking player, second most take ons of any attacking player, second best pass completion of any attacking player, only attacking player on either team to make both tackles and interceptions. Topped off with a superb goal and very good assist. Not sure what he needs to do to impress you if last night didn't do the trick!
When you compare his stats with the United player who's been regularly starting in a position he plays (Garnacho) his performance seems even more impressive.
Touches 41vs 23
Passes 28 vs 18
Pass Completion 83% vs 72%
Shots 4 vs 2
Shots on Target 2 vs 1
Take Ons 3 vs 1
Tackles 1 vs 0
Interceptions 1 vs 0
I don't think it was earth shattering in that he wasn't hitting Hazard / Mane / Salah levels or even a level below for that matter (Bernardo, Foden, Saka etc.) but serviceable enough for a top four side. I'd be happy with that type of performance week in week out from a big money signing like Antony.
I still think ETH blind faith with Antony Will ultimately get him sacked when the season finishes, he thinks not but we’ll see?
What was the name of the Sunderland forum someone linked to after the Liverpool game
More importantly after the Liverpool game why hasn’t he played more?
ETH has to answer many questions, Amad is now ready to be included in staring 11 and first or second sub off the bench.
It's true, but certainly we're not living in an ideal world and we will probably struggle to put together a squad with both sufficient quality/potential AND experience at the same time for the foreseeable future so that the young players have an ideal scenario. That just isn't likely - we have some experienced players currently that don't perform and therefore for whatever experience they have it's not really being harnessed in a way that helps, and then we have some young players that are promising but perform like young players do.
Maybe we can make some shrewd purchases that will bring a balance but I think primarily the way INEOS are going to do it is with a younger profile of player for a couple of reasons, FFP and also I don't think the murmurings are they're going to go Galactico anytime soon. So we're probably likely to have a fairly green bunch over the next few years with Garnacho, Hojlund and Mainoo being the focal point and then possibly Amad too. But I'm expecting these players will be added to with youngish players.
You're largely right and it is great to have the 2 here but there is absolutely not a chance that Garnacho is currently better at taking on players than Amad. Garnacho's dribbling ability leaves an awful lot to be desired which I hope will improve as he gets stronger.
I don't think that's necessarily the only way they would do it. Their Nice side has a 40 year old Dante still playing 30+ games, I think it's a balance they will strike with some experienced professionals in their as well. We can't just sell a load of senior players and replace them with a load of young players, adding to an already green squad.
What they've clearly shown is they are going to make every penny count, by slashing every possible cost they can. We'll be relying very heavily on the recruitment team to work within a very tight budget.
Probably a conversation for a separate thread however Garnacho dribbled past Ben White on at least 3 occasions on Sunday. His dribbling is very good for a 19 year old. It's his end product that is lacking at the moment.
What puzzled me is when he started Forson ahead of Amad vs Fulham. It didn't make any sense at the time and it makes even less sense now.
Not sure how stats would measure it but dont remember him losing the ball really. Under a fair bit of pressure at times too.
It's irrelevant, his footballing ability was never in question and the events at the club over the last decade have nothing to do with it either, the only opinion that any reasonable person can make is that he is a cnut who should have no place club once the legal obligations are fulfilled, ie: his contract expires or he is soldYeah probably true. Will sum up United's last decade quite decently in line with other achievements. We buy 100m asset in Antony that is worth 10m and we will give away asset that still can achieve 100m value for peanuts. To top it all even after all the hassle, not playing for half a year and transferring to a new league and new team he still has more goal involvements (8 goals and 6 assists) in worse team than all but three United players (Bruno, Rasmus, Alejandro).
youtube.com/watch?v=wudN1VRU8J8
It's looking like he is finding his mojo back. Exceptionally two footed, majestic shooting technique, effortlessly beating players, great footballing intelligence. What could have been. Instead we are treated to Antony abominating the right wing.
Goal and assist on his 2nd PL start after basically not getting a look in all season? Yeah man it was a pretty fecking good performance. Also the "team" performance wasn't even very good, Amad/Bruno/Mainoo were basically the reason it looked more cohesive than normal anyways so not giving him credit for that is strange.
He's gotten essentially 0 meaningful minutes outside of ET in the FA cup and these last two starts so saying "he has to do more" is just strange to me. It's not like we gave him month or two of consistent playing time where he was failing to deliver anything.
He had one bad giveaway where he was caught by Bruno G in our own half. Other than that you're correct.
Stop using Antony as the reason for Amad not playing...
Minutes in the league...
Antony has 1332 mins
Rashford has 2263 mins
Garnacho has 2486 mins
Rashford and Garnacho are the reason Amad hasn't played (plus the 20-odd games he has missed due to injury)
Minutes in the league...
Antony has 1332 mins
Rashford has 2263 mins
Garnacho has 2486 mins
Rashford and Garnacho are the reason Amad hasn't played (plus the 20-odd games he has missed due to injury)