[Jev]

He holds the width well.

This gets mentioned a lot about him but that's surely the most backhanded compliment you can give to a winger. We're praising him for standing there?

Thought he was decent today, better signs recently.

 

[Telsim]

He is just not it. One of those shots is going to in eventually, but never going to happen consistently enough to be useful. It's just so predictable. Either a shot or a pass towards someone like Casemiro making a run inside the box. Child's play for good defenders.

 

[Shane88]

Can't fecking beat a fullback.

 

[DavelinaJolie]

I thought he was good today. He holds the width well.

Does he? He gets the width then immediately turns inside on to his left foot. Or stands in front of the defender waving his leg around.

Okay, I'm being somewhat glib, but just once to try and use his right foot for a cross so the defender at least has to respect there's some kind of chance he might do it again.

 

[CloneMC16]

I can't get over his lack of right foot. He did beat his man on the outside once tonight. As soon as he gets to the byline, he cuts back onto his left. If he could use his right, he could easily cross in that scenario. It makes him too predictable. He'll stand infront of a defender, and you know he's going to try and cut inside 95% of the time.

The shot he had that just went over was good. People have said he's been better recently. I'm still not seeing it.

 

[Malone_Post]

I thought he was good today. He holds the width well.

Hell start scoring these shots he’s getting off eventually.

Will he? His goal scoring record has never been particularly good. He’ll score a few screamers a season (as he already has so far) but considering it’s one of his only go to moves, and tries it at least 5 times a game, it’s not really that impressive.

He’s just never going to be a top player. He doesn’t have the skill set and has far to many flaws in his game. A winger who can’t beat a man, can’t use his weak foot & doesn’t have much (any) creativity will never be top level.

 

[Redlyn]

Frankly not sure what ETH saw in him worth that amount of money. He looks like a 30m player.

 

[croadyman]

He's starting to really find those little passes to open teams up the last couple of games. The lack of right foot is still an issue. He beat his man once and turned back. I'm sure ETH will be pushing him to be confident to make a cross from there. Been a bit better at beating a man too. Overall, for me, much improved the last few weeks and most importantly he is very involved and not hiding. If he can perfect the left foot shot and keep providing those great passes then he'll be a very good player.

Yeah should put the ball in after beating player

 

[croadyman]

Tried some stuff today but still doesn't look like he's remotely interested in beating people. If Ten Hag is satisfied then fair play, but it looks like Mudryk was the kind of winger we were hoping for.

Yeah he's more that getting you on the edge of your seat type player,however prepared to give him time to prove me wrong

 

[El Jefe]

I might have judged him too soon. He wasn't great by any means but recently I'm starting to see some of his talent and some of the untapped potential he has. Still has a long of work to do but he seems like the type that wants to improve.

He's made more key passes in the last four games than he had all season. I'm hoping competition between him and Sancho will push both of them to the next level.

 

[sincher]

He makes some wrong decisions but you can see his talent for sure. Can pass, can strike the ball, has some tricks, and he works hard. A lot of really good ingredients.

 

[Real Name]

He's talented and technically very good, he just needs to work on that right foot. There were instances where he dribbled past opponents and there was a nice opportunity to put a cross in but then he shifted to his left leg again.

 

[podurban2]

Will he? His goal scoring record has never been particularly good. He’ll score a few screamers a season (as he already has so far) but considering it’s one of his only go to moves, and tries it at least 5 times a game, it’s not really that impressive.

He’s just never going to be a top player. He doesn’t have the skill set and has far to many flaws in his game. A winger who can’t beat a man, can’t use his weak foot & doesn’t have much (any) creativity will never be top level.

You have watched him barely half a season (22yo and new league) and you already know all this. Impressive. Obviously Ten Hag disagrees but what does he know, we have Post Malone here.

 

[Ayoba]

Thought he was poor today. Bruno had a much better impact when he was moved to the right

 

[Borys]

He's a very good example of how stats in football work. xG/90= 0,24 what translates to his 5 goals in 20 starts. This would confirm what I thought of him in the beginning, he was on a purple patch with 3 goals in first 3 games, now he's getting closer to the "mean".
xAG/90=0,08 so every 12,5 games he should get an assist. He has one which is about right, and he is likely to get another soon.

If we translate that to goals per shot, he gets a goal every 13 shots, and he avarages 3,4 shots per game. Now the problem is that he can take 8 shots against Nottingham Forest but 0/1 against the likes of Arsenal and City, which will not allow him to cut inside. That means he will be an useful tool against weaker teams that sit back and invite pressure, but I wouldn't count on him doing much against the big boys (again, apart from the purple patch he had).

I rate his shooting quite high, I think he's good at pulling the trigger from range, it's a high reward - low risk scenario against weaker teams (because worse case scenario we lose ball, who cares) but do we want him to shoot at every occassion against Barcelona, considering he gets a goal every 13 shots? I am not sure. It's good that he seems to be changing his game a bit, he made 3 good opening passes recently what is great because I don't remember him doing that before at all.

 

[Bebestation]

The Rashford haters are just bored.

 

[jeepers]

That on-the-spot spin move is starting to get to me. I like the guy and I’m sure he will improve as he adapts to the league/finds consistency as a young flair attacker, but goddamn that spin move is so annoying.

 

[Jev]

Thought he was poor today. Bruno had a much better impact when he was moved to the right

The game was much more open then and he had a much better frontline alongside him. Not a fair comparison.

 

[Sylar]

That on-the-spot spin move is starting to get to me. I like the guy and I’m sure he will improve as he adapts to the league/finds consistency as a young flair attacker, but goddamn that spin move is so annoying.

Hopefully he does it every game and always within the first ten minutes

 

[Malone_Post]

You have watched him barely half a season (22yo and new league) and you already know all this. Impressive. Obviously Ten Hag disagrees but what does he know, we have Post Malone here.

What a compelling argument, you’ve really torn my points apart there. I’ve now seen the light. Antony is an incredible dribbler, constantly beating people and getting in behind. He is exceptionally two footed, and he lays chance after chance on a plate for his teammates with his immaculate creativity.

 

[Nou_Camp99]

He looks like he's got goals in him that's for sure. Unlucky with a great effort last night.

However once again his chance creation was nil. Not sure how he's going to get lots of assists when he refuses to cross the ball. He's averaging 1.5 crosses a game since he joined. That's just nowhere near good enough. With Rashford in the team who is there to score our goals and maybe not put lots of crosses in we need someone on the right who is the opposite of him.

Has a lot to do to win me over. He's clearly got talent but he has so many weaknesses to his game and for 86m that's worrying.

 

[Borys]

You have watched him barely half a season (22yo and new league) and you already know all this. Impressive. Obviously Ten Hag disagrees but what does he know, we have Post Malone here.

I get what you're saying but "half a season" means he featured in 22 games across all competitions (starting 20 of them). How many games more do you think we need to be able to evaluate Antony?

 

[Cassidy]

I get what you're saying but "half a season" means he featured in 22 games across all competitions (starting 20 of them). How many games more do you think we need to be able to evaluate Antony?

Do you remember Evras first 6 months?

 

[Godfather]

Thought he was fine yesterday

 

[tenpoless]

Actually he was almost out of the Sao Paulo team THREE times so he had to deal with critisism a lot in his early days.

Never mind the horrible accent of the commentator but you might recognise the critisism he received for being too wasteful and not attacking the space enough. IOW: This isn't something new but consider it work in progress.

So he's done it multiple times (proofing people wrong) in just a few years. That's crazy. His rise has been astronomical considering the very humble beginning. Won't surprise me if he does it again. Some people just have it in them to bounce back higher after they fall. The video is actually quite inspiring.

 

[Smores]

He's a very good example of how stats in football work. xG/90= 0,24 what translates to his 5 goals in 20 starts. This would confirm what I thought of him in the beginning, he was on a purple patch with 3 goals in first 3 games, now he's getting closer to the "mean".
xAG/90=0,08 so every 12,5 games he should get an assist. He has one which is about right, and he is likely to get another soon.

If we translate that to goals per shot, he gets a goal every 13 shots, and he avarages 3,4 shots per game. Now the problem is that he can take 8 shots against Nottingham Forest but 0/1 against the likes of Arsenal and City, which will not allow him to cut inside. That means he will be an useful tool against weaker teams that sit back and invite pressure, but I wouldn't count on him doing much against the big boys (again, apart from the purple patch he had).

I rate his shooting quite high, I think he's good at pulling the trigger from range, it's a high reward - low risk scenario against weaker teams (because worse case scenario we lose ball, who cares) but do we want him to shoot at every occassion against Barcelona, considering he gets a goal every 13 shots? I am not sure. It's good that he seems to be changing his game a bit, he made 3 good opening passes recently what is great because I don't remember him doing that before at all.

I said in another thread that we've got the highest percentage of shots outside the box in the league, 40%. Antony is the reason why we hold that unwelcome record.

It's just far too wasteful and ruins so many attacks. People are giving him the benefit of the doubt right now but it won't last, no player can have that many shots and so little output.

He needs to offer something else. If ETH can develop AWBs limitations then I'm sure Antony can be developed but we're not seeing any sign of it yet.

 

[Blood Mage]

He's a useful cog in Ten Hag's machine for his work-rate and attacking movement but that's it. Not the £85m game-changing flair player we were all hoping for.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

There’s been a marked improvement in his performances over the last few weeks. Long may it continue.

 

[podurban2]

What a compelling argument, you’ve really torn my points apart there. I’ve now seen the light. Antony is an incredible dribbler, constantly beating people and getting in behind. He is exceptionally two footed, and he lays chance after chance on a plate for his teammates with his immaculate creativity.

Oh I didn't realise I had to address your very compelling analysis and arguments, backed by strong evidence and empirical facts.

I get what you're saying but "half a season" means he featured in 22 games across all competitions (starting 20 of them). How many games more do you think we need to be able to evaluate Antony?

Anyway, for both of you, here's Antony's statistics compared to Rashford's stats last season.

https://www.squawka.com/en/comparison-matrix/?compare=-CcBKy9gLsdh29VJN7MnA

 

[JustCoco]

He reminds me of Coutinho, minus the conversion rate.
Countinho would cut in on the left, curl a shot and despite doing it time and time again, it would work.

Antony on the other had does the same thing minus the goals.

 

[Malone_Post]

Oh I didn't realise I had to address your very compelling analysis and arguments, backed by strong evidence and empirical facts.

Any kind of argument that even attempted to address the points I made would have been a start. But again, you’re still yet to do that.

Anyway, for both of you, here's Antony's statistics compared to Rashford's stats last season.

https://www.squawka.com/en/comparison-matrix/?compare=-CcBKy9gLsdh29VJN7MnA.
.

So Antony is having a statistically better season then then the worst of Rashfords career. I am impressed.

 

[Borys]

Oh I didn't realise I had to address your very compelling analysis and arguments, backed by strong evidence and empirical facts.



Anyway, for both of you, here's Antony's statistics compared to Rashford's stats last season.

https://www.squawka.com/en/comparison-matrix/?compare=-CcBKy9gLsdh29VJN7MnA

Can you make a specific point based on that stats? Because I don't know what you're trying to tell me. There's a lot of numbers there influenced by a lot of factors.

Do you remember Evras first 6 months?

I remember he looked pretty bad in his first months, it was clear he was not the same player as for Monaco. With Antony I don't get that feeling, he is the same player he was at Ajax, and I'd argue after watching him play regularly for over 20 games we have pretty much full picture what are his strengths and weaknesses. I mean I don't know why people expect him to start using his right foot for example.

 

[Red Royal]

Hopefully EtH will coach him into using his right foot more often. He seems to either not have the skillset or confidence to go past his fulllback and whip in a cross. Add that to his game and he will be just fine.

 

[Jeffthered]

Does he? He gets the width then immediately turns inside on to his left foot. Or stands in front of the defender waving his leg around.

Okay, I'm being somewhat glib, but just once to try and use his right foot for a cross so the defender at least has to respect there's some kind of chance he might do it again.

A limited player. We're now trying to justify his performances and his role in the team. As I stated, Sancho walks into that team if he gains a little form.

Antony is playing a game which lacks definition. What is he? A creator, playmaker? He's not a winger. Not a goalscorer. He can't cross (I really don't understand that he seems unable to cross, even with his left foot..). He rarely provides assists.

I think his best bet is to follow the Joao Felix model..drift around off the forwards, and get in the game that way, as he did in the first leg. This role suits him, because he doesn't have time to think. Because he isn't a thinking player.

ETH has a big job with him.

 

[Rapsel]

So he's done it multiple times (proofing people wrong) in just a few years. That's crazy. His rise has been astronomical considering the very humble beginning. Won't surprise me if he does it again. Some people just have it in them to bounce back higher after they fall. The video is actually quite inspiring.

It is. I sometimes wonder how that little girl is doing.

 

[MadDogg]

That on-the-spot spin move is starting to get to me. I like the guy and I’m sure he will improve as he adapts to the league/finds consistency as a young flair attacker, but goddamn that spin move is so annoying.

Hasn't he only done it twice since joining? Once early in the season that got a lot of attention (was it against Arsenal?), then he did it almost quietly in this match where the commentators and probably most spectators seemed to miss it.

Meh, it's a bit of flair. As long as he doesn't do it stupidly in ways that actually destroy an opportunity for us, I'm ambivalent towards it. If anything I remember the first time he did it actually ended up working well as it gave him a bit more time for one of our other players to make the run that Antony then proceeded to find.

 

[Skills]

He reminds me of Coutinho, minus the conversion rate.
Countinho would cut in on the left, curl a shot and despite doing it time and time again, it would work.

Antony on the other had does the same thing minus the goals.

It's like nobody has ever had the balls to tell him he's not very good at shooting.

 

[Drainy]

Give him time.

He has been frustrating but he's new to the club and the league and under pressure and forcing it a bit. Once he relaxes we should start to see better decision making.

 

[JustCoco]

It's like nobody has ever had the balls to tell him he's not very good at shooting.

I'd rather he uses that dribbling skill he believes he possesses to run past defenders rather than cutting in and cluttering the centre

 

[podurban2]

Can you make a specific point based on that stats? Because I don't know what you're trying to tell me. There's a lot of numbers there influenced by a lot of factors.


I remember he looked pretty bad in his first months, it was clear he was not the same player as for Monaco. With Antony I don't get that feeling, he is the same player he was at Ajax, and I'd argue after watching him play regularly for over 20 games we have pretty much full picture what are his strengths and weaknesses. I mean I don't know why people expect him to start using his right foot for example.

But your groundbreaking analysis of Antony's goals and assists only being a purple patch is not influenced by a lot of factors? I'm guessing the "statistical wizard" thing is a joke.

Regarding beating his man and using his right foot, two Ajax fans on here said that he has those capabilities in his tool box but that he is probably playing it safe and using his strengths, but that with time he is likely to exhibit more than what he has shown thus far.