[pacifictheme]

Hi season has been salvaged with these strikes. I think they've nearly all been important as well.

Still think he's too rigidly stuck to the right. It's not working for him.

And when he shifted to the left he could suddenly deliver a meaningful cross. A left footed winger crossing from the left works. Who knew?

This is a criticism of ten hag, not Antony. ETH clearly wants him to stay right for our shape. We play better when he plays.

People have gone mad for that run Pellistri did but that chance Antony had and should have squared was just as good in terms of movement and is way more what eth is looking for with the way we play.

That's what Antony need to do more of imo. Clever interchanges with other players. That one two absolutely killed betis and should have resulted in a goal.

 

[Brightonian]

Criticisms on here are hysterical. He's taking a while to settle in and warm up. Last night was one of his better games for us so far, with significantly more improvement required before he's delivering what it seems ETH thinks he is capable of. He's mostly keeping his place, however, because while the goal/assist numbers and attacking confidence are still building towards the required level, he is delivering the other parts of his job diligently and effectively, and clearly following his manager's instructions.

People are using Nani as an unflattering comparison, but this season Antony is on track to deliver a better goals:games ratio than Nani ever did at United, even as a settled senior member of a domestically dominant team. Yes, the assists are obviously a different story, but again, Nani a settled star of a dominant team feeding chances to Rooney, Tevez. Antony first season, 22 years old, feeding chances to Weghorst.

 

[NoPace]

What I don't understand is this: When he switched to the left he put some beautiful and dangerous crosses in the box. But when he plays on the right and he cuts inside (still on his left) his crosses are always terribly shit, either aiming for no one or hitting the first defender. How is it possible?

Some it's the difference between inswinging and outswinging, but his inswinging shots from the right are always very well placed. I don't get t. It must be a mental thing.

I think it's fair to wait and see until we get a striker he trusts to get on the end of things is signed before we judge his crossing.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Nonsense. It's been stated by many on here, that Antony will score a few of these goals each season. So he should. he plays enough games and sees a lot of the ball. All our attackers should be looking to score a few goals and create assists.. that's their job.

I watched the first half, and it was a typical Antony game... he then scores a great goal (cut inside etc, etc..), we win 4-1. Look, I give him credit for scoring and keeping going, but I tell you something, this is a guy that seriously needs to work at his game. It is sooooooooo limited, one-dimensional, and it will not cut it at any ambitious, big club.

£80m???

Do me a favour. It's like he doesn't understand the game? he needs to adapt to the Premiership... quickly. He's no good for us in the long run with this form. No way. Sorry.

Mess of a post. You’re expecting a player to score a long range worldie how frequently then?

 

[crossy1686]

He's taking time to settle in and he's infuriating at times but there's a good, raw player there. If nothing else his drive and determination will take him places, even if that's just to the level where his cut inside and shoot ability is unstoppable even if you know he's going to do it (worked for Robben?).

What I will say though, annoying as he can be, he's still done more than Sancho has since he arrived and he gets a free pass due to his mental/non mental problems or whatever it was.

 

[Robbie Boy]

He's like Nani; he will definitely frustrate at times, but he can come up with moments of magic, too.

 

[Thiagoal]

I really like him and think he’ll become a major player for us! We are a much better team when he plays and gives us balance! Great goals too

 

[simplyared]

If he'd have had a right foot that chip would've gone in. He lost a couple of seconds getting it on his left which meant the goalie got closer to him. Hence needing more loft on the chip.
Crazy a player at that level is dependant 100% on one foot.

 

[El Zoido]

Still annoyed he took the shot on instead of squaring it. It would’ve been one of the best goals we’ve scored all season, the quick passing leading up to it was sublime. We had three players standing onside ready to tap it in.

 

[Putting all banter aside]

People are using Nani as an unflattering comparison, but this season Antony is on track to deliver a better goals:games ratio than Nani ever did at United, even as a settled senior member of a domestically dominant team. Yes, the assists are obviously a different story, but again, Nani a settled star of a dominant team feeding chances to Rooney, Tevez. Antony first season, 22 years old, feeding chances to Weghorst.

Nani 07/08: 18 g/a out of 41 matches
08/09: 9 g/a in 30 matches (mostly as a sub)
09/10: 21 g/a in 34 matches
10/11: 30 g/a in 49 matches
11/12: 24 g/a in 40 matches
12/13: 9 g/a in 20 matches

Antony this season: 8 g/a in 28 matches.

Don't have to be a match teacher to see that he ain't reaching Nani's stats so far.

 

[Abraxas]

Weird to think how many times he keeps scoring the same goal. You'd slap yourself if you let that happen as an opposition full back/DM that should be covering. He's very good at that curling shot, it seems to be his one major threat right now.

 

[El Zoido]

Weird to think how many times he keeps scoring the same goal. You'd slap yourself if you let that happen as an opposition full back/DM that should be covering. He's very good at that curling shot, it seems to be his one major threat right now.

You’d think defenders would shut it down sooner or later, but Robben spent a 20 year career doing it from the other side, so maybe not..

 

[Solius]

At least we're furstrated he's missing chances rather than not even getting into those positions. With better decision making/execution he scores a hat-trick/two goals & assist yesterday.

Hopefully will come with age as he's still only 23.

 

[Solius]

You’d think defenders would shut it down sooner or later, but Robben spent a 20 year career doing it from the other side, so maybe not..

I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.

 

[redcucumber]

Our 3rd highest goalscorer is something you'd rather expect from a forward player who in minutes played is also in the top-3 forward players. 28 matches for United, 7 goals and 1 assist is mediocre at best.

I liked his play yesterday most of the time, and loathed his selfishness at times, but come on, for a 85 million signing I expect our bar is a bit higher than '3rd best goalscorer' based mostly on EL and cup goals.

He's a 22 year old that joined just over half a year ago. The amount we signed him for is completely irrelevant and isn't his problem. He's scored goals against Arsenal, Man City, Barcelona, and the goal to put us back ahead last night. 'I expect our bar is a bit higher than '3rd best goalscorer' based mostly on EL and cup goals.' ah, so the winner against Barcelona meant shit to you then. He's also scored more goals in the PL than in the cups as well, but don't let that stop you talking nonsense.

 

[GlasgowCeltic]

You’d think defenders would shut it down sooner or later, but Robben spent a 20 year career doing it from the other side, so maybe not..

gives me Andros Townsend vibes more than Robben, Townsend did score some absolute bangers though

 

[Hoof the ball]

I mean, come on.....

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[Ronaldo's ego]

Thought he played well last night, definitely tried to be more direct. He’ll always be held up to the price tag but that’s not on him, with some time and experience there’s a player in there.

 

[redcucumber]

I mean, come on.....

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Pellistri deserves the right wing spot because of a decent 15 minute cameo? I can't stand football Twitter. They all talk like fecking morons.

 

[Putting all banter aside]

He's a 22 year old that joined just over half a year ago. The amount we signed him for is completely irrelevant and isn't his problem. He's scored goals against Arsenal, Man City, Barcelona, and the goal to put us back ahead last night. 'I expect our bar is a bit higher than '3rd best goalscorer' based mostly on EL and cup goals.' ah, so the winner against Barcelona meant shit to you then. He's also scored more goals in the PL than in the cups as well, but don't let that stop you talking nonsense.

He's 23 and I do think the amount we pay for a player is not an irrelevant factor. If you pay the amount for Antony (or Murdyk), you expect them to be decisive quicker than when you pay a smaller fee. I am more than willing to give him some credit and I liked what I saw yesterday, but framing his signing as a success until now is just frankly ridiculous.

And scoring more goals in the PL than in cups might, just might have something to do with the amount of games you play in a season in each one of them.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

I mean, come on.....

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Morons.

Should we completely forget he scored the most important goal of the tie (and a worldie at that) because he didn’t pass there?

 

[Borys]

He's a 22 year old that joined just over half a year ago. The amount we signed him for is completely irrelevant and isn't his problem. He's scored goals against Arsenal, Man City, Barcelona, and the goal to put us back ahead last night. 'I expect our bar is a bit higher than '3rd best goalscorer' based mostly on EL and cup goals.' ah, so the winner against Barcelona meant shit to you then. He's also scored more goals in the PL than in the cups as well, but don't let that stop you talking nonsense.

To put this into a perspective, he's 6th player in terms of goal contributions (don't really care if that's a goal or assist) in all competitions. Actually on the same level of Martial an Garnacho, despite playing more minutes than both of them combined.

In EPL he's our 9th player in terms of goal contributions. All of Sancho, Martial and Garnacho have more contribution than him.

He's one of our least productive players so that line of defending him is very weak. I think he can easily improve his output if he starts looking for his teammates though, that's one big positive. I also think it's pretty much clear he was not brought here because of goals and assists, because those were never impressive, so we should probably take this under consideration and cut him some slack. And I'm telling this as one of his biggest critics.

 

[georgipep]

To put this into a perspective, he's 6th player in terms of goal contributions (don't really care if that's a goal or assist) in all competitions. Actually on the same level of Martial an Garnacho, despite playing more minutes than both of them combined.

In EPL he's our 9th player in terms of goal contributions. All of Sancho, Martial and Garnacho have more contribution than him.

He's one of our least productive players so that line of defending him is very weak. I think he can easily improve his output if he starts looking for his teammates though, that's one big positive. I also think it's pretty much clear he was not brought here because of goals and assists, because those were never impressive, so we should probably take this under consideration and give him some slack. And I'm telling this as one of his biggest critics.

I suggest you write a passionate letter (or perhaps an email?) to Ten Hag and let him know of all this.

He must be in deep error to keep playing Antony regardless of all this.

I think the explanation is partially hidden in this image:

(that's Antony's seasonal heatmap)

 

[redcucumber]

He's 23 and I do think the amount we pay for a player is not an irrelevant factor. If you pay the amount for Antony (or Murdyk), you expect them to be decisive quicker than when you pay a smaller fee. I am more than willing to give him some credit and I liked what I saw yesterday, but framing his signing as a success until now is just frankly ridiculous.

And scoring more goals in the PL than in cups might, just might have something to do with the amount of games you play in a season in each one of them.

He was 22 when he signed, he turned 23 the other day. Who the hell is framing him as a success? You were the one denigrating his contributions as mediocre at best. It's just nonsense, as proven by your comments trying to minimise the goals he's scored despite him getting some vitaly important ones.

If you want to use his transfer fee as a stick to beat him with I'll leave you to it. He's adding value to the team, scoring important goals and showing potential.

 

[Ludens the Red]

He’s definitely been listening to the criticism of him or more likely Ten Haag has had some words. He actually took people on far more than usual and ran into the spaces. Still elements to be improved but that was probably one of his best games here.

 

[Borys]

I suggest you write a passionate letter (or perhaps an email?) to Ten Hag and let him know of all this.

He must be in deep error to keep playing Antony regardless of all this.

I think the explanation is partially hidden in this image:

(that's Antony's seasonal heatmap)

And what do you make of this?

 

[saivet]

More bed wetting because he didn't pass now. The picture makes it look so easy, but in reality it happened so fast, plus we were already a couple goals up.

Some people don't deserve nice things.

The pass was easy, especially if taken on his right foot. No need to make it out to be more difficult than it was was as it doesn't even need to be a good pass as there were three players onside too. That said, it wasn't in an important moment or in a tight game so it doesn't really matter.

 

[georgipep]

And what do you make of this?

He keeps width, stretches the pitch laterally and creates space for him and his teammates.

On top of that, he is among the best in retaining possession, which is incredibly important for Ten Hag's preferred style of play:

He is the safe option for all his teammates when they need to pass the ball. Give it to Antony and chances are, he won't be dispossessed.

 

[Abraxas]

Just rewatched the highlights and bloody hell he needs to work on converting the bread and butter chances. Forgot how many great opportunities he had last night. The sort of night the top wide forwards get a hattrick and pad their numbers. Promising he found himself on the end of them rather than staying glued to the touchline.

 

[Borys]

He keeps width, stretches the pitch laterally and creates space for him and his teammates.

On top of that, he is among the best in retaining possession, which is incredibly important for Ten Hag's preferred style of play:

He is the safe option for all his teammates when they need to pass the ball. Give it to Antony and chances are, he won't be dispossessed.

And this is why I said " I also think it's pretty much clear he was not brought here because of goals and assists, because those were never impressive, so we should probably take this under consideration and give him some slack. ". I believe we're on the same page here?

I'm ok with him playing on RW. He is useful in this ball carrier/right midfielder role. I just don't rate him as an attacker at all. I think that's the correct way to look at Antony.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

And this is why I said " I also think it's pretty much clear he was not brought here because of goals and assists, because those were never impressive, so we should probably take this under consideration and give him some slack. ". I believe we're on the same page here?

I'm ok with him playing on RW. He is useful in this ball carrier/right midfielder role. I just don't rate him as an attacker at all. I think that's the correct way to look at Antony.

Harsh considering the two absolutely vital worldies he’s scored in the past two weeks mind.

 

[Putting all banter aside]

He was 22 when he signed, he turned 23 the other day. Who the hell is framing him as a success? You were the one denigrating his contributions as mediocre at best. It's just nonsense, as proven by your comments trying to minimise the goals he's scored despite him getting some vitaly important ones.

If you want to use his transfer fee as a stick to beat him with I'll leave you to it. He's adding value to the team, scoring important goals and showing potential.

I am denigrating his contributions as mediocre at best because they are mediocre at best. 8 G/A in 30 matches is just not that good, I think we can all agree on that. Don't have to react all snippy about it.

 

[Borys]

Harsh considering the two absolutely vital worldies he’s scored in the past two weeks mind.

His shooting is quite alright tbh, but he also takes gazillion of shots. All in all I can definitely see us having a better winger than him, but I do believe he was not brought here to mirror Rashford on RW. IMO that's a healthy look at things.

 

[DavelinaJolie]

He even made the chip with his left foot. The quality in him is obvious, as is the absence of his right foot which is problematic.

 

[Beachryan]

He's at his best when he's got players close to him. So he's kind of the opposite of a typical winger, who likes space. It was clear in the first half that he couldn't out-pace the full back, and he didn't kno what to do. But when Bruno and AWB got around him, he's pretty good at exchanging touches and creating chances.

He's a bit slower, but not unlike Sancho on that front. I think they'd both be pretty good 'pep' players, and would fit into a posession team a lot better.

Will we won day get there? Dunno. Rashford and Bruno are creating and getting the goals, and both work best in transition.

 

[Plant0x84]

Best summed up by Alternative MUFC who says
“He’s a one trick pony, I can’t deny that, But when that trick is rattling in bangers in that fashion (vs Betis) I can’t complain!

 

[redcucumber]

Best summed up by Alternative MUFC who says
“He’s a one trick pony, I can’t deny that, But when that trick is rattling in bangers in that fashion (vs Betis) I can’t complain!

I don't see him as a one trick pony. The goals against Arsenal and Everton showed that he can be devastating when he gets in behind defenders, and the chance he made with Bruno was created through intricate, one touch passing and moving (despite fluffing the one-on-one by not squaring it). He just needs to get in those areas more consistently.

 

[Plant0x84]

I don't see him as a one trick pony. The goals against Arsenal and Everton showed that he can be devastating when he gets in behind defenders, and the chance he made with Bruno was created through intricate, one touch passing and moving (despite fluffing the one-on-one by not squaring it). He just needs to get in those areas more consistently.

I’m not a hater at all, but he’s absolutely a one trick pony currently. Infact he’s a one legged pony.

He cannot use his right foot for love nor money. Plenty of times last night he went down the outside and was in a great place to rap his right around it and ping in a cross, but he always has to cut inside and shoot on his left or stop and pass backwards. He even tried once to flick a cross with the outside of the left foot and ruined a promising move. It can be infuriating.

He’s like Zoolander. When he masters ‘Magnum’ and learns to turn left he’ll be killer!

 

[hmchan]

He keeps width, stretches the pitch laterally and creates space for him and his teammates.

On top of that, he is among the best in retaining possession, which is incredibly important for Ten Hag's preferred style of play:

He is the safe option for all his teammates when they need to pass the ball. Give it to Antony and chances are, he won't be dispossessed.

I really doubt if retaining possession is more important than take-ons as a winger. The low number of attempts may be attributed to ten Hag's preferred style, but the 27.8% successful rate is shocking.

 

[georgipep]

I really doubt if retaining possession is more important than take-ons as a winger. The low number of attempts may be attributed to ten Hag's preferred style, but the 27.8% successful rate is shocking.

The fact that he starts every game when fit kind of says it all, though.