I don’t see that at all with Antony in terms of physical qualities.. He may be very quick from stop to start over five yards but he is slow over the next 15-20 yards. He is constantly beating defenders then having that same defender easily catch him again and either push him off the ball or reroute him backwards.
That ability to beat the man initially looks great on highlight videos but is ultimately not that valuable unless you actually do something with the advantage you gain.
Well, the stop/start is the sudden-ness I’m referring to. The fastest player on your team over 100m is probably a defender you wouldn’t think of as being fleet at all. Messi probably isn’t considered fast over 20 yards either, at least not in a straight line foot race. But over 5 yards, when change of direction is involved?
But the game is often decided over those 2 to 6 yard spaces, where change of direction and the heretofore mentioned “sudden” ability come into play.
Tom Brady made careers for slot receivers who had little business even being in the league aside from that trait, and the fact that because of it LB’s and safeties couldn’t stop them from getting to certain spots whenever they wanted.
Now…I believe Antony is fast as well. The problem isnt his legs. He lets his head slow him up: indecision, stopping and letting defenders catch up. But that can improve. The more confidence he gets in that area, the more direct he will be, and the faster he will look. There are, of course, “if’s” in there in terms of his development. But if I were a United fan I’d feel pretty good about his trajectory.