I don't fall for the memes. Theres a decent player somewhere inside him. And we are not in position of having less wingers on our squad. He should not start over Amad but still we need him on the bench at least
Antony dos Santos (Out)
- Thread starter Samid
- Start date
One of the academy can take his place
Having a youngster wont be that worse as Antony is already that bad
With proper use, he could be our Divock Origi. And I’m not even joking.
For about 5 games yes.
Agreed. At least a youngster will have a lot to prove and perform better to try and make the first team and earn plenty of opportunities.
Ennis. Easily over Antony if it means getting Antony out of the club.
ETH won't like it but this absolute disaster of a signing is on him anyway.
Have to say, I agree. Plenty of positive attributes. He’s a bit like Fred though, he’ll do things that have you shaking your head.
He only played one preseason game with Rosenborg, never to be seen again. Not exactly a recipe for breaking into senior team the following season.
Now, you can argue that this was a preseason where Erik and INEOS gave Sancho minutes so they could sell him and that impeded Ennis getting minutes but regardless I think chancwes of Ennis featuring in any of our games this year / until Erik gets sacked are close to 2.2%
I cant believe what i am reading, that there are fans who want to keep Antony.. Its just crasy... He offers zero beside a number in the squad, its almost as we play with 10 men when he plays.. so anybody will be a better option.
I’m gonna say something controversial. In the short term I think we could benefit from using him for his work levels of getting up and down. I feel like his tracking back will make a big difference right now
Sure but its not about how likely is a young player to make it here.
Your point was that there is nobody at all in the club to replace Antony.
Keeping in mind to replace Antony all you have to do is provide decent work rate. That's it. Anything more and it's actually an improvement on him.
So I think someone like Ennis could replace him no problem.
Unfortunately it's become fashionable to hate him.
I would much rather keep him around as a rotation/Europa League option. He has some good traits and has a great work rate. It's not his fault the club paid more than his true worth (which I feel is the main stick that people use to beat him with).
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Agreed.
While Antony offers absolutely zero end product or threat, he is still a useful presence on the pitch for his press and other contribution.
There’s games where he’ll prove useful.
Obviously a squad position that needs to be improved on in future windows but no sense in dumping him for a massive loss now with very little cover, and there were bigger priorities in the squad. Dump him later for slightly less loss, and when we can actively replace him.
I still have hope there’s some coaching that could develop him to be less wasteful, I’ve lost hope on him developing much but some basic aspects to the game like prioritising laying off to a near player rather than “trying” things in the final third. Make him less risk averse on the ball in those positions.
If we get first-season Antony back, he's fine as a squad player for a year or two. If we get the Antony of last season then let's just hope we don't see much of him.
The issue is we don’t need just presence.
This team can’t score nor create.
And Antony rarely offers any of those. As a forward, those are your main responsibilities.
It's not a fashion. It's just saying what you see. A winger with almost no goal threat or creativity. Lots of people are saying tjat because that's actually the case.
Added to that his personality on the pitch is as bad as his right foot.
he's garbage.
We are now a development school for potentially good players that cost 80 million?
He essentially refused to warm up vs Liverpool. Awful player with an awful attitude. There's no point in loaning him out though when we're already short on wingers. There has to be an obligation to buy in there, which I doubt is remotely possible.
The price I hang on ETH
The lack of skill and courage to take on his man I hang on Antony
What?!
Can't believe some people are saying that an 80mill winger who barely ever scores assists or beats a man is worth keeping because he can "press".
We had a little sweeping of this nonsense with Mount after a half of pressing the other week
We had a little sweeping of this nonsense with Mount after a half of pressing the other week
I get the Antony hate but this seems like you’re too invested. If a player had been told they’re not coming on, lots of them do this and amble around/stretch/just play one touch. There’s also the slight hope he has been told he won’t play if there is genuine interest in him.
I agree with you skills and talent-wise but that is not the full picture. Just because Antony is shit doesn't mean we can throw Ennis into senior team. Putting that kind of load on a youth player can ruin them
There is huge difference between youth and senior game and youth should usually be introduced very gradually and carefully
He wouldn't have been sent to warm up in the second half if there was no chance whatsoever of him coming on. Hence why you don't see GKs being sent to warm up unless there's an injury.
Also, after standing still for 15 minutes whilst others warmed up around him, Eriksen was called to come on, and Antony pointed at himself, asking if the coach was pointing at him, so he clearly thought there was a chance he'd be subbed on. Shouts of "not you, Antony. Never you" emerged from the crowd.
I laughed at the last part.
Every game I go I’m not I’ve ever seen a player who isn’t coming on or comes on on like 50mins, which some managers, do warming up intensely.
I don't think that's correct. When we couldn't get him for £30m we abandoned the idea and the structure of the scouting dept. meant we didn't provide ten Hag with any alternatives.
He was eventually signed as a panic buy after a bad start and it had all the signs of a Glazer decision.
A bit of jogging or stretching is the bare minimum. Eriksen managed that. Until Sunday, I had never seen anyone spend their entire warmup just stood still.
We can't score goals as is.
I don't think dropping in all likelihood Amad or Garnacho helps with that.
If Antony was to ever be of any use it'd be if he tried to make himself a press machine like Mount.
no chance in hell he just handed them a list, and didn’t know the price
Christ he shouldn’t even of been up for discussion let alone the price tag
There were alternatives though, I remember we were linked with Ziyech. The manager can express his 'surprise' all he wants to the media right now, but he was very much a part of the process.
No one is arguing against the fact we need an improvement on Antony, and an attacking player should offer an attacking threat.
But it doesn’t make sense to dump him now, when we can’t replace him or improve on him, with the window closed and finances were squeezed in the summer just gone.
I’d much rather have them here and available this season, than merely just dumping him on a sizeable book loss and not having anything replacing him.
The window is closed. Next summer his book value will have decreased again mitigating loss, and we’ll also be able to spend on players again so we can replace/improve on that position.
Well he'd be taking Antony's minutes. So that would be a gradual introduction right? Antony barely plays. Hasn't started the first three games and doesn't look likely to either.
Remember, he'd only be an Antony replacement. So very little expected, likely very little minutes. That's what we currently expect of Antony.
I personally think the hate for Antony is waaaay over the top.
Sure he’s frustrating AF with those cut ins and left foot curlers, but he works his socks off, keeps the ball pretty well and often places a safe pass.
It’s not really his fault we paid £80m for him and if it was £30m I think most people would think he was a handy player.
Granted, he tries too hard and has an ego way bigger than his current ability level, but from what I heard he has a rough time last year personally and I’m sure he can do better once refocused.
I’d keep him for sure.
I’d also sell him for £40m but I don’t see that bid coming in.
But to hear how we should just ship him out on a free just sounds like some herd mentality from people who only watch the games via social media comments
Sure he’s frustrating AF with those cut ins and left foot curlers, but he works his socks off, keeps the ball pretty well and often places a safe pass.
It’s not really his fault we paid £80m for him and if it was £30m I think most people would think he was a handy player.
Granted, he tries too hard and has an ego way bigger than his current ability level, but from what I heard he has a rough time last year personally and I’m sure he can do better once refocused.
I’d keep him for sure.
I’d also sell him for £40m but I don’t see that bid coming in.
But to hear how we should just ship him out on a free just sounds like some herd mentality from people who only watch the games via social media comments
Exactly. Just saying it out loud sounds so ridiculous. That an 80m pound player can be so terrible.
I think the same. He was never worth the money we paid, but in his first season (when we actually did have structure and were in form for a while), he contributed. He was never, ever “the next Robben” but we could rely on him for work rate, tracking back, not giving the ball away.
Cool, glad to hear that you're certain that none of our other wingers are going to pick up an injury. I wish I shared your confidence. I suppose as a club we've been famously injury free in recent years, so there's always that..............
There's a meaningful chance that a injury, appalling loss of form or some other black swan type event takes out Garnacho, Rashford or Amad, maybe more than one, and we have to play Antony as a first choice player for months. It also provides competition for places.
What do you mean he refused to warm up?
I answered this earlier in the thread but I'll quote myself below again. He's the first sub I've ever seen stand still the entire time.
It’s called been professional. You warm up regardless of your future circumstances .