Antony: why the concern - use the player performance thread

[BlueHaze]

I definitely don't agree that Antony has pace, I've seen defenders catching up with him quite easily (and they were both chasing the ball so just a simple race).

That is a really weak argument and just plain wrong. I've seen defenders catching up with Salah, Rashford, even Mudryk was caught up by Konate recently in his debut. Doesn't mean those players lack pace!

It's like you are turning the eye to the fact that a lot of defenders these days are also quick.

If you watch Antony's Ajax highlights and even some of ours and you come to the conclusion he 'has no pace'' Well then I don't know what to say...

 

[NLunited]

He has enough pace, it is what you do with it that matters. He is still finding his feet.

 

[BarryWinks]

Expected this thread after the Forest game. First game in a while were he was better than decent and a thread asking why fans are concerned because apparently OP has a crystal ball and can tell that he will come good if we all just support him and ignore subpar performances because he's young, new and learning.

I'll speak for myself, but my concerns are as follows:

1. For the price we paid, we should be getting a player who causes the opposition enough troubles that they make accomodations for him freeing up the left wing where a Rashford ab hurt them. We see it with Saka and Martinelli every week. Martinelli is not as strong 1v1 as Saka, but as teams shift their defense naturally to the left to accommodate Saka (and Odegaard), they inevitably leave spaces for the likes of Xhaka and Martinelli to hurt them down their right - We saw this happen first hand in Sunday.

2. When a wide forward handles the ball, you see certain ingredients that tell you how good/comfortable they are, especially when facing the defender. One of those is control of the football, whether running with it or from a standing start. With Anthony, you can see he doesn't move well with the football, which ultimately makes him check back everytime he has it, allowing teams to get in shape.
Classic case of this we saw again on Wednesday, where after he beat that fullback, he shifted it back to his left because he knew he didn't have the pace to take advantage of the headstart he had.
Imagine a 22 year old Dembele, Saka, MG, Hazard turning around there?

3. Compared to other top wingers, he lacks any ball carrying ability. I have watched enough football and seen wingers travel with the ball over short and long distances, and I have never seen a player use Antony's technique of rolling the ball under his foot. For one, the ball isn't moving that fast. Two, it limits his own option as he cannot catch the defender out by changing direction. Three, again, it allows teams get in shape as most players are covering up spaces quickly - we saw this with Partey on Sunday.

4. His under/overhit passes.

Lastly, being concerned and discussing it is not the same as wanting him to fail or whatever nonsense some of you come up with. I never want any united player to fail. Some of us just do not have rose-tinted glasses for player or manager performance.

 

[Borys]

Agreed (though that doesn't stop people/ or the media from going in on them) and I feel sympathy for both as they suffer some of the same problems.

Young, new club in a new country and a collosal price tag (that neither were "Worth", at least yet) that means expectations of both are far too high.

Tbh there’s zero pressure on Antony right now, mostly because Rashford is in god mode and we keep winning. Credit where it's due, Antony is part of that team. But once we get a few bad results/ or stop scoring, then we will be having another discussions about expectations / pressure. Sancho for example was adapting to EPL in far more hostile environment unfortunately.

 

[Seveneric]

Some of the criticism is a bit harsh, especially when writing him off completely. But I also dont understand when people say its too early to judge. 22 years old and 6 months in the league, these are irrelevant because he hasn't shown anything in his career to suggest he has a high ceiling. I remember these concerns during the summer when we were looking at his Ajax videos, they were the same clips rehashed over and over.

With Nani, you could see the crazy talent, it was just a matter of his brain clicking and improving his decision making. With Antony it's almost the complete opposite, his decision making is decent in that he's super cautious and hardly loses the ball, but he hasn't shown the talent that makes you think: well this kid might just be it one day.

And this is exactly it. People here act like everyone who has doubts about him is doing that based solely on what he's delivered at United. But from everything I've seen at Ajax coupled with his stint here, he's just not that good.

This isn't the same with Sancho where he's shown to be stellar (just not at United) hence why patience might be justifiable; Antony has never shown to be anything of the sort. ETH is the manager and he's probably one of the few people who understands why he wanted the club to pay that much for him, so we'll see. I hope I'm proven wrong.

 

[Skills]

Expected this thread after the Forest game. First game in a while were he was better than decent and a thread asking why fans are concerned because apparently OP has a crystal ball and can tell that he will come good if we all just support him and ignore subpar performances because he's young, new and learning.

I'll speak for myself, but my concerns are as follows:

1. For the price we paid, we should be getting a player who causes the opposition enough troubles that they make accomodations for him freeing up the left wing where a Rashford ab hurt them. We see it with Saka and Martinelli every week. Martinelli is not as strong 1v1 as Saka, but as teams shift their defense naturally to the left to accommodate Saka (and Odegaard), they inevitably leave spaces for the likes of Xhaka and Martinelli to hurt them down their right - We saw this happen first hand in Sunday.

2. When a wide forward handles the ball, you see certain ingredients that tell you how good/comfortable they are, especially when facing the defender. One of those is control of the football, whether running with it or from a standing start. With Anthony, you can see he doesn't move well with the football, which ultimately makes him check back everytime he has it, allowing teams to get in shape.
Classic case of this we saw again on Wednesday, where after he beat that fullback, he shifted it back to his left because he knew he didn't have the pace to take advantage of the headstart he had.
Imagine a 22 year old Dembele, Saka, MG, Hazard turning around there?

3. Compared to other top wingers, he lacks any ball carrying ability. I have watched enough football and seen wingers travel with the ball over short and long distances, and I have never seen a player use Antony's technique of rolling the ball under his foot. For one, the ball isn't moving that fast. Two, it limits his own option as he cannot catch the defender out by changing direction. Three, again, it allows teams get in shape as most players are covering up spaces quickly - we saw this with Partey on Sunday.

4. His under/overhit passes.

Lastly, being concerned and discussing it is not the same as wanting him to fail or whatever nonsense some of you come up with. I never want any united player to fail. Some of us just do not have rose-tinted glasses for player or manager performance.

Good post

 

[TheRedHearted]

He’s become the most spoke about player in our current squad. It would be also fair to say there is a growing concern regarding how good he is. Not only on the caf but there are many pundits calling him out too.

Often, because of the price tag etc we expect a quick return for money spent. If we don’t get results (often in terms of goals, assists or whatever) we see the worst.

Noticed on another thread where a caf member was asking for 3 players one would take from any of our top 4 contenders. Noticed Saka was the player who figured most and was suggested as a replacement for Antony.

In other words it’s looking like we’ve already written him off!

My take on Antony and going on what I’ve seen, is that we have a player with a high skillset. Certainly not predictable as many others believe. He can and will start beating his man and he will start getting more goals and assists. Reckon he also has the right mentality. A bit cocky but looks to believe in himself. Charisma’s the word!

I noticed ETH’s reactions when he subbed him off against Forest. Against Forest I could see loads of positives! Also you could see a genuine positive reaction from ETH when he embraced him leaving the pitch. Also like Martinez, ETH took him on board at Ajax. We dont need to even mention what impact Martinez has had.

I believe in our manager’s judgement and the the qualities I’m seeing even if they’re not quite hitting me in the face.

Thought this deserved a thread of it’s own!

There’s surely a performance thread for this.

my main concern is his confidence. Think the Brazilians were convinced they had the World Cup in the bag and i don’t like how he’s dealing with it just yet. Guy is young, he can do it. I think he will

 

[podurban2]

What do you read from those stats, which are "very good"? On fbref I see he was 16th in terms of expected assists and goals / 90' last season in the Eredivisie, which is why I said he was not impressive in terms of numbers.

He dribbles less and makes less passes than used at Ajax, but he also doesn't play for a team that won the league 3 times in a row recently.

A winger should have more than only xG and xA. Look at the Premier League, Saka and Martinelli, the league's best wingers are #19 and #20 (also behind the likes of Daka and Danny Ings). If you look at other stats, passing, possession, defensive work rate, Antony's stats last season are holding up pretty well.

Here's an example just how simplistic it is to look at xG and xA alone (here's #1 and #3 for those stats). Yes he needs to improve his output and crossing, but his overall game stats are actually good.

https://www.squawka.com/en/comparison-matrix/?compare=JMQuBqIazX0DcTCk0MYgJ

 

[Damon1559]

I don't understand the hate this kid is getting?! I like his attitude and you can clearly see the ability that he has. It maybe hasn't came together for him as of yet but what happened to giving new players time to settle in and adapt themselves?

The state of our support for our own players is concerning to say the least.. I can imagine once it does click for the lad and he has a good run of form in the side, we will see the same switch of mentalitily that we have seen with Rashford in the last year from our fans.

 

[glasgow 21]

Can we not have another thread on Antony, there is only about 5 already and we definitely need another one to slag him off. There isn't enough negativity about this player surely we all need to embrace the cancer on this lad and drive him out of the club. The era of instant gratification is alive and kicking can we not get a chant going if your hell bent on it. '" Hey Antony you cost us 80 mil why don't you clear off back to Brazil" that should do it to get rid before window closes. He has had 12 games to prove himself and failed, lets take a flame thrower to his contract.

 

[NLunited]

Expected this thread after the Forest game. First game in a while were he was better than decent and a thread asking why fans are concerned because apparently OP has a crystal ball and can tell that he will come good if we all just support him and ignore subpar performances because he's young, new and learning.

I'll speak for myself, but my concerns are as follows:

1. For the price we paid, we should be getting a player who causes the opposition enough troubles that they make accomodations for him freeing up the left wing where a Rashford ab hurt them. We see it with Saka and Martinelli every week. Martinelli is not as strong 1v1 as Saka, but as teams shift their defense naturally to the left to accommodate Saka (and Odegaard), they inevitably leave spaces for the likes of Xhaka and Martinelli to hurt them down their right - We saw this happen first hand in Sunday.

2. When a wide forward handles the ball, you see certain ingredients that tell you how good/comfortable they are, especially when facing the defender. One of those is control of the football, whether running with it or from a standing start. With Anthony, you can see he doesn't move well with the football, which ultimately makes him check back everytime he has it, allowing teams to get in shape.
Classic case of this we saw again on Wednesday, where after he beat that fullback, he shifted it back to his left because he knew he didn't have the pace to take advantage of the headstart he had.
Imagine a 22 year old Dembele, Saka, MG, Hazard turning around there?

3. Compared to other top wingers, he lacks any ball carrying ability. I have watched enough football and seen wingers travel with the ball over short and long distances, and I have never seen a player use Antony's technique of rolling the ball under his foot. For one, the ball isn't moving that fast. Two, it limits his own option as he cannot catch the defender out by changing direction. Three, again, it allows teams get in shape as most players are covering up spaces quickly - we saw this with Partey on Sunday.

4. His under/overhit passes.

Lastly, being concerned and discussing it is not the same as wanting him to fail or whatever nonsense some of you come up with. I never want any united player to fail. Some of us just do not have rose-tinted glasses for player or manager performance.

I agree with some of this, but:

1. He is usually attracting two to three players to keep him in check.
2. His ball retention is fine. It doesn’t look smooth but he keeps the ball. He is not easily pressed.
3. He can dribble, I don’t agree with this. He needs space to go into which depends on teammates. Give it time.
4. Yes his passing is very sloppy. He has to become more focused especially on the easy/short passes. He can actually cross and play long passes very well.

 

[TheMagicFoolBus]

Apologies for my Chelsea bias and perhaps that's informing my opinion but genuinely I think part of the concern is that Ziyech was literally orders of magnitude better than Antony at Ajax at pretty much every aspect of football yet has struggled with more or less every aspect of the English game?

 

[Dan_F]

Apologies for my Chelsea bias and perhaps that's informing my opinion but genuinely I think part of the concern is that Ziyech was literally orders of magnitude better than Antony at Ajax at pretty much every aspect of football yet has struggled with more or less every aspect of the English game?

Well, Antony has already scored half the amount of total PL goals as Ziyech, in 11 games. And Antony is far better defensively. Apart from that you may be onto something.

Anyway, the price tag is obviously the thing that’s putting this under the spotlight. He’s going to really struggle to live up to that, but if he’s a £40 million player, yes the deficiencies would be there, but he’d be doing fine.

 

[TheMagicFoolBus]

Well, Antony has already scored half the amount of total PL goals as Ziyech, in 11 games. And Antony is far better defensively. Apart from that you may be onto something.

Anyway, the price tag is obviously the thing that’s putting this under the spotlight. He’s going to really struggle to live up to that, but if he’s a £40 million player, yes the deficiencies would be there, but he’d be doing fine.

I mean the bolded is just factually incorrect. The only thing about Ziyech that hasn't disappointed has been his pressing and defensive workrate (for the most part, at least) - to the point where he's been used as a wingback.

Antony is on the left, Ziyech on the right:

 

[Borys]

A winger should have more than only xG and xA. Look at the Premier League, Saka and Martinelli, the league's best wingers are #19 and #20 (also behind the likes of Daka and Danny Ings). If you look at other stats, passing, possession, defensive work rate, Antony's stats last season are holding up pretty well.

Here's an example just how simplistic it is to look at xG and xA alone (here's #1 and #3 for those stats). Yes he needs to improve his output and crossing, but his overall game stats are actually good.

https://www.squawka.com/en/comparison-matrix/?compare=JMQuBqIazX0DcTCk0MYgJ

I think you make a valid point, there's nothing I can disagree with. However, I don't know how to read from those stats that he had a good season. If he played in a team that is dominating most oponents, isn't he expected to have a lot of passes, more dribblings, crosses etc? It's hard for me to draw any conclusions based on that squawka comparison. I think his stats are OK, his clips from Ajax days were OK, I have not seen anything impressive so I also didn't expect that much from Antony.
That said, I think he has a very good shot on him, it's just he isn't allowed to pull the trigger from dangerous position very often.

That is a really weak argument and just plain wrong. I've seen defenders catching up with Salah, Rashford, even Mudryk was caught up by Konate recently in his debut. Doesn't mean those players lack pace!

It's like you are turning the eye to the fact that a lot of defenders these days are also quick.

If you watch Antony's Ajax highlights and even some of ours and you come to the conclusion he 'has no pace'' Well then I don't know what to say...

I'm not going into semantics here, Antony is one of the slower wingers in the league. His pace is not a tool, in fact makes him a bit useless on a counter because I expect any defender ta catch up with him.

 

[podurban2]

I think you make a valid point, there's nothing I can disagree with. However, I don't know how to read from those stats that he had a good season. If he played in a team that is dominating most oponents, isn't he expected to have a lot of passes, more dribblings, crosses etc? It's hard for me to draw any conclusions based on that squawka comparison. I think his stats are OK, his clips from Ajax days were OK, I have not seen anything impressive so I also didn't expect that much from Antony.
That said, I think he has a very good shot on him, it's just he isn't allowed to pull the trigger from dangerous position very

I agree it’s difficult to deduct too much from stats alone - especially in an inferior league an playing for a dominant league. However, if you compare his stats last season to Saka’s this season (in an Arsenal team that has been dominating the league) you will still find his stats strong.

Now, I’m of course not saying this puts him on the same level as Saka, and he needs to improve a lot to reach the same stats as he did last year in the PL. Nonetheless, going by stats alone, he performed very well last season.

https://www.squawka.com/en/comparison-matrix/?compare=t5zdArZzzxvTASVdlUJYr

 

[Wumminator]

I really like him and think he adds balance to the side.

 

[SirMonteyne]

another manager, another system player. It's how we spent almost 1.3B USD.

 

[krazyrobus]

My concern is:

# Slows down counters by cutting on to his left foot instead of trying an early cross with the right foot. When he cuts onto his left foot, initially the crosses made no sense until we had Weg and now he is not crossing as much as then, which is baffling. Perhaps it was the CR37 factor
# Stopped trying to beat his man and rather play off his fullback, he works better with Dalot than AWB
# No raw pace, the Arsenal one where he had the ball at his feet bearing down on goal and got the ball trapped between his feet while busting a gut to try and keep ahead of Saliba was just sad

I thought the past couple of games he has been better in his movements and decision making though.

On the plus side, his work rate, his ball retention have been great.

 

[noodlehair]

He has enough pace. The problem is he'll get away from someone but then let them catch up because he doesn't want to go down the outside of them and use his right foot....and once you're on the edge of the area with a defender between you and the goal pace isn't all that relevant.

Which I think basically is also the "problem" with Antony. He blunts himself by only giving himself one way to go. Other than that he's actually pretty good but he needs to find a way to mix it up a bit.

 

[duffer]

Because he cost a fortune and has been a bit wank.

As a Chelsea fan, I am an expert in hugely expensive signings who are a bit wank so my opinion on this should be respected.

 

[ForeverRed1]

Let’s see, he’s a winger who lacks pace, who can’t seem to beat his man consistently, who’s final ball is average at best, who can’t put in a decent cross consistently and he has one very predictable move which is to cut inside and hit it into row Z, oh and all this for a bargain €95m rising to €100m. Any sane person would be concerned.

He’s actually pretty quick. He is very good defensively, he helps massively with our shape and how ETH wants to play. He tracks back constantly and is good on the press. He is skilful and a goal threat. Loves wearing this shirt and plays with some desire and passion (something we haven’t had for a long time). Good engine on him also, he doesn’t stop.

what he needs is to keep on playing to get up to speed on this league and and this team. No point benching him because he won’t get upto speed that way. The obvious right foot needs work which would mean better crossing of the ball. He is shite on his right foot, which is a problem for a right winger. More confidence to ran at his man. (This stems from having to use his right foot to cross) He’s still only 22 so he has time to work on these things and I’m pretty sure ETH is on it.

 

[Borys]

He has enough pace. The problem is he'll get away from someone but then let them catch up because he doesn't want to go down the outside of them and use his right foot....and once you're on the edge of the area with a defender between you and the goal pace isn't all that relevant.

Which I think basically is also the "problem" with Antony. He blunts himself by only giving himself one way to go. Other than that he's actually pretty good but he needs to find a way to mix it up a bit.

Exactly, this is just a very bad combination. Normally very one-footed players (especially wingers) "make it" because they have blistering pace.
Going deeper I think he could be a kind of a wide playmaker rather than winger, but for that he really needs to have excellent passing ability. I don't want to be harsh on the guy so let's say so far I've not seen it. Maybe it's just lack of confidence / adaptation. I hope.

 

[simplyared]

Exactly, this is just a very bad combination. Normally very one-footed players (especially wingers) "make it" because they have blistering pace.
Going deeper I think he could be a kind of a wide playmaker rather than winger, but for that he really needs to have excellent passing ability. I don't want to be harsh on the guy so let's say so far I've not seen it. Maybe it's just lack of confidence / adaptation. I hope.

Mahrez for example can be classed as one-footed and certainly not exceptionally quick. See no reason he couldn't climb to his level. I'd be happy with that for starters.

 

[noodlehair]

Exactly, this is just a very bad combination. Normally very one-footed players (especially wingers) "make it" because they have blistering pace.
Going deeper I think he could be a kind of a wide playmaker rather than winger, but for that he really needs to have excellent passing ability. I don't want to be harsh on the guy so let's say so far I've not seen it. Maybe it's just lack of confidence / adaptation. I hope.

I think he just needs to add a bit of intelligence and directness to his game. He's still pretty young. I mean I'd be concerned if he was Rashford's age but he's still very much a developing player.

He's a big threat when he's given room to cut inside, very skillful, a pain in the arse for most people he comes up against. If he can just learn how to make his game a bit more rounded I think he'll be fine

and actually he's already an improvement on whatever we did with the right side of our forward line before we signed him, which I think is lost on people when they look at the price tag. We wouldn't have been paying that if it wasn't for something we desperately needed. Same as we wouldn't be loaning strikers from Burnley if we weren't in desperate need of someone who can actually link the attack.

I think this is the benefit of having a manager who knows what they're doing. We might pay over the odds for unfinished articles or make unusual signings that dont seem like world beaters, but we're getting what we actually need

 

[Lecland07]

He seems to be very predictable, which is an issue. It is either cut in and take a left footed shot or he has very little impact on the game in attack.

He works hard and helps defence, but he needs to do a whole lot more if he is going to be our future right winger. That is the concern people are having.

From what I have seen, Pellistri and Garnacho look much better at beating their man, despite having far less experience. So, is it something he is going to learn?

 

[Rams]

If you ask me a lot of misguided thoughts in this thread. Yes, we overpaid massively and fans might entitled to expect more. However, he adds balance to the side, doesn’t lose the ball as much as Rashford (who’s one of the top 5 forwards in the World if you ask me), he’s still finding his feet in the EPL and is not yet the finished article with plenty of room to get better. He does a lot of good things which don’t necessarily catch the eye of the average fan and offers a good counter balance to the players who might concede possession more. It’s about getting the balance of the team right.

 

[Swedish_Plumber]

He’ll get there. Shown enough to give me hope he’ll be a good player for us. Works hard defensively too and keeps the ball well when we’re under pressure.

Get behind him and let the media stir up drama where there isn’t. Their reaction to his silly trick and pass out of play earlier this season should show tell you all you need to know about their agenda.

 

[norm87cro]

Well in all honesty I am always unsure when he has the ball. Its just a sickening feeling. He always has a touch extra that doesnt seem to be useful.
I can see him being better but Im afraid he thinks of hymself as talented as Nani but he is nowhere near. On a good day Nani could go past 3 players and score 30 yard screamers we have yet to see anything like that from Antony.

 

[Poborsky's hair]

He’ll get there. Shown enough to give me hope he’ll be a good player for us. Works hard defensively too and keeps the ball well when we’re under pressure.

Get behind him and let the media stir up drama where there isn’t. Their reaction to his silly trick and pass out of play earlier this season should show tell you all you need to know about their agenda.

People are crazy about their wide palyer to have a go at defenders whenever possible because that's the only way they know football should be played... I for one like his ability to keep the ball whenever possible, which will give us great control in many games we so desperately lacked.

For one look at Fernandes who is just a very high risk player, he creates but looses possession so often that it would imbalance our team so much having more players like that. Imagine the team trying to win the ball again and again, after every attack.

Antony might be playing a bit too reserved at times but his qualities are obvious. He can cut centrally and take a shot, scored some crackers for us already. Very hard to defend that even if that's somewhat "predictable". Almost never loos the ball, helps to keep it in difficult situation, which help our overall play, he tracks back and wins the ball, can press, that helps us too, it's quite difficult to find a palyer with skill who would want to defend from the front foot with as much talent. Not every player is Willian or Antony.

His bak post runs are also a threat, add very good one-two passing interplay, he's very good player for a dominant team in a system we are trying to implement. It's not like he's lingard, he rolls the ball forward with his head up and try to find a pass through at every occassion.

Of course people could be slighlty disappointed if after next season he will keep playing "only at this level" but with more confidence, team cohesion, proper striker and a RB, he will hit theheights we looked for. Until then every moan by fans when he doesn't take his player on, is just very annoying...

 

[Mr PG]

Just all remember how bad Rashford was the last two seasons. Also in the past..whenever he tried to dribble he'd run the ball out of play even without a defender near him. Antony will be fine...just as Sancho.

People forget how bad things were over the summer. No other top right winger was willing to come (Chelsea even lost Raphina to Barcelona) ....Sancho was struggling and we all moaned how we lack balance.

Ajax did not wonna sell even for 84m as they felt he could one day be a world class player.

 

[Swedish_Plumber]

People are crazy about their wide palyer to have a go at defenders whenever possible because that's the only way they know football should be played... I for one like his ability to keep the ball whenever possible, which will give us great control in many games we so desperately lacked.

For one look at Fernandes who is just a very high risk player, he creates but looses possession so often that it would imbalance our team so much having more players like that. Imagine the team trying to win the ball again and again, after every attack.

Antony might be playing a bit too reserved at times but his qualities are obvious. He can cut centrally and take a shot, scored some crackers for us already. Very hard to defend that even if that's somewhat "predictable". Almost never loos the ball, helps to keep it in difficult situation, which help our overall play, he tracks back and wins the ball, can press, that helps us too, it's quite difficult to find a palyer with skill who would want to defend from the front foot with as much talent. Not every player is Willian or Antony.

His bak post runs are also a threat, add very good one-two passing interplay, he's very good player for a dominant team in a system we are trying to implement. It's not like he's lingard, he rolls the ball forward with his head up and try to find a pass through at every occassion.

Of course people could be slighlty disappointed if after next season he will keep playing "only at this level" but with more confidence, team cohesion, proper striker and a RB, he will hit theheights we looked for. Until then every moan by fans when he doesn't take his player on, is just very annoying...

I think he does eventually need to do a bit more and look at more ways to be dangerous. And I love what Garnacho brings as a winger. Antony is a different player though. But right now I think his positives outweighs the negatives. And he’s worth waiting for.

It’s the refusal by fans to give him time to improve that’s frustrating. You’re right in saying there’s hope he’ll be a lot better next season too.

 

[sparx99]

Well in all honesty I am always unsure when he has the ball. Its just a sickening feeling. He always has a touch extra that doesnt seem to be useful.
I can see him being better but Im afraid he thinks of hymself as talented as Nani but he is nowhere near. On a good day Nani could go past 3 players and score 30 yard screamers we have yet to see anything like that from Antony.

He’s already scored several long range screamers.

 

[norm87cro]

He’s already scored several long range screamers.

Id say a few well placed from 20 yards still not close to the Nani bracket and I bet thats how he likes to see hymself.

 

[arthurka]

Stop and pop all the time it's pretty dire. I worry because he has looked really really ordinary playing against player many levels lower than our team.

 

[gerdm07]

Almost a very good match yesterday. His passing is going to get better and better which will make him a very dangerous attacker.

 

[Bebestation]

Nani at 22

 

[HookedOnAPhelan]

Id say a few well placed from 20 yards still not close to the Nani bracket and I bet thats how he likes to see hymself.

How many screamers did Nani score? In how many games? What was his screamers-per-game ratio?

Nani scored 40 goals in 230 games in total for us. A goals-per-game ratio of 0.17. In his first 3 seasons at the club he scored a grand total of 16 goals in 106 games. He didn't fully come into his own until the 2010/11 season, when he turned 24. And still he didn't score more than 10 goals that season, the same number he had the following season, and the highest tally he reached in a season for us. Then his career at the club slowly died down, scoring only 4 more goals before going on loan in 2014 and then finally leaving in 2015.

Antony has 5 goals in 21 games so far. A ratio of 0.24.

Nani at his best was a brilliant player for us, but there's a lot of revisionism going around of his time at the club. He was an extremely inconsistent and frustrating player during most of his time with us.

 

[Red in STL]

How many screamers did Nani score? In how many games? What was his screamers-per-game ratio?

Nani scored 40 goals in 230 games in total for us. A goals-per-game ratio of 0.17. In his first 3 seasons at the club he scored a grand total of 16 goals in 106 games. He didn't fully come into his own until the 2010/11 season, when he turned 24. And still he didn't score more than 10 goals that season, the same number he had the following season, and the highest tally he reached in a season for us. Then his career at the club slowly died down, scoring only 4 more goals before going on loan in 2014 and then finally leaving in 2015.

Antony has 5 goals in 21 games so far. A ratio of 0.24.

Nani at his best was a brilliant player for us, but there's a lot of revisionism going around of his time at the club. He was an extremely inconsistent and frustrating player during most of his time with us.

Fair comment, Nani did have one thing that he did better than anyone else, the back flip goal celebration

 

[horsechoker]

What's up with the bizarre comparisons with Nani?

He's not even among the top 5 wingers to play for United, maybe not even top 10.