Is there a way to get more out of Antony?

[davidmichael]

I'd genuinely convert him to a RB, he reminds me of Valencia with his work rate, strength & the time he needs on the ball I think he would be an option there for certain games if we are set on him staying.

You realise the problem with playing him on the right is he has nothing to offer other than cutting back and passing backwards because he is VERY LEFT footed so right back would be an even bigger shambles ?

I've seen good fullbacks becoming wingers, but besides Juanfran I can't remember a winger that became a good fullback. Antony offers effort and that's it, he doesn't have any defending qualities for the position. Awful idea.

Dani Alves went on to have a decent career after switching from a winger to a full back.

 

[whitbyviking]

Sell him and replace with a nodding dog.

I don't mind Anthony, he puts the effort in, balances the team and gives us some shape. He is just not good enough for a team with title, or possibly even Champions league, aspirations

 

[sincher]

Such a poor purchase, and an unconscionable gamble given what he had done in the game when we spent the money on him. Potentially a sackable offence buying him honestly. We have made other mistakes but they have been more understandable than this.

 

[Herman Toothrot]

Such a poor purchase, and an unconscionable gamble given what he had done in the game when we spent the money on him. Potentially a sackable offence buying him honestly. We have made other mistakes but they have been more understandable than this.

Getting up and shouting 'that's what we paid the fecking money for' when he scored against Arsenal remains one of the more regrettable moments of my life.

 

[AngeloHenriquez]

You realise the problem with playing him on the right is he has nothing to offer other than cutting back and passing backwards because he is VERY LEFT footed so right back would be an even bigger shambles ?



Dani Alves went on to have a decent career after switching from a winger to a full back.

I don't think it would as you have more space and time and can get a simple pass back, he can then make the overlapping run from the RW and it will give him more space in the final third for a cut back pass..

 

[Kostov]

He is irrevocably shit.

 

[Nevilles.Wear.Prada]

Yes. When he gets ETH the sack for continually playing him. That's the only redemption acceptable.

 

[Gordon Godot]

Yes. When he gets ETH the sack for continually playing him. That's the only redemption acceptable.

Trade him for Elanga.....

 

[Insanity]

No. This will end with him going out on 2-3 loans where we end up paying a portion of the wages, and then he'll leave on free.

Our gross incompetence makes me so mad. Leave aside the fee for a moment, I cannot believe that we 10x-ed his salary from 20k to 200k. The money we have pissed down the drain these last XI years in signings and wages is unbelievable. How can an organization keep repeating the same mistakes again & again. The Glazer kids must be real fecking idiots to have kept trusting Woodie & gang to run this club despite them displaying their buffoonery season after season. Feels surreal.

 

[next_number_seven]

Imagine a fit starting team of:

Onana
Shaw - Varane, Martinez, Dalot
Mainoo - Casemerio
Garnacho - Bruno - Rashford/Anthony
Hoijland

If after a good few games together our football is still poor, I would find it very difficult to find reasons to defend ETH.

So giving him till end of season would make it categorically clear if ETH really wasnt gonna work out.

I still feel like Mount was more a player the club could get (and ETH thought why not) as opposed to him being a player that would of been on the managers radar. Has such a feel of Mata off it.

I think the logic of Mount was to play him in a box midfield with him and Bruno the front two of the box.

So it makes sense from that perspective.

I haven't seen enough of him to judge him fairly yet though.

Who knows, we might finish the season strongly playing scintillating football and nip into the top 4.

 

[MonkeysMagic]

Can we use him to plug the leaky roof at OT?

 

[El-Manos]

He had such a bright start , we all thought we had our RW sorted no doubt after that Arsenal game. 1.5 years later and we are trying to get rid. Absolute shambles.

 

[Flying high]

Antony has some elite level abilities. He's also hard working and determined. But it's clearly not enough. He needs to be able to broaden his game. If he could add a couple of pieces, like a right footed cross or a good long pass, then I think he has a chance. But right now, everything he does is too close. Too short range. He's not a threat out on the wing, and he's rarely able to get into his prime shooting position because everyone knows what he wants to do.

He's 24 next month. Personally, I'd give him another season to see if we can drag some effectiveness out of him. But he shouldn't be starting right now.

 

[Mike Smalling]

Antony has some elite level abilities. He's also hard working and determined. But it's clearly not enough. He needs to be able to broaden his game. If he could add a couple of pieces, like a right footed cross or a good long pass, then I think he has a chance. But right now, everything he does is too close. Too short range. He's not a threat out on the wing, and he's rarely able to get into his prime shooting position because everyone knows what he wants to do.

He's 24 next month. Personally, I'd give him another season to see if we can drag some effectiveness out of him. But he shouldn't be starting right now.

Which abilities is he elite at, except for that spin move?

 

[redmanx]

Antony is simply not good enough and he doesnt work enough; no matter what position he plays he will be a weak spot, a liability. And now Ive read that Martial is holding the club to ransom by refusing to go untill his contracts up. Hes turned down at least 3 options and this proves that rather than play football he prefers to sit on his arse and count his inflated wages, wages which match his inflated ego. ETH should tell Martial hes now only playing in one of our other squads, under 21 or 18 and let him rot there. He'll go on a "free" but at least we wont be paying him to do bugger all anymore! Antony will I fear also turn down future moves for the simple reason he knows he will not get the wages he gets now anywhere else. And hes not alone. I dont blame the players for this, we all want as much as we can get, its the fault of who ever it is that conducts wage negotiations for us.There is still a toxic presence at Old Trafford due to certain players who have outstayed their use and welcome; Rashford, Martial, Lindelof, Shaw and Maguire have all seen off one manager after another over the past few years and seemed to relish in their demize; Bruno has too but unlike the others he has quality and seems to really want to play for United so he deserves the benefit of the doubt. Antony was never good enough as neither is McTominay and Varane, Eriksson, and Casemiro are past their sell by date. We need to ditch the dross and rebuild with the likes of the brilliant Kobbie Mainoo, Garnacho, Willy Kambwala, Amad, Hojlund, Bennett and Hannibal playing alongside Martinez, Bruno, Wan Bissaka and Dalot and bring on other Academy players. So, Mr Ratcliffe, we've wasted enough time and money on makeweights, wannabes and never weres, its time for radical change!

 

[next_number_seven]

Which abilities is he elite at, except for that spin move?

His first touch is good. The ball sticks to him.

He tracks back and tackles well.
He's brave and always shows for the ball.

I wouldn't say he's elite at anything though.

I think Amad will take his place anyway soon. So it's a moot point.

 

[Flying high]

Which abilities is he elite at, except for that spin move?

Given you mention the spin, which he's done like once or twice, I'm not sure you want an answer.

But in case you're actually not closed minded on him, his close control, 1st touch, work rate, dribbling(though only in certain situations) are all top level.

 

[AndySmith1990]

Given you mention the spin, which he's done like once or twice, I'm not sure you want an answer.

But in case you're actually not closed minded on him, his close control, 1st touch, work rate, dribbling(though only in certain situations) are all top level.

His dribbling is garbage

 

[Mike Smalling]

Given you mention the spin, which he's done like once or twice, I'm not sure you want an answer.

But in case you're actually not closed minded on him, his close control, 1st touch, work rate, dribbling(though only in certain situations) are all top level.

He has a decent enough touch and he tracks back, yes. Not sure I would call that "elite". If Antony is elite at this, there is probably 50 players in the Premier League that are elite at the same areas. With respect to his dribbling, I think he is technically good as a dribbler, but since he doesn't have the physical attributes to match, he hardly ever goes past a player, so it doesn't really matter.

 

[SAFMUTD]

You realise the problem with playing him on the right is he has nothing to offer other than cutting back and passing backwards because he is VERY LEFT footed so right back would be an even bigger shambles ?



Dani Alves went on to have a decent career after switching from a winger to a full back.

That's a really good shout if true, I don't remember Alves starting as a winger but ending as one I believe.

 

[Flying high]

He has a decent enough touch and he tracks back, yes. Not sure I would call that "elite". If Antony is elite at this, there is probably 50 players in the Premier League that are elite at the same areas. With respect to his dribbling, I think he is technically good as a dribbler, but since he doesn't have the physical attributes to match, he hardly ever goes past a player, so it doesn't really matter.

Which is what I said in the first post you quoted. He lacks effectiveness. That doesn't mean he's crap, he's just not got the right set of attributes to succeed right now. Adding a right footed cross would really open up his game. I stand by my statement that his 1st touch and control are elite level, but he's also too predictable and unable to get beyond his man regularly. If he can't improve his game then he'll never be good enough for us, but with so many of the required traits already there, I think he still has a chance.

 

[Flying high]

His dribbling is garbage

Okay

 

[Mike Smalling]

Which is what I said in the first post you quoted. He lacks effectiveness. That doesn't mean he's crap, he's just not got the right set of attributes to succeed right now. Adding a right footed cross would really open up his game. I stand by my statement that his 1st touch and control are elite level, but he's also too predictable and unable to get beyond his man regularly. If he can't improve his game then he'll never be good enough for us, but with so many of the required traits already there, I think he still has a chance.

That's probably where we disagree then. I don't think many of the required traits are there. Touch, control, and work rate you could say is good enough. But then I'd counter that pace, strength, decision making, ability to use weaker foot, crossing, and passing are not good enough, and I haven't seen evidence that they are improving.

Let's see. Everyone hopes he can come good, but realistically I don't think he will.

 

[oLeSoLsKjAeR20]

Thread title needs changed to: "Is there a way to get out of more Antony?"

 

[RedBanker]

The worst I saw were the comparisons that were made saying Antony could become a player like Robben One of the best attacking players of the last generation, one of the most explosive players I've ever seen, a superb dribbler with amazing shooting technique. Yeah, Antony could become that.

Just because a player signs for United does not mean we need to start seeing more in them than is actually there.

Robben!!! It would be more probable that ETH suddenly turns into prime SAF.

 

[Flying high]

That's probably where we disagree then. I don't think many of the required traits are there. Touch, control, and work rate you could say is good enough. But then I'd counter that pace, strength, decision making, ability to use weaker foot, crossing, and passing are not good enough, and I haven't seen evidence that they are improving.

Let's see. Everyone hopes he can come good, but realistically I don't think he will.

Fair enough. I think his passing in tight spaces is good, short and mid range not bad either. An easy win for him would be to hit the gym a bit more.

But there's no cartainty that he can improve enough.

 

[Insanity]

"Elite at tracking back".

That's a first.

You have to admire some folks dedication to the craft of making arguments no matter how asinine they sound. Truly Elite!

 

[Flying high]

The irony of calling an argument asinine while drawing one point from a post and using a green smiley as a comeback.

 

[Mike Smalling]

Fair enough. I think his passing in tight spaces is good, short and mid range not bad either. An easy win for him would be to hit the gym a bit more.

But there's no cartainty that he can improve enough.

In terms of keeping possession in tight spaces, I think he does fairly well, but in terms of making the decisive passes I'm not too sure. 3 assists in a season and a half suggest he isn't great at it, although obviously there are many factors at play here.

 

[Roboc7]

No. This will end with him going out on 2-3 loans where we end up paying a portion of the wages, and then he'll leave on free.

Our gross incompetence makes me so mad. Leave aside the fee for a moment, I cannot believe that we 10x-ed his salary from 20k to 200k. The money we have pissed down the drain these last XI years in signings and wages is unbelievable. How can an organization keep repeating the same mistakes again & again. The Glazer kids must be real fecking idiots to have kept trusting Woodie & gang to run this club despite them displaying their buffoonery season after season. Feels surreal.

Yeah I expect him to be loaned out from next season onwards, maybe at some point we’ll get a low fee for him but his wages are ludicrous.

He is so far from the required level that it’s a lost cause, concentrate on Garnacho and Amad on the RW.

The Antony and Casemiro deals were confirmation that club had not learnt anything from Woodward era and just repeated same mistakes. It’s absolutely mental that so much money was spent in fee and wages on Antony.

 

[Red00012]

Ya by moving him on

 

[John Blund]

Switch him to the left.

U mad bro? The worst signing since I don't know when, and you want to play him out of position? We just have to accept that we've overpaid, and he's bang on average on his best days.

 

[Rojofiam]

He would look less shit in a good team...but in a good team he's a bench player at best.

He's just way too limited to become anything more than that.

 

[oLeSoLsKjAeR20]

He would look less shit in a good team...but in a good team he's a bench player at best.

He's just way too limited to become anything more than that.

True for every player surely

 

[robinrooney]

Sell him, gonna have to eat the £60m loss

 

[lex talionis]

Until Antony develops a right foot, there is no hope for him at the level United aspire to return to. Every player has a stronger foot, but I have never seen a player so absurdly one-footed as Antony. He’s easy to defend and his impact is zero. If he’s willing to develop a right foot there may be a player on his boots that can make a sustained positive contribution to United.

 

[RedBanker]

Given you mention the spin, which he's done like once or twice, I'm not sure you want an answer.

But in case you're actually not closed minded on him, his close control, 1st touch, work rate, dribbling(though only in certain situations) are all top level.

You're having a laugh mate. Seriously. Top level?

 

[next_number_seven]

Until Antony develops a right foot, there is no hope for him at the level United aspire to return to. Every player has a stronger foot, but I have never seen a player so absurdly one-footed as Antony. He’s easy to defend and his impact is zero. If he’s willing to develop a right foot there may be a player on his boots that can make a sustained positive contribution to United.

Valencia, Giggs, Maradona.
It's common enough but they had other attributes.

I don't understand how pros are so one footed. I use both feet playing and I'm shite

 

[The Mitcher]

No.

 

[TsuWave]

Play him as left back