The mythical talents of Antony

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Skills

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I keep hearing "talented" thrown around with Antony but whenever I question anyone on what his supposed talents are, I never seem to get a response. So I'm creating a thread to discuss - what is Antony actually talented at?

It's not as if, at Manchester United we've never seen actually talented players before? Is he explosive like the young Rooney/Ronaldo/Giggs? Has he got a ridiculously good vision? Is he a great technician like Shaw and Scholes were? Has he got a lethal shot like Greenwood? Is he a brilliant dribbler like Martial was?

What else is there? What are the mythical talents of our supposedly talented Antony?
 

Sandikan

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For ruckeries sake, let's not keep on with this obsession to have to have a whipping boy.
 

cyberman

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Look at how shit we were at carrying the ball forward when he was subbed off. Zinchenko planted himself on AWB because nothing was going the other way anymore.
He was very good today
 

siw2007

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I thought that was one of his better performances today. He carried the ball forwards on several occasions, he beat his man a few times and did well to disrupt Arsenal as well. I as much as any fan want to see more from him but he did alright this afternoon.
 

Idxomer

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He has a talent for keeping the ball under pressure but other than that he has shown no other outstanding qualities.
 

ROFLUTION

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How about just asking in the Antony thread? Seems like you @Skills have a thing for creating threads after losses. Why the need for scapegoating? First a thread for Eriksen, now one for Antony from you.

And Antony has a great shot in him. Works hard too. Has great dribbling in him too, albeit not using it here at United/shying away from using it. Give him time, he has the talents to make it here. Scapegoatism wont help thats for sure
 

Matt007a

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He’s by no means a bad player but he needs to show more going forward. I know he carried the ball a lot today but he had no end product and didn’t really go past anyone. Just took the full back with him down the line then played it backwards or inside. Compared to Saka at the other end he was a long way off.

He absolutely has to learn to vary his game. He is too predictable wanting to cut in on his left and he doesn’t have the pace or ability of a Robben for example to get away with that.

I’m not writing him off this early though. He’s scored a few goals and can clearly hit them from distance too.
 

AshRK

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ROFLUTION said:
the glory of doing a premature “I told you so” instead of backing the players up.
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I get the concerns with Antony but I keep on seeing him questioning him. And funnily he was not even the worst one today.
 

Offside

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The Caf always does this collective turn against a player. Give him time. He’s not been great but shown plenty of glimpses this season.
 

sirAlexsglasses

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I just do not get some of the unwarranted stick that players get sometimes, it’s like there has to be a whipping boy. The media do enough of that for gods sake, he wasn’t too bad today, they knew as soon as he went off that AWB would not create much and it showed, people need to lay off him a bit.
 

Stadjer

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Just what we needed! Another Antony thread. We only have Antony his performance thread, the Sancho/Antony are flops thread and the Erik ten Hag thread (because he bought him) that are currently being used to shit on Antony.
 

r3idy

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Young player, FAR from the finished article and clearly you can see this is a step up from the expectations at Ajax. Who would have thought that a player may find it difficult in his first season at a big club.

Give the lad a break ffs
 

Sandikan

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I think we need to ask the club to hold a race to show that Antony does actually have pretty decent pace.
Sick of constantly reading about he has no pace
 

Zlatan 7

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Sandikan said:
I think we need to ask the club to hold a race to show that Antony does actually have pretty decent pace.
Sick of constantly reading about he has no pace
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He run the line with the ball a few times today to get us up the pitch quite well, he’s got great feet too when in danger of losing possession
 

KeanoMagicHat

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He’s 22, moved to a new country and league and he’s only played 11 league games so far.

He’s clearly a good dribbler and inventive. Other parts of his game lacking. I wouldn’t rule him out yet even if he’s been a bit disappointing. Reminds me a bit of Nani.
 

Rampant Red Rodriguez

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I think it's clear that the right of our team will be at its best when Dalot runs on the outside and Antony cuts inside. Together they create the overload and we are then able to get a good gig on that side. AWB skills aren't really built for attacking, or possibly defending in many cases. He often needs to be helped with his own business atRB which takes away from other areas, too often for our good.
 

Sandikan

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KeanoMagicHat said:
He’s 22, moved to a new country and league and he’s only played 11 league games so far.

He’s clearly a good dribbler and inventive. Other parts of his game lacking. I wouldn’t rule him out yet even if he’s been a bit disappointing. Reminds me a bit of Nani.
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If he ends up having the peak of Nani, we'll all be delighted.
 

ScholesyTheWise

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No need for a new thread but since I'm here I'll ask,
what sort of glimpses of talent has he shown thus far?

aside from his defensive game which is good and his ability to "carry the ball forward".
If Rashford would only have been able to carry the ball forward we'd be having two dead flanks to our attack.

Because Rashford can beat a man and score, we have one that's functioning,
and is basically our only attacking outlet.

I agree that Antony carried the ball forward rather well today
and that in and of itself allows the entire team to move forward on the pitch, cool.
But it's such an elementary part of a wingers' game that I don't see how it's a compliment.

If Saka or Martinelli weren't able to beat a man, put a dangerous cross in or provide a goal threat,
Will anyone be saying that they're great players?

Because they'll look like Antony if you remove those qualities from them.
 

Sandikan

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Rampant Red Rodriguez said:
I think it's clear that the right of our team will be at its best when Dalot runs on the outside and Antony cuts inside. Together they create the overload and we are then able to get a good gig on that side. AWB skills aren't really built for attacking, or possibly defending in many cases. He often needs to be helped with his own business atRB which takes away from other areas, too often for our good.
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This is a good point overlooked by the drone army.
Having a full back behind him who is only going through the motions has only been to his detriment.
 

Escobar

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Work rate was excellent. One of our better attacking player today (that does not say much but still)
 

Skills

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Rampant Red Rodriguez said:
I think it's clear that the right of our team will be at its best when Dalot runs on the outside and Antony cuts inside. Together they create the overload and we are then able to get a good gig on that side. AWB skills aren't really built for attacking, or possibly defending in many cases. He often needs to be helped with his own business atRB which takes away from other areas, too often for our good.
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Except for Ten Hag actually hasn't got Dalot to play like that at all. You do realise that they've actually played games together this season right?
 

Mr Pigeon

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feck sake, this place is the Graeme Souness of the forum world.
 

how_giroud

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He wasn't your worst player by any stretch today. Could have been much better, but not why you lost the game. This piling on for the sake of piling on can feel good, but it's not useful football discussion.
 

Stadjer

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Shakesey said:
Not sure if serious...

If serious: it's been talked about... A lot.
If not serious: Yeah! And we should also talk more about what we paid for him!
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Would this also be the moment to mention that ETH shouldnt be trusted with a penny because he wasted all the money on Antony? I feel like that hasnt been mentioned enough either. not serious
 
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