Jump to content

Antonio


Saintandy666

Recommended Posts

I hear he honed his long throw skills at Reading. Their strikers kept hoofing the balls out of the Madejski, and he had to throw them back.

 

The Sky peeps picked up on this, but a long throw is only good if you do something with it. By God he's quick though I did think he tried the same trick far too often. His first touch was lacking.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

He was pretty poo today lets be honest. Him and Trotman must be two of the dumbest footballers around. Trotman is very clumsy and Antonio kept trying to take on a left back who after the first 10 minutes just stood 5 yards off him every time he got the ball. Pratically inviting him to ping the ball in early but nope, he kept attempting to take him on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The likeness to "Chicken George" is frightening. It is either 100% success or failure, there is nothing in between with this type of player.

 

Yes he is one trick pony, but he does have a role as an "impact" player.

 

But the bottom line is that I'd still rather have him in our squad than the oppositions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Give the boy a break. Compared to what we had to endure with Nathan Dyer, Antonio is bloody mustard. Sure he has a bit to learn, but I still think he causes no end of problems for defenders. He did make me laugh at Orient when he was so keen to impress (and keep the ball) that he dived it for a tackle on one our OUR players. Raw, but good to have.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One trick pony IMO. knock the ball past the defender and run like the wind. Btoghton doubled up on him the entire game ensurig he never got passed his man effectively removing him from the game. Suprised pardew left it so late to change him out.

 

Erm, and if he hadn't spent most of the match midweek beating his man with a variety of stepovers you might have a point.

 

He was also probably our best player today and looked like the only one playing near his best. Practically everyone I've spoken to was surprised he came off at all - but I expect he's not fit for 90 minutes as he's not played a full game yet that I can recall.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I didn't think he was that bad today tbh, alot of our threat came when he was on the ball and running at their full back.

 

As people have said - he's raw, and is by no means the finished article.

 

IMO though he has terrific attributes and if trained and coached correctly, he could become a fantastic wide man.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good performance from Antonio today, but once the Brighton full-backs sussed out that he's only really got pace and not a lot of skill and trickery, he became less effective.

 

Still, he's a good, young, raw talent and under the right management, he could do well for himself. I'd like to see us sign him if possible, and lets see if Pardew et al. can get the best out of him on a regular basis.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow, he has a long throw! Why did we only discover this by accident? If we can keep him, that is a big asset to the whole team there...

 

Premiership clubs will be knocking on Reading's door methinks. I hope we can keep him and hone him some more though. Brighton were clearly scarred of him and marked him out of the game in the 1st half. Poyet obviously recognised the threat and it was a shame we didnt switch him over to the left or mix it up more, it was like a constant train crash on the right flank until half time. If you were in the Kingsland you probably needed a set of binos to see any of the game!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What I would like to see is when sides "double-up" on him as Brighton did yesterday he should switch wings for 10-15 mins in a game, and then switch back later.

 

His left foot is ok for him to play on the left wing and it would cause the opposition to keep readjusting their system.

 

As a side note when Norwich were on telly the other week their right back that day was a centrehalf playing out of position, he looked good in the air but short of pace and not a natural full back. It would be nice to see Antonio have a go at him at some stage on Sat.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow, he has a long throw! Why did we only discover this by accident? If we can keep him, that is a big asset to the whole team there...

 

 

...AND hopefully, we'll use the skill properly this time.

 

Rory Delap got stick from fans for years because Saints " never scored " from his throw-ins, but when he moved to Stoke - he took the style same throw-ins that led to lots of goals and he became the terror of Prem. defences last season !

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I thought he did ok today. If the other team double up on him it should leave more space elsewhere for the others to exploit.

Absolutely, can't believe that crap that some are saying about him. Their defence were scared stiff of him, and El-Abd or whatever his name is was getting very close to being sent off due to his frustration. When Brighton doubled up on him, that should have given someone else the chance to exploit the space. Connolly, Lallana and Lambert spectacularly failed to do so, these are the guys who should be criticised. I couldn't believe it when AP took him off, he should have stayed on and broght Waigo into the middle as well, then Brighton would have been ****ting themselves with the pace.

 

Some people need to take a good hard look at what they are criticising. Our 3 best players on Sunday were Antonio, James and Harding. Everyone else was well below par, yet these three are coming in for the most criticism from some, bizarre. I will forgive Lambert because he was clearly ill and probably should not have played but his desire to play and help is refreshing, shame we don't have enough strength in depth to leave him out - perhaps Saga should have played.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Raw talent that if honed correctly will produce a very good player - thought he got found out a bit in the 2nd half

 

He got found out straight after the first 20 minutes imo. Gus Poyet called their left back over after Antonio had skinned him twice and told him something. After that Antonio never made it past him.

 

If I was Pardew I would have picked up on this and moved him over to the left.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

...AND hopefully, we'll use the skill properly this time.

 

Rory Delap got stick from fans for years because Saints " never scored " from his throw-ins, but when he moved to Stoke - he took the style same throw-ins that led to lots of goals and he became the terror of Prem. defences last season !

Actually Delap changed his style of throw-ins quite markedly at Stoke. When he played for us they were basically just looped high into the area. With Stoke he perfected the technique of throwing them with a lower trajectory and with much more power right into the goal area, where a simple flick on with head or boot had a damn good chance of ending up in the net. It is the whipping in with power technique that made him successful.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, surely, if , at the moment , he is a 'one trick pony' as some are suggesting, it's up to the coaching staff to take him aside and show him a few more tricks so that he can beat, or even by-pass a full-back in different ways. My concern is, how many coaches are there in this country who have the nous to teach those tricks themselves? When you think that Sean Wright- Phillips can actually get in an England team and he is about as clueless a winger as I have ever seen, it makes you wonder if there is anyone out there who can either play or coach decent wing tactics. I wonder how much it would take to prise John Robertson away from Villa? Quite a lot I would imagine!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Erm, and if he hadn't spent most of the match midweek beating his man with a variety of stepovers you might have a point.

 

He was also probably our best player today and looked like the only one playing near his best. Practically everyone I've spoken to was surprised he came off at all - but I expect he's not fit for 90 minutes as he's not played a full game yet that I can recall.

 

Perhaps he has more than one trick and maybe he did show them all off on Weds. I didnt go Weds so i couldnt comment.

 

However the games I have seen him play he is most effective when he uses his "chip and charge" move. He certainly didnt show his stepovers and other skills against Brighton, so I would ask why not?

 

Im not saying he is a bad player because in reality he is a good player at this level but I feel unless he varies his play more its fairly easy to adjust your tactics (as brighton did) by doubling up and then his effectiveness can be limited.

 

I also agree he is young and with coaching he will get better and add to his game. If he doesnt learn he will have found his level.

 

 

personally I thought he was ok at best as he wasnt particularly effective as Brighton had him sussed. My comments on replacing him were based on this and I felt Papa and his unpredictability would open the brighton defence up. (which it did if I recall on a few occasion)

 

I hoipe we keep Antonio but mostly i hope he adds to his game as he could be a really good player. Just not sure the natural ability (touch and ball skills) are there to take him to the next level but he is young so who knows.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Erm, and if he hadn't spent most of the match midweek beating his man with a variety of stepovers you might have a point.

 

He was also probably our best player today and looked like the only one playing near his best. Practically everyone I've spoken to was surprised he came off at all - but I expect he's not fit for 90 minutes as he's not played a full game yet that I can recall.

 

Couldn't disagree with a post more....well the second paragraph of it

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So Antonio goes from the best thing since sliced bread to a one trick pony after one loss.

 

It's pretty obvious that a player like Antonio is going to be far better in a game the opposition are chasing and leaving space. Against Brighton we where 2-0 down really early and Brighton where never going to over commit men forward and leave Antonio with space. In those situations you need the more creative players like Lallana and Schneiderlin to make the difference.

 

I though considering the lack of space and two men up against him that Antonio was one of our better players on Saturday, might have been an idea to switch him around with Lallana in the second half could have made the difference with him on the left.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

might have been an idea to switch him around with Lallana in the second half could have made the difference with him on the left.

 

Someone said Brighton switched their fullbacks round after the original left back struggled with Antonio's pace. Presumably they'd have just switched again if he changed wings.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...