”If you need me, I will always stand by your side.”
Earlier this summer, when Dutchman Ten Hag packed his bags and was ready to start his new journey in Manchester, his player, Anthony, wrote such a sentence in a farewell letter to his mentor.
Apparently, Ten Hag took this sentence to heart.
So now that the summer is about to pass, the players and coaches, Anthony and Ten Hag, have started a new cooperation, new in a foreign country, new in red.
New Manchester United in Ten Hag offered 100 million euros for Anthony.
Just before the summer window was about to close, the Premier League once again shocked European football.
The two-game losing streak at the start, followed by the two-game winning streak, Manchester United, in order to support the reconstruction of the new coach Ten Hag, directly used the crazy price of 95 million euros fixed transfer fee + 5 million euros floating clause to take away from Ajax Anthony.
You know, this price is already the price that Anthony has pressed down after he submitted a transfer application and did not hesitate to tear up his face with his old club.
Even so, Ajax’s new coach Xu Lude was reluctant to let go of this key player, not to mention this is the seventh main player Ajax has lost this summer, but it is a pity that, He also had to admit:
”Today, everything is about money now.”
With Ten Hag’s eyes on him, Anthony is of course a player with great potential, but this price still makes many people speechless.
In the past season, the 22-year-old Brazilian has scored 12 goals and 10 assists for Ajax in 33 games in all competitions.
For a young player who is not yet 23 years old, this statistic is not bad, but considering that most of his stats are based on the Eredivisie game, and now he is coming to confrontation, speed and rhythm. With more than one dimension of the Premier League, the data level is likely to shrink.
Under such circumstances, the total transfer fee of 100 million euros seems extremely exaggerated.
In Ten Hag’s eyes, however, the issue is clearly nothing.
In February 2020, Ten Hag, who was still coaching Ajax at the time, used a total transfer fee of 22 million euros to defeat Dortmund and Manchester City, locking in the youth training gem produced by the Brazilian Sao Paulo club.
Like many Brazilian players, Anthony came from a poor family and grew up in one of the most dangerous slums in Sao Paulo. He did not go down the road of drugs and crime like most slum children, and football became his sustenance in life.
In 2010, Anthony, who was only 10 years old, entered the youth training system of Sao Paulo. He performed extremely well throughout the youth training period and won numerous awards. He also entered the youth teams of Brazil at all levels, and performed well.
That’s why he came into Ten Hag’s sight.
In the summer of 2020, Anthony officially joined Ajax.
From the situation at the time, his position and responsibilities in Ajax were very clear, because it was also in the summer of that year, the monster Ziyech produced by the previous generation of Ajax, put on the Chelsea jersey.
As a result, Ten Hag’s tactical system lacked a right-sided attacking player with a left foot, so at that time, Anthony came to replace Ziyech, but with time and Anthony’s personal development, The two players are actually a little bit different.
For example, Anthony, who had just joined Ajax and was still wearing the No. 39 jersey, looked like this:
Two years later, his body is noticeably stronger:
And today’s Ziyech is still thin and long:
So during his two years at Ajax, Anthony went through a significant muscle-building process.
For young players, the main purpose of building muscle is not only to better adapt to the process from the academy environment to the professional environment, but also to cope with the difference in tactical responsibilities.
If Ziyech mainly played the role of a midfielder or a midfielder during his Ajax period, then Anthony, who replaced him, has a sharper offensive edge. For example, there are more shots of participating in physical confrontation:
In addition, one-on-one shots are more frequent, and this is Anthony’s own characteristics.
As a left-footed player, because of his good physical fitness, after the confrontation improved, there was no obvious loss of speed and explosiveness, so on the right, Anthony played like a duck to water.
In a one-on-one, he can easily get rid of the opponent’s defender through his explosiveness and foot technique, so that he can directly cut in and shoot:
What is valuable is that even though this attack method is used very skillfully, under Ten Hag’s tactical requirements, Anthony did not show the impetuous mentality of indulging in going it alone. Whenever there is a chance, he is very willing to use passing to contact his teammates. , giving them the chance to score:
And all of this not only appeared in the lower-intensity Eredivisie game, but even in the high-intensity Champions League game, last season Anthony could still send a lot of threatening passes from the right:
In a way, this can explain Anthony’s ability to look good, but the stats are mediocre.
In Ten Hag’s tactical system, Anthony usually receives the ball from the sideline on the right side of the court to open up space and get one-on-one opportunities with the opponent. After success, he usually also tries to cooperate with his teammates in the back, so as to play a more effective right-sided attack:
Only in an environment where the opportunity is very ripe, he will look for the opportunity to shoot directly for himself.
Therefore, under other coaches, Anthony actually has a good chance to play better results, but under Ten Hag’s tactical system, he must first complete the tactical responsibilities assigned to him by the coach, and secondly is the time to show his talent .
It’s interesting that Anthony has not only embraced this, but judging from his relationship with Ten Hag, he also seems to agree with it.
This is also reflected in his very positive performance on the defensive end, happy to help his teammates protect his own goal:
From a series of performances, this is indeed a promising young star. Not only is his personal ability outstanding, but under Ten Hag’s guidance, Anthony does not appear to be a Brazilian player who is undisciplined and does not follow tactical points. old ailments.
It looks like a European offensive player with the characteristics of a South American offensive player.
Such players are bound to get the attention of major giants, including Manchester United. According to Manchester United correspondent James Robson, the club’s scouts were already on the lookout for Anthony long before Ten Hag took over.
But with the two-game losing streak, the introduction of Anthony has become one of the priorities.
The loss to Brentford was clearly a crucial turning point in United’s start to the season.
The embarrassing defensive midfielder and defender positions in that game, the former finally ushered in Casemiro, who has a completely different style from De Jong after Manchester United waited for a long time for Germany, while the latter, Ten Hag directly replaced Varane. The practice of dropping Maguire showed his attitude.
In addition, during the two-game losing streak at the beginning, Manchester United’s offensive efficiency was quite poor. Not only did they lack the ability to score goals, but they could not even play the complex ball path Ten Hag wanted to see. The problem of left-leaning is also very serious.
With Greenwood simply unable to return to the team in the short term, United don’t even have a decent left-footed attacking player.
So in this context, Manchester United must bring the players he wants to Ten Hag to avoid the start of the losing streak from happening again, and Anthony is one of them.
As for the premium issue, it is unavoidable. After Ajax lost its core coach this summer, the excellent players in the team are bound to go their separate ways. Among the major buyers, although Manchester United does not have a Champions League seat, Ten Hag is here, originally to attract the old department. Biggest trump card.
However, it is a pity that although the ace is in hand, the first successful shot was Bayern Munich. They won Gravenberg and Mazrawi at a very low price, which made subsequent buyers bound to meet. For more difficulties, after all, no club would be willing to lose too many main players in one summer.
When Manchester United landed Lisandro Martinez, the premium was already there.
By the time the transfer window was about to close, Ajax had already lost a lot of their main players, and time was running out. Even if they got a high transfer fee, they might not be able to find a suitable replacement player, which led Manchester United to acquire Anthony. , not only needs to auction a price that Ajax cannot refuse, but also needs strong cooperation from the players.
Under these two factors, Anthony has attracted a lot of criticism, and Manchester United has paid a clear premium. The only benefit is that Ten Hag has obtained the reinforcement he wanted.
Therefore, buying Anthony for 100 million euros is obviously a bit amateur compared to the operations of other clubs, but from the perspective of Manchester United, if you don’t spend money, the days after Ten Hag will be extremely sad. Manchester United at this stage is not very attractive at all.
You can only hope to succeed if you spend a lot of money.
At the pre-match press conference against Leicester City, Ten Hag not only announced the final result of the soap opera that Ronaldo stayed in the team, but also said that this summer’s transfer signings have ended.
As team reporter James Robson said, Manchester United’s performance in this transfer window is not perfect, but at least it shows the determination to support the manager.
So next, it’s up to Ten Hag and Anthony. The Brazilian may not need to prove he’s worthy of €100m, but he needs to prove he’s the best option on the right, and Ten Hag also needs to prove that Manchester United’s performance after costing the club a lot of money There will be a qualitative difference than when the Premier League started.
Only then will he and Anthony truly capture the hearts of Manchester United fans.
(Muzi)