Man Utd - Can't get the best out of Anthony?

[BillyM19]

Hi all,

Can anyone suggest what I can do to get the best out of Anthony? Hasn't got going in the first few months of my save with an average rating of 6.6 so far. I am playing him as a winger with instruction to cut inside...

[metal_guitarist]

In part it will depend on the rest of your tactic but looking at the isolated instructions here, I would drop him to a support duty, add "cross from deep" rather than byline because to get to the byline he would have to rely on his right foot which is not his strong point. Take off "shoot more often" too, he's quite wasteful when it comes to shooting even if he does score the occasional screamer. Ideally you want him to receive the ball and get a quick cross in for your forward/s on his left foot or to play the ball into the channel for an under/overlapping full-back or attacking midfielder. If you have a player who is supporting around him it might even be worth training him to play 1-2s as a PPM to try and open up some more space for him. 

If you wanted to keep him on an attack duty, change him to an inverted winger and remove the "shoot more often". Much like real-life though, he's a tough one to get a consistent level of performance out of and will vary between having great games and anonymous games. 

[vrig]

Erik? Is that you?

[Fraser]

16 hours ago, vrig said:

Erik? Is that you?

Hahaha - I was going to suggest that to get the best out of Anthony you need to go to Transfer Room, offer him out and sell him to the highest Saudi Arabian bidder!!! 

In answer to the original question, I'd probably give him more freedom and less defensive responsibility, maybe an Inverted Winger on attack with a roam instruction.

[luka_zg]

He plays very good for me as a winger on support with cut inside and more risk passes. But I have segundo volante on attack on his side and also right full back playing as a IWB/s so there is lot of options for him to play with. 

[giggsxbr]

Let him play amc(a)

[Jyuan83]

On 23/10/2023 at 05:47, BillyM19 said:

Hi all,

Can anyone suggest what I can do to get the best out of Anthony? Hasn't got going in the first few months of my save with an average rating of 6.6 so far. I am playing him as a winger with instruction to cut inside...

Surprised antony was not able to do well as a winger set to cut inside. On FM24, wingers that are given the PI to cut inside score tons. Salah as a winger kept cutting inside to score against me and in one game scored 4! Maybe remove the shoot more often and see how he performs.

[marcMCFC1986]

Although I'm delighted to see Anthony isn't doing well (and hopefully the rest of the United players too) - I would say that the instructions he has are slightly contradictory.

 

You're asking him to cut inside, and cross from the byline - he can't be in two places at once. 

 

I'd get rid of all the crossing instructions, the players can work with some level of autonomy and don't need an instruction to be selected for absolutely everything. I'd also take 'Shoot More Often' off, as I'm not sure what his shooting/long shots stats are like but it clearly isn't working. This way, he might be more inclined to look for a pass inside the box to your striker rather than trying to ping one in the from the edge of the box every time. He isn't Salah, I'm afraid.

 

Or, do what @Fraser said and just sell him, and get Wilfried Gnonto from Leeds. 5* Potential on my save, and only cost £15m. 

[klaasjan]

He is shining for me as a MEZ. His acceleration is far from what I would want from a wide player but his technical abilites are excelent for an attacking mez / AM.

Edit: Amad is way better than him on RW and he also can play as AM / left Mez (A) giving you more squad depth options.

Edited October 24, 2023 by klaasjan

[Raul10]

4 hours ago, marcMCFC1986 said:

Although I'm delighted to see Anthony isn't doing well (and hopefully the rest of the United players too) - I would say that the instructions he has are slightly contradictory.

 

You're asking him to cut inside, and cross from the byline - he can't be in two places at once. 

 

I'd get rid of all the crossing instructions, the players can work with some level of autonomy and don't need an instruction to be selected for absolutely everything. I'd also take 'Shoot More Often' off, as I'm not sure what his shooting/long shots stats are like but it clearly isn't working. This way, he might be more inclined to look for a pass inside the box to your striker rather than trying to ping one in the from the edge of the box every time. He isn't Salah, I'm afraid.

 

Or, do what @Fraser said and just sell him, and get Wilfried Gnonto from Leeds. 5* Potential on my save, and only cost £15m. 

 

Not sure if this comment was related to Antony specifically, but I'm having  joy with a  right footed winger cutting inside behind the full back and  hitting low crosses into the box. His crossing stat is low and my striker not the biggest, so figured if he can get inside  he would have greater success than from wide. Obviously doesn't apply to Antony since his right foot is poor.

Edited October 24, 2023 by Raul10

[marcMCFC1986]

29 minutes ago, Raul10 said:

 

Not sure if this comment was related to Antony specifically, but I'm having  joy with a  right footed winger cutting inside behind the full back and  hitting low crosses into the box. His crossing stat is low and my striker not the biggest, so figured if he can get inside  he would have greater success than from wide. Obviously doesn't apply to Antony since his right foot is poor.

Nah - what I mean is, if he's asking him to cut inside then he will be running along the top of the 18-yard box - as if he is running to the other side of the pitch. For him to cross from the byline he would have to stay wide - so it's probably confusing

[Raul10]

23 minutes ago, marcMCFC1986 said:

Nah - what I mean is, if he's asking him to cut inside then he will be running along the top of the 18-yard box - as if he is running to the other side of the pitch. For him to cross from the byline he would have to stay wide - so it's probably confusing

I've found it quite different. my winger cuts inside to the byline and sends in low crosses (instructed). Maybe it's positional play since I have a mezalla next to him. Working well for cut backs and shooting opportunities from wide, again, not recommended for Antony.

[marcMCFC1986]

45 minutes ago, Raul10 said:

I've found it quite different. my winger cuts inside to the byline and sends in low crosses (instructed). Maybe it's positional play since I have a mezalla next to him. Working well for cut backs and shooting opportunities from wide, again, not recommended for Antony.

Ah fair enough - I hadn't picture it this way. I always imagined a player who cuts inside running horizontally along the edge of the 18-yard box and pinging shots into the top corner like Salah/Bale etc.