Wim Kieft is very enthusiastic about Antony’s development at Ajax. ‘s columnist The Telegraph saw the 21-year-old Brazilian excel again against Borussia Dortmund (1-3) by putting all three assists to his name. “You can speak of a stormy development when you see how he manifests himself at Ajax,” Kieft writes.
Kieft was still critical of Antony last year, for example after the away match against FC Midtjylland (1-2 victory), when the former striker thought that the Brazilian did not look up enough one-on-one. “But he’s getting better and better,” Kieft says. “Last season he made too little use of his speed, but now in the Champions League against Borussia Dortmund… There is so much variety in his game that it is almost impossible to stop him. He is constantly menacing, has speed, depth with and without the ball, an excellent functional technique, can pass inside and outside and delivers excellent crosses.”
Kieft notices that Antony combines very easily with his teammate Noussair Mazraoui, who plays behind him as a right back. “The natural click that Antony has with Mazraoui is special,” said the former international. “That was especially apparent when the Brazilian had to do it at Heracles Almelo (0-0, ed.) with Devyne Rensch behind him. That was immediately a lot less of a level.”
One of Antony’s crosses was headed in in Dortmund by Sébastien Haller, who according to Kieft “made good use of that enormous body of his in that situation”. “In fact, Haller only has to do one thing in this Ajax team: stand in the penalty area around the penalty spot. That’s all you need to get a large number of opportunities with such fellow players around him. Haller’s average in the Eredivisie can be even higher given the opposition that Ajax encounters in this. In the combination he has to keep it a bit simpler. Sometimes he wants too much. He has to concentrate on scoring goals and act as a point of contact. Just simple: accept and bounce.”
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