Tearing up the Eredivisie: why Antony might be Ajax’s next-best South American export

The São Paulo region of Brazil has been home to some incredible footballing talents over the year. Kaká, Oscar, Lucas, are just a few of the noteworthy recent names to come from the Southern state in Brazil, and Antony could follow in their footsteps by making the move into Europe’s top five leagues in the coming years.

For now, Ajax have got their hands on the 21-year-old and he is currently tearing it up in Holland. Already from his time in Brazil, Antony has been linked in a move to London, via either Arsenal or Chelsea. Only a year ago, Antony was a raw talent coming out of the Brasileirão, but his game as come so far even since then, and in this analysis, we will detail how much he has improved in that time.

In this tactical analysis, we will be compiling a scout report on Antony’s role in Erik Ten Haag’s system, his values and drawbacks as a player, and how far he could go as a player.

Player profile

Antony began his football career with Grêmio, where he would learn the basics, until the age of 12, he would join São Paulo. The 21-year-old grew up in the favelas, and he had to endure plenty of difficult challenges growing up which many of his sheltered peers did not. He would sign his first senior contract in 2018, where he excelled immediately and garnered the interest of those within and outside of Brazil. Antony has gone on record to express his gratitude to his head coach at São Paulo, Fernando Diniz, for believing in his natural ability.

That natural ability is easy to view, and there is a sense that much of Antony’s best work is instinctive. Whilst this does come with an air of inefficiency, it is supremely entertaining, nonetheless. Antony is best described as a creative playmaker who operates on the right-wing. As a natural left-footer, his preference is to cut inside into the right half-space and whip a ball to the far post, feeding Sébastien Haller, or pop a shot on goal himself. He is a confident player, there are no doubts in his self-belief, in a very positive manner.

Standing at 5’9” / 175cm, Antony possesses a very good balance, and his lower body strength allows him to be very agile. He currently plays on the right of Ten Haag’s 4-3-3 system. Antony has spent time out on the left as well, but it is fair to say his best work comes on the right-hand side, where he can pull off his signature move – stop on a dime, accelerate into the half-space and past the defender, and either shoot or pass. He is a very decisive player; he knows what he wants to do with the ball before he receives it.

Antony player profile, created by the wonderful Sathish Prasad (@SathishPrasadVT on Twitter).

Antony’s positioning and dribbling

Antony is a pure winger by trade. As we can see from his heatmap in the player profile above, even as a left-footer, he spends a good proportion of his time on the ball in wide-right zones. He gains momentum by moving inwards, taking on his opponent 1v1, and driving into the penalty area, usually arriving at the right half-space. He causes a sort-of predictable chaos that you just cannot stop.