Erik ten Hag thinks out of form Antony adds a lot to his team. The attacker receives the necessary criticism – earlier on Tuesday, for example, he was tackled by Darren Bent – but Ten Hag points to the good results of his team when Antony participates. Moreover, Ten Hag does not take much into an exchange of words between Antony and Bruno Fernandes.
“If he plays, the team wins,” he told Manchester United’s website. “That gives an indication of how well he performs.” Manchester United won twelve of the seventeen games with Antony as a starting player. “He can do even better. I see room for improvement. For example, we want him to play more directly and be more involved in the game,” the Dutchman continued.
“But like I said, the team performs better when he’s on the pitch. That is a good basis to build on,” adds the Dutchman. “I think he has already made progress. He has scored against Everton and Charlton Athletic (in the FA Cup and League Cup), so he has an impact. I think he can do even more with his qualities and talent.” Manchester United will face Nottingham Forest in the League Cup on Thursday.”
Ten Hag is not worried about the heated discussion between Antony and Bruno Fernandes during last Wednesday’s duel with Crystal Palace (1-1). He remarked, “That can happen. They are both players who play with their hearts. That ensures that they are at their best. It’s a certain balance. Emotions sometimes run high between players, but after that they get along well again. So there is no problem. I certainly don’t think the players are annoyed by him.”
Criticism on Antony
Darren Bent is not yet impressed with Antony’s performance at Manchester United. The former Premier League striker sees too little ‘substance’ and too many frills in Antony.
Antony usually has a starting place in Erik ten Hag’s team. He scored this month in the FA Cup (3-1 win over Everton) and the League Cup (3-0 win over Charlton Athletic), but has not been accurate in the Premier League since October 9 (1-2 win at Everton). . Bent describes his contribution as “all kinds of tricks, but no substance. He does all sorts of things, but doesn’t get past anyone. It’s not like he’s doing a trick to pass someone.”
“He does tricks for the tricks,” Bent noted in conversation with talkSPORT . The thirteen-time English international cites a trick that Antony performed in October against Sheriff Tiraspol (3-0 win) in the Europa League. The former Ajax player turned around and made a dragging movement with the ball, only to lose it due to a failed pass. He commented, “Come on, just a spider? , I thought then.”
