An elegant reception of the ball with the left, followed by a small show: The ball seems to stick to the foot while Antony, Manchester United’s superstar, quickly spins around twice. A 720-degree turn, a kind of “signature move” by the Brazilian, he already did this artistic turn on the pitch at Ajax Amsterdam. It should show: Look what I can do – and in the Europa League against a football dwarf like Sheriff Tiraspol you can do it.
What followed: a supposedly casual pass – which missed the teammate and ended up in goal-out…
Joined ManUnited in the summer for €95m from Ajax Amsterdam: Antony
Foto: Manchester United via Getty Images
It was an action that was not well received at all. Coach Erik ten Hag shook his head on the sidelines and replaced Antony at the break. Club legend and TV pundit Paul Scholes called the 22-year-old, for whom United paid €95m in the summer, a “clown”.
When asked by BT Sport if the substitution was a result of the arrogance, Scholes said: “I think it has something to do with it. You saw his reaction on the bench. I think that frustrated him a lot.” The long-time Manchester player had already said at the break: “That’s ridiculous. Just look at ten Hag (who shook his head) that says it all about how he feels about it.”
Regarding the campaign itself, Scholes said: “In this country, actually in every country, even in Brazil, you don’t want to see something like that, do you? I like tricks and entertainment, only I don’t think it’s a trick or entertainment, he’s just a clown here. He doesn’t play an opponent, it’s 0:0, then he shoots the ball wide. That’s the way he is, I’ve seen him do it many times, including when he was at Ajax, that’s the way he plays, but I think that needs to be driven out of him.”
04:33
Hundreds of thousands celebrate him for it
Referee runs to spectator during pack formation
Source: BILD/Sportdigital
United coach ten Hag only said after the game that replacing Antony was “more or less” planned because he wanted to see Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcus Rashford on the pitch together in the event of a lead – the score was 1-0 at the break .
Ex-Bayern professional and England star Owen Hargreaves, as an expert for BT Sport, was also little impressed by Antony’s tricks: “You don’t do something like that when the score is 0-0, and not even 4-0, just out of respect in front of the other team.”
