Former striker Darren Bent did not hesitate to criticize Antony as just a Youtube player and struggling with difficulties at Man Utd.
On talkSPORT channel, Darren Bent has just participated in the match commentary program between Man Utd and Arsenal. When asked by host Andy Goldstein about his claim that Antony is a YouTube player, the former Sunderland striker said:Yes, a little bit. You take videos of a player’s best tackles and watch them on Youtube and you say it’s unbelievable that we’re signing him. But where is the core, what is the end result?“?
Agreeing with Bent, two former players Rio Ferdinand and Gary Neville expressed concern when Man Utd spent £ 86 million for Antony. They think that Antony’s handling phase in the last third of the field is not really quality. Man Utd do not have the service of Sancho so they need more from Antony, and the bench has no better option.
Antony faced many difficulties at Man Utd.
While Antony did indeed complete 3 of his 5 dribble attempts during the match, he regularly slowed United’s attacks and his inability to beat his man was proven magnified by the stellar performance from his right wing counterpart Bukayo Saka.
Sunday’s 2-3 loss brought Antony’s current form to greater scrutiny and Bent is now the latest former player to criticize the United man.
Neville commented: “I would like to see more from Antony, the £86m signing. Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka – are also talented young players who can be a counterweight to Marcus Rashford and Antony in attack. However, that is not the case at this point. Antony has a lot of work to do but he’s only been in England for a while“.
However, some of Antony’s parameters will surely make Man Utd fans worry. The Brazilian striker has 0.98 successful dribbles every 90 minutes. This parameter ranks second after Marcus Rashford. However, Antony was ineffective in trying to get past the opposing defender.
Antony’s dribble success rate is only 36%, ranking 10th among players with at least 5 dribbles. This number is even worse than McTomminay, Dalot or Casemiro. In fact, Marcus Rashford is even only 11th.
The British press also did not say very well about Antony. The Daily Mail believes that with Alejandro Garnacho making progress and Jadon Sancho returning to training, Antony is in danger of losing his position if his form does not improve in the near future.