As we get ready to enter the year 2024, the Red Devils are currently in seventh place in the Premier League after suffering a setback against Nottingham Forest by a score of 2-1. This defeat has left them in a position of weakness.
Antony is one player who receives more than his fair share of criticism because to the £85 million price tag that was paid to get him to Old Trafford from Ajax 18 months ago. While few of Erik ten Hag’s players are effectively producing on a consistent basis, Antony is one player who generates more than his fair share of criticism.
Due to the fact that the Brazilian has only scored eight goals in 65 games over that time period and has also provided three assists, many people are beginning to question the transfer fee that was paid for him.
United has scored 22 goals in the Premier League so far this season, with only Burnley and Sheffield United having scored fewer than United’s 22 goals. He is not the only attacking player who is not performing well.
Casemiro, who was also acquired from Real Madrid in 2022 for a fee of sixty million pounds, has not been able to demonstrate his quality on a consistent basis. However, Neville believes that the club and Erik ten Hag are to blame for their bad performance, and not the players themselves.
“That’s the one that’s going to stand out on Erik ten Hag, that £85 million on Antony where he’s obviously nowhere near that level,” he said to Sky Sports. “However, even seventy-odd million pounds on Hojlund, fifty-five million pounds on Mason Mount, or fifty million pounds on Casemiro on a five-year deal is a lot of money.”
However, gone are the days when Sir Alex Ferguson would have traveled three or four nights a week to observe other players. Instead, there would have been a chief scout, a head of academy and recruitment. There are a lot of deals that you may start to look at with a glass half-empty attitude.
After going to see games at night, he would then go to watch the academy on a Saturday morning, and then he would go to watch the first team on a Saturday afternoon.
“The head coaches that are at these teams — hopefully with the exception of Pep Guardiola or Jurgen Klopp, who have their foundations established – they come in for one or two years and think, ‘I’ve really got to get these guys right,’ and these are ephemeral roles at football clubs.
Due to the fact that they are putting so much emphasis on coaching the team, it is imperative that the individuals who are observing players from all over the world be trusted to bring forth the appropriate players for Ten Hag.
“What appears to have occurred is that the recruitment department of Manchester United cannot have gone to watch Antony and signed him off at a price of £85 million. It appears that they have allowed Erik ten Hag to overrule them, which is concerning because you need strong leadership at the very top of the organization.
“He has two things; he can go on his left and wҺip in a cross or go inside and try to get a shot away. That was Riyad Mahrez’s game for five or six years at Leicester or Manchester City, but he’s nowhere near Mahrez. He’s got two things,” the coach said.
“He does not appear to have had any work done on him, and there is a possibility that this is a slight insult to the coaches at Manchester United. As someone who is familiar with Steve McClaren, I find it hard to believe that he is not communicating with Antony and advising him to make his game a little bit easier.
“When you get it, just try to drift it into an area at the back post. You could put a goal on the training pitch and get him to do it thirty times. You could take advantage of this situation.” During the process of training young wingers and wide players, it is possible to observe this consistency and repetition, especially when you are aware that they are inconsistent.
I do have some concerns that Antony does not have the temperament that I would want him to have, and that he does not have the consistency that I would like him to have, but he does have something in that he takes the ball every single time and wants it every single time.My opinion is that he does, despite the fact that there are other players on the field who do not. Antony lacks the self-assurance to defeat players, but he does show that he is capable of doing so. Garnacho is a player that wants the ball and is able to beаt players.
“Not only is he extremely aggravating, but I hold the football club responsible for acquiring him at a price of £85 million. This young man is not to blame for the fact that he has been acquired as one of the most expensive wide players in the history of football throughout the world. For that amount of money, he should not have been brought in at any point.
Although a manager of a football club will want a large number of players, there are occasions when you, as an owner, have to decline their requests. It would have been better for them to decline Antony’s offer, not because they do not believe in Ten Hag but rather because the amount of money was excessive. Similarly, if Casemiro is offered a three-year contract at a salary of £100,000 per week and he is brought in for a price of £15 million, then you should bring him in. You do not bring him in for a fee of sixty million pounds on a five-year contract at twenty million pounds each year.
With Erik ten Hag and Antony, there was a story that scouts put a number of £25-£30 million on Antony. I would аrgue that if we were looking at a winger who was worth £25 million, then we would be looking at him in a completely different way. “There is bound to be a no at that kind of money,” he said.
What transpired with Antony and Casemiro was that they were defeated by Brighton, and then they were defeated by Brentford by a score of 4-0. After that, there was a gap of eight days during which the owners and the fans behaved in a manner that was completely out of control.
There was a tremendous issue, a massive amount of pressure, and there was a match against Liverpool coming up, and everyone anticipated that Liverpool would come and beаt Manchester United. So what do the Glazers do? In order to keep the fans on their side, they pump up the money.
They are offering sixty million pounds for Casemiro, and Real Madrid is unable to believe their good fortune in receiving such an offer. Casemiro, on the other hand, is unable to comprehend his good fortune.
“Then, Antony, Ajax had already completed their business and couldn’t believe that Manchester United had stepped in with £85 million. They thought, ‘We’re going to have to sell him’ because Manchester United were in a state of pаnic.
“I understand that you have to support a manager, but when you do not have strong leadership, that is when a manager begins to take control of the affairs of the organization.
Ten Hag gained authority as a result of the fact that he had got Champions League football and had a good first season. The people at the club were unable to sаy no to him because they panicked and brought them in because they did not have the expertise, aptitude, or competence to sаy no to him.
Next up for Manchester United is a match against Wigan Athletic in the third round of the FA Cup, which will take place on January 9th.