Having had a lot of expectations when joining Old Trafford for a fee of 100 million euros in the summer of 2022, Antony was unable to repay the fans’ trust when he showed a disastrous performance during the two seasons he played for the club. Red Devil.
Remember how proud Manucians were when the Brazilian striker scored the opening goal in his debut against Arsenal with a curling shot that beat goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale. After that, he continued to score against Manchester City and Everton, making people believe that Antony is the person capable of bringing Man Utd back to its peak.
But the joy was short-lived as the former Ajax player began a long slide and has only had 1 goal and 2 assists since then in the Premier League. However, one can still take advantage of the fact that this is Antony’s first season and he still has contributions to the overall play of the team.
Everything gradually became clear this season when even the Brazilian striker, in addition to not having a single goal or assist, did not make positive contributions to the overall gameplay. Antony’s pass success rate this season is only 78.4%.
The weakness of the striker born in 2000 is his inability to use his right foot. Being too dependent on his left foot makes Antony unable to launch cross passes and easily caught by the opponent’s defender.
Defenders in the Premier League have clearly understood the former Ajax player’s playing style and often block cuts inside, forcing him to push the ball close to the touchline and use his non-dominant foot, from which they can Can easily rush in to clear the ball.
In addition, media pressure and the transfer fee caused the 23-year-old player to encounter certain psychological barriers. Many times this season, people no longer saw Antony confidently dribble the ball but often tried to push the ball through to his teammates.
The Brazilian striker’s dribbling stats this season say it all when he only makes 0.9 dribbles per match. This is an extremely modest number compared to players who are good at dribbling in the Premier League today such as Jérémy Doku (4), Bukayo Saka (1.6), Leon Bailey (1.2) or Raheem Sterling (1.9).
The inability to improve the weakness of using his right leg and the heavy psychological pressure made Antony’s ‘magic’ legs almost wear lead. Erik ten Hag should probably use the same method as he did with Harry Maguire, which is to push the striker born in 2000 to the bench to reduce media pressure but still give him the opportunity to come on the field to shine. .