Manchester United star Antony “seems to think” he’s Cristiano Ronaldo, according to Gordon Strachan, who says he won’t emulate the striker’s success.
- Antony has come under fire this season
- Brazilian “thinks he’s as good as CR7”
- But must learn to utilise end product effectively
WHAT HAPPENED? The Brazilian has come under some criticism in his first season in Manchester, with questions asked of his end product thanks to just five goal contributions in 18 Premier League games. Antony has also been scrutinised for showboating and holding on to the ball too long at times, despite manager Erik ten Hag thinking that attribute can be used as a positive thing. Strachan recognises that these same two critiques were aimed at Ronaldo in his early United days – but says that’s where the similarities between the two players end.
WHAT THEY SAID: “He [Antony] kind of reminds me of Ronaldo, although it’s never nice to throw another name in the mix,” the former United and Scotland midfielder told casinosite.nl. “He seems to think he is, but I don’t think he’s anywhere near as good as Ronaldo. There’s too much work on the ball. When Ronaldo first got there, at that point you had people in the team who would tell Ronaldo the truth and say ‘excuse me, we don’t want you dancing about when you can cross it in earlier! Use your ability to get in good areas and produce something. We’re not here to see you.’
“I think at that point Ronaldo took on board what Sir Alex [Ferguson] was saying, what Roy Keane and Paul Scholes was saying. He understood what they wanted from him and he became this once in a lifetime player, well apart from [Lionel] Messi, of course, this unbelievable player. I don’t think Antony can get anywhere near where Ronaldo reached but I think he’s got to ask himself; ‘am I doing this for myself or am I doing it for the team?’ “If you’re genuinely doing it for the team then fine. If you’re doing it for yourself then cut it out. The last couple of weeks we’ve seen magical things from him [Antony] but sometimes when life’s not great you have to be a good teammate first.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE: It is easy to forget that both Antony and Ronaldo were team-mates at the start of the season, although it remains to be seen what the Brazilian learned from the veteran forward in his current playing state. The 38-year-old has posted an impressive goals tally at his new club Al-Nassr but continues to cause controversy off the pitch. His latest outburst came against his own bench as they crashed out of the King Cup of Champions 1-0 to Al-Wehda on Monday.
IN THREE PHOTOS:
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WHAT NEXT FOR ANTONY? With Ronaldo a distant memory at United but undoubtedly a player he will want to emulate going forward, the Brazilian will hope to be back among the goals against a struggling Tottenham side, when they face up in the league on Thursday night.
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