Antony can prove Paul Scholes wrong for Manchester United

Antony has quietly begun to prove his worth for Manchester United following the £84m move last summer from Ajax. He is a player Erik Ten Hag was desperate to bring with him to Old Trafford, following their success in Holland.

Antony kicked off life in England with goals in his first three league games, setting the standards insurmountably high. The winger hasn’t set the world on fire this season despite being solid; however, his recent upturn has come at a key time for United.

Often criticised for being one-dimensional, Antony has shown development in recent weeks, going both ways, and showing his willingness to use both feet.

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This threat was evident in yesterday’s 2-0 win over Nottingham Forest as Antony was a constant threat, picking up a goal and an assist. This brought his season tally to an impressive eight goals and two assists.

Antony’s assist was possibly his brightest bit of play all season, driving inside across the Forest backline and, with Diogo Dalot making a driving run into the box from an inverted left-back role. slotting it through to him for the goal with a neat reverse pass.

One of Antony’s biggest strengths and what he brings to team is his directness down the right, as shown by his progression stats per90 with 4.54 progressive carries and 3.55 progressive passes.

Antony’s improvements have unsurprisingly come at a time when United’s on-field display and style start to resemble a team befitting Ten Hag. An improvement in possession, build-up and xG has seen United look a lot more dominant, akin to an Ajax side.

This is of huge benefit to Antony as he is much more effective in a team which has possession opposed to playing on the break,