Antony's new role exposes Man United problem as injury crisis calls for drastic measures

The extent of Manchester United's injury crisis is clear to see after the Reds finished the game with Antony playing in an unfamiliar position.

Antony was introduced with 20 minutes of normal time remaining as the impressive Amad was forced off through injury. Fortunately, the Ivorian has insisted he is not as bad as some had first feared on social media post-match.

After just 17 minutes on the left flank, Antony was forced to transition to left-back with time running out as Aaron Wan-Bissaka was substituted and Diogo Dalot moved over to right-back. This decision only served to highlight what a troublesome position the left-back spot has been for United this season.

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Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia have both missed the majority of the campaign with injuries. This meant, with the power of hindsight, the decisions to allow Sergio Reguilon to return to Tottenham Hotspur and Alvaro Fernandez to move to Benfica have left them short of options.

While it could be argued the new role for Antony was just a temporary measure, it could also be used as further evidence of why Erik ten Hag should be looking to add to the left-back position in the summer. There are no guarantees Malacia will be the same player after missing the entirety of this campaign, while Shaw's dependability has become an issue despite being impressive when he does feature.

It is also a wake-up call for Antony, who may need to adapt to this new reality moving forward. He has not been the star man on the right flank who United fans expected, so when he is used now he could be deployed to fill a hole rather than entrusted to change a