'What are his strengths?' - Man Utd legend BLASTS 'Primark-quality' Antony
Tom Weber
- 24 Nov 2023 05:03 CST
- 3 min read
Manchester United legend Andy Cole pulled no punches while assessing Antony's time at Old Trafford so far.
The Brazilian is quickly becoming a player symbolic of Man Utd's failures not just in recent years but indeed ever since Sir Alex Ferguson retired. Erik ten Hag, despite a solid first season, has not been able to stop the rot at the club and he must shoulder a lot of the blame for the Red Devils spending an outrageous €95 million on Antony.
The 23-year-old already came across as a very one-dimensional player during his time at Ajax and playing in the Premier League has only sought to highlight his severe shortcomings as a player. This season, in particular, Antony has looked completely out of his depth, not to mention the domestic abuse allegations that have also been levelled at him.
More and more Man Utd fans and club luminaries are beginning to turn on the big-money signing and Andy Cole is the latest ex-Red Devil to join the chorus of voices slamming Antony.
What did Cole say?
Speaking to Betfred, the legend laid into the Brazilian and used Brighton's Kaoru Mitoma as an example of what a good value-for-money buy looks like. “If I played with Antony, it would drive me mad," Cole said. "As a centre-forward, if you’re playing with someone like Antony and he doesn’t get to the byline and put crosses in, then you’re going to be pulling your hair out."
"I sometimes have to ask myself what Antony’s strengths are. He doesn't take players on, he doesn’t create chances and he doesn’t score goals. So what are his strengths? We paid a massive amount of money for him."
"When you look at a club like Brighton who signed Mitoma for £2.7 million, then you have to ask what market are Manchester United shopping in when Brighton pays that for Mitoma and we end up paying £86 million for Antony? Are we not shopping in the same market?"
"It’s like Primark and Zara; you think by paying more to shop at Zara, the quality will be better, but it turns out to be the same as Primark, so you end up paying more for the same thing."
