Erik ten Hag insists Antony is not a ‘one-trick’ pony as Man Utd boss compares him to Chelsea icon after breaking torte duck
ERIK TEN HAG believes Antony reminds him of a Chelsea legend after ending his 15-game drought at Prem.
The striking £85.5million Brazilian wideman has received flak for being too predictable and always cutting to his preferred left foot.
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But 23-year-old Antony scored Manchester United’s first goal and made the second for Diogo Dalot to sink struggling Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.
Injury-hit United surpass Newcastle in third place – six points clear of fifth-placed Tottenham with a game in hand.
And Ten Hag compared Antony to the brilliant former Chelsea winger Arjen Robben.
The Red Devils boss said: “Firstly, I know he can use his right too, but he needs to do it more. Secondly, he can also go outside, but inside he is so good!
“I’ve seen Arjen Robben a lot, for example. It used to be said that he only had one trick – but that one trick was so brilliant that nobody can stop him.
“Of course, if you can go both ways, you have more variation and it’s harder to stop.
“But you can also improve on the trick you are really good at.
“His first yards with the ball while dribbling are so amazing and so difficult to defend, he has to keep going.”
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Antony made an immediate impression – he scored in all three of his first Premier League games following his summer move from Ajax – but goals in the top flight then dried up.
Still, Ten Hag pointed to Antony’s FA Cup goals and his strikes in Europe.
He said: “Antony knows and I know that as a striker you need an end product.
“But he already has a lot of end product – he has now scored in all competitions.
“Eight or nine goals in his first year at United is not bad and he has games left.
“I can’t say he has to do that in every game.
“But in a lot of games if you want to be a top player and especially in all competitions.
“There are a lot of good defenders in the Premier League and you have to play at a really high level.
“Today was an example where he made the right decisions with both goals.
“The goal he made was in the right place, at the right moment to get the rebound.
“The second goal was a great team goal.
“How we set it up, how Antony managed to get the pass at the right moment.
“Diogo’s movement was fantastic. It was good to see.”