Former BBC Sport pundit Chris Sutton has claimed that one underperforming Manchester United star left Erik ten Hag hanging with his performances in the 2023-24 season.
Erik ten Hag endured a mixed second season in charge at Old Trafford, with the Manchester United manager seeing his first-team squad ravaged by injuries.
United fell well short of challenging for the Premier League top four and Ten Hag’s men are without Champions League football for next season.
The Red Devils limped to an eighth-place finish in the 2023-24 season, with United level on points with seventh-place Newcastle in the league table.
However, Ten Hag signed off his second season at Old Trafford with major silverware after United lifted the FA Cup trophy on Saturday.
United defied the odds and produced a stunning performance to beat Premier League champions Manchester City 2-1 in the final at Wembley.
Sutton unimpressed with Man Utd star
Antony has failed to impress – or win Manchester United fans over – since his big-money move from Dutch side Ajax in 2022 for an initial fee worth £81.3m.
The 24-year-old Brazilian winger played under Erik ten Hag at Ajax before he reunited with the Dutchman at Old Trafford.
However, Antony has underperformed and underdelivered during his two seasons at United, despite Ten Hag showing a lot of faith in the former Ajax star.
The Brazil international managed to score only once and registered only one assist in 29 Premier League appearances for the Red Devils in the 2023-24 season.
Antony, who scored twice in four FA Cup matches, was an unused sub in the last two Premier League matches of the season after Amad Diallo started ahead of him.
Speaking on the It’s All Kicking Off! Podcast, Chris Sutton believes that the United winger is a “show pony” and has ‘let down’ Ten Hag when he needed him.
“[Antony] actually made me look value for money,” he said, as per The Daily Mail.
“For the outlay on him, in terms of goals and assists, they just simply haven’t been there. He is a show pony. That’s what he is and I think he’s let Erik ten Hag down.”
Ten Hag spoke out on Antony
Ten Hag insisted that he saw shades of Antony’s Ajax potential during United’s 4-3 Premier League defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in April.
Speaking after the match, he told Manchester United’s official website: “I know he’s capable of it.
“I’ve seen it so often, when I was manager of Ajax, but we haven’t seen this.
“Maybe in the start [of Antony’s United career] we’ve seen a glimpse, in the first three games when he scored three goals, but after that, [only] incidentally, like against Barcelona last season when he scored the winning goal, but he’s capable of it.
“Yesterday night, I saw the Antony I want to see.”