Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has given his stance on Antony’s showboating against FC Sheriff in the Europa League.
We all saw how Paul Scholes and Owen Hargreaves reacted – adding to Robbie Savage’s over-reaction on BT Sport – but Ten Hag was less offended by the winger who performed a spin with the ball in the first half of the 3-0 win over United’s Moldovan opponents.
The issue I think most people had with Antony’s incident is that he lost the ball – misplacing a pass to Casemiro.
Ten Hag explains he doesn’t have a problem with Antony’s showboating as long as it’s functional. He knows the Brazilian better than most managers and this is something he did at Ajax previously.
“When it’s functional I don’t have a problem with that,” Ten Hag said. “You are in the Theatre of Dreams, you have to entertain.”
🗣️ “When it’s functional I don’t have a problem with that. You are in the theatre of dreams, you have to entertain!”
Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag on the Antony spin. 🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/whkbzT0iQc
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) October 28, 2022
Footage courtesy of Football Daily
Ten Hag makes a valid point that at Old Trafford – the biggest stage in football – your job is to entertain. You can’t knock a player for showing confidence on the ball. Not unless you are a dinosaur like Ian Holloway, on Sky Sports this morning.
If anything, I would encourage Antony to produce more showboating. Just to annoy the critics.
