
Manchester United
Premier League • England
Alan Shearer blasts Man Utd player who would ‘do my nut’ and names one signing that’ll emerge as big hit

Man Utd players Marcus Rashford, Antony, Luke Shaw and Diogo Dalot
Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer has predicted Manchester United striker Rasmus Hojlund ‘will come good’, while also tearing into one of his team-mates at Old Trafford.
Man Utd and Liverpool played out an underwhelming goalless draw at Anfield on Sunday afternoon, in a game with few clear-cut chances and a lack of real quality. Man Utd will be happy that they did not pick up another damaging defeat, following the recent losses to Bournemouth and Bayern Munich, but their mediocre performance is not exactly a reason for great celebration.
Erik ten Hag will likely be happier than his managerial counterpart Jurgen Klopp, as Man Utd defended well to keep Liverpool largely at bay. Although, the Red Devils did not offer much threat going forward, with Alisson only really called into action to deny Hojlund twice in the 68th minute.
The main talking point of the game was Diogo Dalot’s dismissal in stoppage time, as he picked up two yellow cards for dissent after a throw-in went against Man Utd.
When analysing the game, BBC Match of the Day pundit Shearer backed Hojlund to become a success, even though he struggled against Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate. However, right winger Antony is doing little to help the centre-forward with his selfish and frustrating style of play.
“I think he [Hojlund] will come good,” Shearer said. “He has to improve his link-up play and finishing but I do have sympathy for him. I try put myself in his position, I look at [Alejandro] Garnacho, a lot of the time he is running with his head down.
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“He doesn’t pick his head up enough to see when the centre-forward is about to run.
“On the other side is Antony. It would do my nut to play with him because you know 99.99 per cent of the time he is coming inside onto that left foot.
Antony ‘makes it difficult’ for Rasmus Hojlund – Alan Shearer
“The defenders know, they can set themselves. On the odd occasion, if he did [go] on his right, it would make it a bit more difficult. But for a centre-forward, it doesn’t half make it difficult [for Hojlund].”
Shearer’s analysis is similar to how former Man Utd assistant manager Rene Meulensteen views the front three of Hojlund, Antony and Garnacho.
Following the Champions League defeat to Bayern, he said: “I thought he [Hojlund] was way short. Against those defenders, he never got a kick.
“But the problem is he is flanked by two individual players [Antony and Garnacho] who have no intention to give him any kind of service because they want to create things for themselves and not help any striker.
“So there’s an imbalance, and that imbalance is going forward but also going back in terms of the defensive shape which we’ve seen in so many games.”
Hojlund impressed during the rest of the the Champions League group stage, notching five goals in six games even though Ten Hag’s side finished bottom on just four points.
The Dane will be desperate to get on the scoresheet in a Premier League game, as he is yet to score in his 13 appearances.
Antony, meanwhile, will always divide opinion due to his flashy style. But if the former Ajax man does not start linking up with Hojlund more and increasing his goal contributions, then he will continue to be torn apart by pundits.
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