Paul Scholes blasts Man Utd star and bemoans frustrating trait which Ten Hag must ‘knock out of him’
Paul Scholes reacted to a skill from Manchester United winger Antony by urging Erik ten Hag to ‘knock it out of him’.
Manchester United had a largely frustrating first half against Sheriff Tiraspol on Thursday night. They had a few decent chances to open the scoring but failed to find the net.
And despite the score being 0-0, Antony opted to try something a bit different in the 42nd minute. He showcased his trademark ‘Antony spin’, which got the crowd excited.
However, the summer signing did not do it to try and get past his man. Indeed, he was several yards away from any Sheriff player.
And when Antony did go to pass it to a team-mate, he failed to find Casemiro. Instead, Antony’s pass went straight out of play for a goal kick.
Diogo Dalot spared the 22-year-old’s blushes somewhat by giving Manchester United the lead shortly before half time. If the Red Devils had gone into the break at 0-0, then Antony would have received even more criticism.
But the goal did not hold Scholes back too much. During BT Sport’s half-time analysis of the match (27/10, at 20:59), Scholes said: “If I was that number 61 [for Sheriff] I know what I would be doing. I don’t know what he’s doing there. It’s just ridiculous, it’s showboating.
“Look at that [Ten Hag’s bewildered reaction], that sums it up. What’s he thinking of. He’s not beating a man, he’s not entertaining anybody, it’s 0-0.
Pundits complain about Antony showboating
“Then he kicks the ball out. That’s the way he plays, I’ve seen him do it many times for Ajax as well. That’s just the way he is but I think he needs that knocking out of him.”
Fellow pundit Owen Hargreaves added: “If you’re gonna do it the final pass has to be good. That’s just how it is a little bit now.
“At 0-0 you don’t really do that. You don’t even do that when you’re 3-0 up, you’ve got to show respect for the other team.
“Players want to show their skills, but there needs to be function with it. There wasn’t there and when you kick it out, I don’t think that helps either.”
The skill proved costly for Antony as he was substituted by Ten Hag at half time. Marcus Rashford came on in his place and doubled Man Utd’s lead by scoring in the 65th minute.
