‘He can’t beat anyone’ – Rio Ferdinand says Antony was ‘hesitant’ against Arsenal and admits to ‘concern’ at record Manchester United signing

23/01/2023 18:20

Rio Ferdinand has admitted that he’s ‘concerned’ about Antony’s inability to dribble past players. The Manchester United star arrived from Ajax for £85million over the summer and has showed glimpses of his talent, but has largely found like in England frustrating. Antony has endured mixed fortunes since arriving at Manchester UnitedGetty Antony was hauled off after 71 minutes against Arsenal after a largely ineffective displayGetty Since joining, the Brazilian has scored five goals in 19 matches so far this term, providing no assists in the process. Antony started the 3-2 defeat against Arsenal, but was hauled off after 71 minutes due to a largely ineffective display. While gaining admiration for his flicks and tricks, ex-United defender Ferdinand admits that he needs to improve his ability in taking on his man. Speaking on his FIVE YouTube show, Ferdinand said: “The concerning thing for me with somebody like Antony is that he can’t beat anyone – and for a Brazilian that’s surprising! “He just doesn’t beat anyone and I’m sitting there thinking, ‘Was that always the way?’ “I’ve seen clips of him when he was at Ajax and he was somebody who used to beat people. I saw [Thomas] Partey – who I wouldn’t put down as like a roaster, a sprinter – absolutely burst past him, and I’m thinking, ‘Woah, he [Antony] hasn’t got much power in them legs!’ So, yeah, he’s a tricky winger, but tricky wingers – you want them to still be able to beat the defender. The winger needs to work on his ability to take on his man, according to FerdinandGetty Most read in Football Rice favours Arsenal, Kane open to new Tottenham deal, Newcastle weigh up Gordon bid Everton sack Frank Lampard who leaves with worse record than Rafa Benitez Laura Woods issues perfect response to 'salty' Man United fan after huge win for Arsenal Kane deals transfer blow to Man United as new stance on Spurs contract emerges Everton players expect Frank Lampard to be sacked after crunch talks with Farhad Moshiri 'You'll still be Spurs' - Laura Woods in no mood to let jealous fans ruin Arsenal win “Even [Oleksandr] Zinchenko, he’s a great player, great footballer, but defensively you get him one-v-one and you’re a wide-man, you should feel, ‘I can get hold of this guy and I can deal with him’. “You want a winger to be going past full-backs without any hesitation at all and with Antony, as much quality as he has on the ball and his technique and stuff like that, [he doesn’t beat defenders].” Keep up to date with all the latest news, rumours and gossip with our LIVE transfer blog