Antony thought he was a baller in Eredivisie – but Premier League showed him his level

Antony could have lit up the Eredivisie with Ajax however the Brazilian has been came upon since shifting to Manchester United.

That is the view of Dutch soccer skilled Marcel van der Kraan, who has been a eager observer of the winger since his arrival at Outdated Trafford in 2022.

The 24-year-old arrived on the membership with large promise after United paid Ajax a whopping £86million for his companies.

It gave the impression to be cash properly spent when Antony scored on his debut in a 3-1 victory over Arsenal. And it acquired even higher for the star, who went on to web in United’s subsequent two league video games.

Antony registered eight targets and three assists in 44 video games throughout his maiden season at Outdated Trafford however a mix of off-field points and poor kind noticed the winger web simply 3 times final time period.

He has since come underneath a barrage of criticism for a succession of below-par shows and is but to impose himself on Ten Hag’s beginning XI this season.

With only one minute of motion to his title from United’s opening 4 league fixtures, Antony is in line for a beginning place in Tuesday’s Carabao Cup tie at house to Barnsley, dwell on talkSPORT 2.

Ten Hag will hope that Antony can nonetheless be a hit at Outdated Trafford however Tuesday’s conflict was not the kind of fixture he was signed for.

Van der Kraan believes the United boss will likely be praying Antony can flip round his fortunes with the duty of the switch weighing closely on his shoulders.

“Erik ten hag is praying it’s going to nonetheless occur as a result of on his recommendation, a lot cash was spent on this participant,” Van der Kraan instructed talkSPORT.

“It’s the same old entice that Dutch coaches fall for after they go to England, they’ve seen gamers within the Netherlands which have achieved alright.

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“Antony got here from Brazil, joined Ajax and in Brazil he was a giant expertise. He involves the Eredivisie which isn’t on the identical degree.

“He thought he was an actual baller within the Eredivisie. Sure, you might be towards the likes of Utrecht and Go Forward Eagles.

“You solely play three or 4 huge video games in a season and sure he did gentle the stadium up a number of instances within the huge video games but it surely’s not a constant interval.

“Then he got here to England and thought ‘oh cling on, I’m dealing with actually robust opponents’.”

He continued: “Up to now he would scrap a bit as properly. He was a kind of Brazil road youngsters who would do this and he’s came upon that when he meets some boys from London or Manchester or Liverpool who grew up on the streets there, they’re simply as robust as him.

“If Antony’s degree of taking part in has gone right down to the Carabao Cup towards Barnsley, then that isn’t the form of line you need to absorb your profession whenever you transfer for a lot cash.”

Ten Hag will need issues to work out higher for Netherlands worldwide Joshua Zirkzee, who additionally netted on his debut, within the opening day conflict with Fulham.

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The striker has failed so as to add to his tally since however has proven snippets of high quality through the first few weeks of his United profession.

“He is been at 5 – 6 golf equipment within the early phases of his profession, in the event you’re a very huge expertise you will stick with one, “mentioned Van der Kraan.

“He’s acquired aptitude, he’s acquired top and watching him as a 15-year-old within the Feyenoord academy, I at all times thought, ‘you’ve acquired one thing’

“At Bologna, he was excellent however that is Manchester United. We have now to look at this boy and we now have to look at all of Erik’s boys over longer intervals.

“With the expertise Erik has had with Antony and a number of the different boys, you assume, ‘ought to he have been extra cautious with shopping for gamers from the Eredivisie realizing how robust the others have had it?’

“I actually do hope that Zirkzee will make that distinction for him,” he added. “If Zirkzee doesn’t get the targets and the good performances then it’s going to be a very troublesome season for Ten Hag.”