Erik ten Hag believes Antony can emulate Arjen Robben at Manchester United after he ended his Premier League goal drought. Antony claimed his first league goal since October 9 in the 2-0 win at Nottingham Forest, where the Brazilian also tallied his first Premier League assist for Diogo Dalot's 76th-minute clincher.
The 22-year-old has now scored eight times for United in his debut season, having arrived in an £85.51million deal from Ajax on transfer deadline day in September.
Antony has drawn tentative comparisons with Robben, a left-footed right winger renowned for cutting inside onto his left foot during a garlanded career in which he won honours with Chelsea, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
Also read: Ten Hag explains how Eriksen's role change benefited Fernandes
Robben, who rejected United to join Chelsea in 2004, also helped the Netherlands reach the 2010 World Cup final and the semi-finals of the 2014 World Cup. His fellow Dutchman Ten Hag directly likened Antony with Robben.
"In the start, he had one or two moments where he should have passed to Christian Eriksen," Ten Hag stressed. "It's so important in top football, the timing, the right moment to bring the pass is huge, it makes every impact, it makes the difference between a goal and no goal.
"The goal he made, he was in the right spot, in the right moment to get the rebound. The second goal was a great team goal, how we built that up, the way Antony did it to bring the pass and in the right moment to bring the pass, and the movement from Diogo was fantastic. It was good to see.
"He (Antony) knows, I know as well, when you are a striker, you need end product. But already he had quite a lot of end product. He scored in all competitions now, eight goals, first year at United is not bad and still games to go.
"But he has to do it, I can't say in every game, but many games if you want to be a top-class player and especially in all of the competitions.
"In the Premier League, there are a lot of quality defenders and you have to act on a really high level. It is a lot about scanning, taking the right decision. There is only a split moment where you have to take that decision. He has to step up. Today was an example where, with both goals, he made the right decision.
"First, I know he can also use his right (foot), he has to do it more. But the second, I think there was in the week (against Sevilla), he can also go outside.
"But he is so good on the inside. So I've seen, for instance, Arjen Robben a lot. They say he had only one trick but that one trick was so brilliant no one can stop it.
"We have to emphasise, of course, if you can go both ways you have more variations, you are more difficult to stop. But to improve the trick you are really good at, his first yards with the ball as he dribbles are so outstanding I think they're so difficult to defend. So he has to keep doing that."
READ MORE:
