As Manchester United prepare to face West Ham in the Premier League this afternoon, the battle rages on over a 720 degree turn with the ball performed by Antony against Sheriff Tiraspol on Thursday.
The trick, which was followed by a poor pass that went out into touch, was greeted with huge criticism in the BT Sport studio at half time by pundits and former United players Paul Scholes and Robbie Savage.
Antony did this spin in 37th minute, Erik ten Haag substituted him at HT.
No nonsense manager đ
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Scholes labelled Antony a âclownâ while Savage said it was âembarrassingâ.
The former Leicester man has continued his criticism in The Mirror, saying âI do wonder if Antony would have attempted his party trick if he had been answerable to the likes of Roy Keane or Gary Neville, let alone Sir Alex Ferguson, in the Old Trafford dressing room.
âWhen have you ever seen Cristiano Ronaldo ⊠do that at 0-0 in a must-win game?
âWhen have you ever seen Lionel Messi do what Antony did? Show me the evidence, and if Iâm wrong Iâll hold my hand up.â
United boss Erik ten Hag and Brazil teammate Neymar have both defended Antony, with the manager saying the trick drew defenders to Antony, so the move was âfunctionalâ.
Antony himself said âWe [Brazilians] are known for our art and I will not stop doing what has brought me to where I am.â
Teammate for club and country, Fred, also found himself being quizzed about it and was also quick to defend the winger.
âBrazilians have quality in their blood. Itâs always been that way since PelĂ©, to have quality, to dribble, to score, to dance, to smile, â he told ESPN Brasil via Sport Witness.
âSo I think people have to understand this aspect that we have. So it wasnât offensive to anyone what he did.
âItâs his game. I think he has to keep doing it.
âYou want to do a spin that he likes to do, you have to do it. Dance, you can dance.
âAnd I think people have to stop talking on television there, wanting to pull up a subject.â
âIn their countries they donât have players of the same quality who do that.
âI think itâs very annoying that they want to say that. Them wanting to gloat over Brazilâs players.â
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