Man United fans warned about “writing off” underwhelming player this season – “it is dangerous”

Manchester United fans have been warned about “writing off” an underwhelming player this season.

The Reds have had a mixed start to the 2024/25 Premier League campaign. They won their opening game against Fulham but lost against Brighton on Saturday afternoon.

One player who has had limited involvement is Antony, who came off the bench in the 90th minute of the Brighton defeat.

Otherwise, the Brazilian hadn’t played a competitive minute for the club since the 1-0 defeat against Arsenal towards the end of last season.

It had been five games in a row, including two Wembley outings against Manchester City, where Erik ten Hag opted against bringing his £85 million signing from Ajax onto the pitch.

Amad Diallo’s form is only a further blow for the Brazilian. He looks sharp and exciting on the right flank and will continue to start there going forward.

However, when discussing Antony in a recent interview, former Red and Premier League striker Michael Owen suggested that it would be dangerous for fans to write the winger off due to the turbulence at Old Trafford in recent years and that he could surprise some if given the opportunity in a more stable environment.

“Amad Diallo has been the buzzword of preseason for Manchester United after making some headlines last year, I think he’s going to play a prominent role this season,” admitted Owen when asked about Antony’s situation by OLBG.

“The signing of Antony hasn’t gone that well, and as much as it looks like he isn’t the answer for United, that’s happened to that many players over the last dozen or so seasons.

“Great players have come in and it hasn’t worked for them, look at Jadon Sancho who was playing so well in the seasons leading up to the transfer.

“It’s just a hard place to go. Even the great Cristiano Ronaldo hasn’t been able to reignite Manchester United when he went back. I could go talk about dozens of great players that have arrived at United in the last 10 or 15 years that have looked average.

“Sometimes then they even go on to somewhere else and pick it up again and start doing well. I think it’s quite dangerous writing players like Antony off, even though your eyes are telling you that he doesn’t seem to have the pace required and seems to lack a little bit of confidence.

“But Antony now has a youngster snapping at his heels and it might be a tough season for him, but if Erik ten Hag can get a tune out of the team, players might start surprising you.”

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