The agent of Manchester United winger Antony has hit back at Ruben Amorim after he claimed that the player struggled in England due to his lack of physicality.
Antony was unable to have an impact at United, only managing 12 goals in 96 appearances for the club – an extremely disappointing return for someone who cost them £86m from Ajax.
He left United to join Real Betis on loan in January and has since enjoyed a dramatic change in fortunes. Antony has scored three times and provided a further two assists in seven games.
The Brazilian has instantly become a cult hero at Betis, who are keen on extending his stay at the club. The forward is also believed to be eager to remain in Seville.
In a recent interview with TNT Sports, Amorim highlighted Antony’s physicality issues – pinpointing them as the reason why he struggled at United.
Amorim told the news outlet, “When you play against any team in England, the physicality is there. If you don’t have physicality, you will struggle a lot. Antony is so much better now in Spain. It’s [because of] a lot of factors but I guarantee you it’s physicality.”
It appears Amorim’s sentiments didn’t go down too well within Antony’s camp.
In a sit-down with Marca, the 25-year-old’s agent – Junior Pedroso – snapped back at Amorim with a punchy response.
“We respect the opinion of coach Ruben Amorim, but we completely disagree with his analysis. To attribute Antony’s lack of success at Manchester United solely to the question of physicality is a very superficial argument and does not reflect reality.”
“The truth is that Antony has not had enough prominence or the confidence necessary to play his best football. Of the 15 games in which Amorim managed Manchester United, he only used Antony in nine, with a total of 252 minutes played.”
“This represents only 18.6% of the total possible minutes (1,350 minutes). How can you judge an athlete without a minimum sequence to prove his worth?”
The agent added, “The manager’s statement, although perhaps it was not his intention, ends up devaluing La Liga and the Spanish competitions. Spanish football has one of the most competitive leagues in the world, with top-level teams that constantly compete in the final stages of the Champions League and the Europa League.”
Pedroso opined that United are to blame for Antony’s woes, insisting that his client is not the only footballer to have improved after parting ways with the club.
“The reality is that Antony, since he arrived at Real Betis, has become one of the best players in the team and in the competition itself, demonstrating his full potential when given the right conditions to develop his game.”
“This highlights that the problem was not the physicality, but the context and the way he was managed in Manchester. Many players who do not prosper at United find success at other clubs, which leads us to wonder if the problem really lies with the players.”
The United loanee and his Betis teammates are back in action on Thursday as Real Betis take on Vitoria SC in the first leg of their Europa Conference League round of 16 fixture.
Featured image Fran Santiago via Getty Images
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Derick Kinoti
Derick Kinoti is a football writer at The Peoples Person who has covered Manchester United and the game extensively for many years. He is a keen analyst with expertise in SEO and journalism standards. Derick is convinced Wayne Rooney is the true GOAT and won’t hear otherwise!
