Highlights
- Mason Mount’s return breathed life into Man United’s lacklustre performance this weekend, showcasing his impact in just 16 minutes on the field.
- Antony’s struggles at Old Trafford highlight the need for him to draw inspiration from Mount’s recent resurgence to revive his own career.
- Despite Antony’s brilliant moments in the FA Cup, his persistent underwhelming performances have led to criticism and a dire need for improvement.
Manchester United’s season has been far from consistent, with the side set to miss out on the Champions League spots.
Ahead of the 1-1 draw against Brentford, the atmosphere around the Red Devils camp was positive, especially with the return of some key members such as Lisandro Martinez and Casemiro.
However, Erik ten Hag’s side were only able to pick up a point at the Gtech Community Stadium, with even that draw being a miracle after a drab performance that saw the Bees register 31 shots.
Nonetheless, there was one positive from the game, with a player impressing from the bench and even potentially inspiring another teammate to revive his Man United career.
Mason Mount impressed against Brentford
Mason Mount’s move from boyhood club Chelsea to Man United for £55m in the summer hasn’t exactly gone according to plan so far, with the midfielder spending the majority of the campaign on the sidelines with injuries.
The England international made his return against Liverpool prior to the international break, and he replaced Marcus Rashford in the 80th minute versus Thomas Frank’s team in an attempt to reignite the attacking impetus.
The former Blue made an instant impact on the left of the attack, bringing intensity to a lacklustre side, contesting seven duels and being fouled twice, which shows he was heavily involved.
In the 96th minute, it looked as though Mount had become the match-winner, scoring his first goal for the club with a wonderful left-footed finish into the bottom right, before Brentford’s last-minute equaliser.
Mount’s performance was a glimpse of what he can bring to the United team and how he can make an impact going forward, but there’s also one player in the squad who needs to revive his career at Old Trafford.
Antony must take inspiration from Mount
Brazilian winger Antony joined the Red Devils from Ajax alongside Ten Hag last summer for a huge fee of £82m.
To begin with, it seemed that the forward was destined to secure the right-wing spot at United for the foreseeable future, especially after scoring in all of his first three starts in the Premier League.
However, fast forward to this season, and the 24-year-old has been extremely ineffective over his 23 league appearances, failing to score or assist all season.
On top of his inability to find the back of the net or be a reliable creator, Antony has been underwhelming on every front, as you can see by the table below showcasing his Premier League statistics.
|
Antony’s 23/24 PL Stats |
|
|---|---|
|
Stats |
Antony |
|
Goals |
0 |
|
Assists |
0 |
|
xG |
1.52 |
|
xA |
1.50 |
|
Shots (per game) |
1.2 |
|
Successful dribbles (per game) |
0.7 |
|
Pass accuracy |
78% |
|
Via Sofascore |
|
In fairness to the “electric” ace, as dubbed by football creator Liam Canning, just like Mount this weekend, he did play a huge role in United’s 4-3 victory over Liverpool in the FA Cup, scoring the vital equaliser to send the game into extra-time.
But he was once again uninspiring at the weekend after replacing Alejandro Garnacho on the hour mark, only having 14 touches and a pass accuracy of 71%.
Samuel Luckhurst of the Manchester Evening News handed the number 21 a 6/10 rating for his performance, stating that he “took an age to get on the ball.”
Indeed, it’s quite clear that Antony has been extremely poor this season, and even after his heroics against Jurgen Klopp’s side, he was unable to continue his momentum against the Bees.
