Antony in action during Manchester United’s win over Wolves (Picture: Getty)
Former England defender Stuart Pearce hit out at ‘irritating’ Antony after Manchester United’s Premier League victory over Wolves.
A cagey affair at Molineux was settled in the 76th minute by a goal from Marcus Rashford, who was dropped from United’s starting line-up for ‘internal disciplinary’ reasons.
Manchester United are now fourth in the Premier League, having won 10 of their last 14 games in all competitions, while Wolves remain in the relegation zone.
Brazil international Antony has started United’s last two games after returning from the Qatar World Cup but flattered to deceive against Wolves, with his performance slammed by Pearce.
The ex-England, Nottingham Forest, West Ham and Manchester City star said on talkSPORT’s commentary: ‘Antony has got no intention of tracking back, Wolves can get a lot of joy down that side.
Speaking at half-time, Pearce added: ‘Antony has failed to make an impact – he’s given away the ball on far too many occasions.
‘He irritates the life out of me, every time he gets the ball he points to his team-mates and tells them what they should do.
Ex-England defender Stuart Pearce was critical of the Brazil winger (Picture: GMB)
‘I saw recently Ten Hag and Fernandes said he would be a really good player if he listened. He’s certainly doing more talking than listening right now.’
Antony has scored three goals in 14 appearances for Manchester United following a £82m move from Ajax last summer.
Ten Hag admitted he was ‘not happy’ with Manchester United’s first-half display but was impressed with the upturn after the break.
‘We were not that good in the first half,’ he said following the 1-0 win. ‘In my opinion the second half was better.
‘In the first half, you analyse the game but sometimes things do not work as expected. Wolves did not create many chances and we did but you have to be sharp.
‘I was not happy at half time and I told them with this attitude they will not win this game and everyone had to give 10% more.’
Manchester United continue their hectic festive period with a home match against struggling Bournemouth on Tuesday.
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‘He failed to make an impact.’
