Teddy Sheringham, a veteran of Manchester United, thinks that if Sir Alex Ferguson had still been in control at Old Trafford, he would not have signed Brazilian winger Antony.
Sheringham joined the Man Utd team that won the treble in 1999 under Ferguson’s leadership after moving to the team from Tottenham Hostpur two years earlier.
The former Red Devils forward acknowledged that Antony’s playing style would not have been popular with his former coach.
Since leaving Ajax for €95 million last summer, the Brazilian has cut a contentious figure, receiving praise for a few noteworthy moments but drawing harsh criticism for the majority of the time.
Much of the unrest around Antony is due to his flamboyant behavior, which has caused him to enrage rival players, supporters, and analysts alike.
Sheringham doesn’t believe Ferguson would have been a fan of the 23-year-old from Sao Paulo because of this.
What did Sheringham say?
“I’d be interested to hear what Fergie [Sir Alex Ferguson] thinks of Antony,” Sheringham said to Lord Ping. When we played against wingers like that, Fergie would refer to them as “little fizz-pops” because they can disappear for extended stretches of time during games and pull off pointless tricks, but they can also occasionally score a miracle goal.
Fergie likes his wingers to be more reliable than Antony has been, thus he’s not exactly a Fergie player.
“I am aware that he has scored some outstanding goals, some significant goals, and he is undoubtedly a gifted young man. Like [Cristiano] Ronaldo did when he first joined the team, I believe he needs to understand a bit more about the Premier League.
Following Erik ten Hag from Ajax to Old Trafford, Antony has scored eight goals and contributed two assists in 41 games for Man Utd this season. Along with defender Lisandro Martinez, he was one of two Ajax players to sign with Man Utd in the previous summer.
