Erik ten Hag urges Antony to ‘bounce back’ into Manchester United team

Erik ten Hag says Antony can “bounce back” in the battle the forward faces for a starting place in the Manchester United team.

The 24-year-old Brazil international, signed from Ajax for an initial £80.6million in 2022, has featured only once for United so far this season, as a late substitute in last month’s 2-1 Premier League loss at Brighton.

It remains to be seen what involvement he has in Tuesday’s Carabao Cup third-round tie against League One side Barnsley at Old Trafford, and United boss Ten Hag said of Antony ahead of the match: “He is fighting, fighting for his position.

“That’s what we expect from every player who is in the squad at Manchester United, what they should do.

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“That is professional football, that is top football, those are the laws – you pick the team where you think you have the most chance to win a game, so the players have to fight for their positions, and you pick the XI who have the best dynamic and the best chemistry.

“Now he has to bounce back and he has the abilities to do it. So if he is doing the right thing, he can make competition with them (those who have been playing ahead of him).”

Asked if Antony was quite a way off where Ten Hag needs him to be, the Dutchman said: “No. I think the other players are doing so well, they’re contributing. We have Amad (Diallo), Garna (Alejandro Garnacho) – very effective. (Marcus) Rashford scoring at the weekend.

“So he has to earn the right in training but the others are doing really well, so he has to get over them.”

Ten Hag added: “Of course he is impatient. He wants to play and he’s fighting to play.”

Lisandro Martinez and Noussair Mazraoui both limped off in the second half of the Southampton match, in which fellow defender Matthijs de Ligt was also withdrawn due to cramp, but all three are fit to be selected for Tuesday.

Rasmus Hojlund, Mason Mount and Victor Lindelof remain unavailable as they continue their recoveries from injury, although Ten Hag did not rule them out of Saturday’s league trip to Crystal Palace, saying: “We will see how the progress will continue.”

Ten Hag also said Luke Shaw (calf) was “progressing well” but not yet ready for selection.

Mazraoui and De Ligt’s fellow summer signing Manuel Ugarte could make his first United start after the midfielder came off the bench for his debut on Saturday.

Ten Hag oversaw United winning the Carabao Cup in his maiden season in charge in 2022-23, and last term the FA Cup was added – at the end of a campaign in which they finished eighth in the top flight.

They currently sit 10th in the fledgling 2024-25 table on six points from four games, with the Southampton result coming after the back-to-back losses at Brighton and at home to Liverpool (3-0).

It was put to Ten Hag that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, during his own tenure as United boss, had said that while cup success can be “sometimes more of an ego thing from managers and clubs”, it is “in the league position you see if there’s any progress”.

And when asked if he agreed that the league was the most important thing, Ten Hag said: “I think all the leagues (competitions) are important.

“In top football, at the end of the day it’s about winning trophies and to hit the targets. You set some targets in the season but also longer term where you want to grow into, therefore you have a strategy and then follow the strategy and develop and progress the team.

“Something tells when you win one of the five leagues, then you hit some targets and you did your job well.”