Gary Neville admits he would have ‘whacked’ Antony for ‘pointless’ piece of skill

Gary Neville has said he would have ‘whacked’ Antony for his ridiculous piece of skill during Manchester United‘s victory over Arsenal on Sunday afternoon. 

Erik ten Hag‘s new signing opened the scoring for the Red Devils in the 35th minute of their 3-1 victory over Arsenal. 

However, fans and have pundits couldn’t help but comment on the 22-year-old’s footwork early on in the first half. 

Gary Neville has said he would have ‘whacked’ Antony if he was defending him on Sunday

The former Ajax forward carried the ball down the right-hand-side of the pitch before stopping in line with the box. 

He stood in front of Oleksandr Zinchenko and tired to confuse the Ukrainian defender by twirling his leg around in the air.

However, it appeared to have little impact and Antony subsequently decided to play the ball backwards. 

Fans and pundits were quick to comment on the incident. Neville said he would have ‘whacked’ Antony, while Jamie Carragher said he would have ‘put him in the stand’. 

Neville said: ‘To be honest with you, when you see a player doing that your automatic reaction as a defender…’ before being interrupted by Carragher who said: ‘Put him in the stand.’ 

Neville agreed by saying: ‘Yeah, you are going to get whacked. But from a United point of view, we have been asking for personality, confidence and character. So we can’t knock it because we have got someone out there who is having himself, massively.’

Fans were equally as unimpressed with the 22-year-old’s bizarre skill. One supporter wrote: ‘All I see is a finished player trying to do some Martinelli moves, and failed miserably.’ 

Another fan added: Zinchenko was shaking, while one supporter wrote: ‘Premier League defenders will humble him.’

Neville said he would have ‘whacked’ him for the ridiculous footwork he exhibited for United 

He stood in front of Oleksandr Zinchenko and tired to confuse the Ukrainian by twirling his leg around in the air. However, it appeared to have little impact and played the ball backwards

Others highlighted the lack of impact Antony had in the clip by saying: He dribbled past 0 players and made no progression into opposition box.’

Another added: ‘So he did 2 balls rolls, shook his leg a bit then passed the ball backwards. So literally did nothing with it.’

Another one wrote: ‘While your team mates are awaiting for a decent cross you are rather engaging in this unnecessary flip overs for them to recover. 

‘They won so no problem , but when he continues to this n they loose the same fans will tear him apart.’

Meanwhile, others jumped to the defence of Antony. One said: ‘I remember Ronaldo doing stuff like this and people said he wasn’t going anywhere and teams will better him. He got battered for a year and has been destroying teams ever since.