Erik ten Hag responds to Antony criticism after Manchester United’s defeat to Newcastle

Erik ten Hag has backed Antony to become a success at Manchester United after the winger struggled in the 3-0 defeat to Newcastle United on Wednesday evening.

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The Carabao Cup holders were dumped out of the competition after another dismal performance at Old Trafford. Miguel Almiron and Lewis Hall had put Newcastle two goals ahead by half time before Joe Willock’s superb strike on the hour mark sealed a deserved win for Eddie Howe’s side.

Antony, meanwhile, has been unable to live up to his €100 million (£85.6m) transfer fee after joining from Ajax 14 months ago and has faced criticism for his lack of output on United’s right flank.

Speaking in the Sky Sports studio in the build up to United’s Carabao Cup exit, Andy Cole highlighted Antony’s struggles and said the Brazilian would ‘drive me absolutely mad’ if they were playing in the same team.

Asked if Antony is anywhere near the player he thought he was signing, Ten Hag said after United’s defeat to Newcastle: ‘There is also the team, first, the team is not playing well, when they don’t bring him the balls, again, I’m also responsible for that.

‘But, obviously, also, there’s a lot of noise and that dropped his levels. He can do better, but all the players can do better.

‘Antony is also a fighter, he has the confidence, he is brave, I am confident he will bring the performance that [shows] he is the right player for us.’

Ten Hag has also backed himself to improve United’s situation after they suffered their eighth defeat of the season on Wednesday night.

‘It is below the standards everyone expect from Manchester United – it is not good enough by far,’ said Ten Hag.

‘At this moment we are in a bad place. I take responsibility for it. I see it as a challenge. I am a fighter and I am in that fight and I have to make sure that I share the responsibility with my players and that we stick together and fight together, and get better results.

‘We have to put it right. It is my team and they are not performing. I am responsible.

‘As a team we are not good enough and whatever the reasons are, there is no space for excuses.

‘We have to do things better and we have to raise our standards because otherwise you never get the right levels of performance and never get the results.

‘But I am a fighter. I know it is not always going up and we have a lot of setbacks this season so far, but also you have to deal with it and that is never an excuse.’

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