Manchester United forward Antony has hailed the “hard” response of manager Erik ten Hag, following the 7-0 drubbing at the hands of Liverpool, which he says made it “hard to sleep”.
United’s biggest loss of the Premier League era came at the hands of Liverpool last week. Indeed, the Reds put seven goals past United, who could not muster up a single goal of their own.
The poor performance really came out of nowhere. United had been flying, having not lost for 11 games before heading to Anfield.
It also came just a week after Ten Hag inspired his men to the first trophy of his reign, at the first time of asking. As the drubbing was unexpected, then, what the manager would have liked in the following game was a response.
And that’s what he got; the Red Devils put four goals past Real Betis in the Europa League, coming out 4-1 victors in the first leg of their round of 16 tie.
Forward player Antony scored his sixth United goal in the win. The Brazilian has hailed Ten Hag for his tough response after the Liverpool loss, which roused his players to bounce back.
“We came from an extremely hurting defeat. It was hard to sleep that day, but in football you can’t cry about the past,” he said, quoted by Metro.
“We know it’s harder for the manager as he’s the face of the club giving interviews all the time. It was hard for him, for all of us and we take it as a lesson.
“He was hard on us in the right way at the right time. But we are all facing what’s ahead of us now. The group is united and the fans are on our side. That’s the most important thing.
“We know that result is never acceptable. It was important to show a reaction. I was very happy to see the fans showing their support.”
Indeed, Antony continued in his praise of the fans. The forward feels the connection between them and the players is particularly strong at the moment, even despite the heavy defeat.
“Our fans are incredible. Even after the match at Anfield, we went to applaud the away fans and they sang back. It gave me goosebumps,” he added.
“I’m so happy to see them here giving us the same support even after that unacceptable result. And they will be back to give us our fuel against Southampton on Sunday.”
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