Dimitar Berbatov slams Man Utd player for ‘thinking he’s Ronaldinho or Zidane’ | OneFootball

Dimitar Berbatov speaks during his role as a pundit.

Dimitar Berbatov has hit out at Manchester United winger Antony for doing “stupid things like tricks that are not beneficial for the team”.

The Brazil international has flopped since making his £85m transfer from Ajax in the summer 0f 2022 with frustration growing over his performances this season.

Antony has only contributed four goals and two assists in 33 Premier League appearances and his lack of end product has been annoying supporters, former players and pundits alike.

Obviously skillful, the Man Utd winger shows off his talent with tricks on a regular basis but his lack of goals and assists isn’t helping Erik ten Hag’s team.

And former Man Utd striker Berbatov thinks the 23-year-old needs to go back to basics in order to be successful before adding the tricks back into his game.

“Right now, it’s not working well for Antony, so my piece of advice would be to keep it simple, don’t overcomplicate stuff. The moment you start thinking you’re Ronaldinho or Zidane while you’re struggling in games, you’re going to suffer even more. Don’t try to do stupid things like tricks that are not beneficial for the team,” Berbatov told Betfair.

“You’re so quick, use your pace to get in-behind the defence, get on the ball and start to record assists or shoot to score. That’s how simple it is. Stay disciplined and concentrated – it’s not so difficult.”

Antony was absent during some of September after it was revealed that he faced a police investigation over allegations that he assaulted his former girlfriend.

The Brazilian has since returned to playing for Man Utd – who have two of the worst finishers in the Premier League – and Ten Hag reckons the break may have set the winger back in his preparations.

Ten Hag told reporters: “[He was] out for a couple of weeks so that broke the rhythm. Had a good pre-season but had a break so now has to get himself back in good form. It’s hard work.”

There have been rumours that Man Utd could look to offload Antony in the January transfer market with a loan move to Flamengo mooted – but transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has rubbished that speculation.

“In the last 24 hours I told you that Antony is not returning to Flamengo. We had rumours of a swap deal between Manchester United and Flamengo – Antony on loan to Flamengo, and Gabigol to Manchester United,” Romano said on his YouTube channel.

“From what I’m hearing, they are not discussing a swap deal because Antony is not returning to Brazil. He wants to stay in Europe and at Manchester United to fight for his place, and so nothing is ongoing in terms of a swap deal.

“For United to sign a striker, it will be discussed in December, not now, and also it depends on the budget and the owners, but there is no swap deal between Antony and Gabigol.”