It took a little over half-an-hour of their professional relationship for Antony Matheus Dos Santos, a dazzling winger freshly arrived from his native Brazil, to show Erik ten Hag , his head coach at Ajax, what constitutes a ‘typical’ Antony goal. The player was making his league debut in Rotterdam against Sparta on a warm September afternoon, and, receiving the ball while tucked in from his position wide on the right, he cut inside.
The cut inside, right to left, is Antony’s first instinct, as Ten Hag, now busy assembling a plan to revive Manchester United , knows as well as anybody who has coached him.
In fact, Antony’s cut inside is as thoroughly signposted to opponents as any aspect of a 22-year-old footballer’s game can be. Ten Hag, who worked as an assistant at Bayern Munich when Arjen Robben was commanding that club’s right flank, has compared him to the flying Dutchman. The preferred manoeuvre both players share, the glide from right to left, was partly why he likened them.
Robben spent 20 years at the top of the game, and used to joke that everybody eventually forecast correctly what he was most likely to do when he received the ball.
“I’ll cut inside, obviously,” he would smile, confident that although defenders knew which was his stronger foot, and would automatically anticipate him shepherding the ball towards the best place to strike or cross it with his left, simply being predictable was not the same as being tameable.
After his first half-hour of action in Eredivisie, feeling out how deep Sparta wanted to defend, Antony took a bold gamble. His cut inside had taken him to 25 yards from goal and he unleashed a low, angled shot that bounced in front of the goalkeeper and into the corner of the net.
SOUTHAMPTON RATINGS: Gavin Bazunu – 6. Continues to find his feet. Fine save to deny Elanga and spark a remarkable goalmouth scramble. Had no chance at all with Fernandes’s winner early in the second period.
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Kyle Walker-Peters – 7. A willing attacking threat as Southampton openly targeted the left-hand side of United’s defence, but his biggest contribution came in twice denying Fernandes during the first-half melee. Should have done better with the rebound after Aribo’s header had been saved.
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Armel Bella-Kotchap – 9. Outstanding. Did superbly to snuff out a pair of menacing United counter-attacks early on, saved a certain goal by blocking Eriksen’s close-range effort after a scramble, and twice showed great footwork at the other end before blazing wastefully over.
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Mohammed Salisu – 7. Provided further evidence that a central-defensive partnership can work better for Saints than a trio. Solid and unruffled for long periods in tandem with Bella-Kotchap, and posed United the added danger of his hefty long throws.
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Moussa Djenepo – 6. Perhaps relieved to be facing Elanga rather than Sancho, and enjoyed the upper hand in his running battle with the young Swede. Struggled more with Dalot’s presence, however, and Fernandes’s goal came from the Portuguese full-back’s work down his side.
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James Ward-Prowse – 7. Typically energetic, motoring up and down to set the tone for his side’s tactical pressing. Always looked dangerous when providing a supply line from dead balls or in open play, despite limited movement in front of him as United defended stoutly in central areas. EPA
Romeo Lavia – 8. Calm in possession but did his best work without the ball, ensuring that the visitors were unable to regularly join the departmental dots in a midfield battle which Saints tactically bossed. Reuters
Adam Armstrong – 7. An energetic display which gave Dalot defensive problems. Headed straight at De Gea when he might have done better with the game’s first chance, and would have had a fine assist in the second half if De Gea hadn’t fended away Aribo’s header.
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Joe Aribo – 6. Enjoyed the physical edge in midfield for long periods, but missed the chance to bolster a tidy performance with an invaluable equaliser, as he directed his powerful header straight at De Gea.
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Mohamed Elyounoussi - 5. A busy afternoon as Saints targeted the United left but, apart from one sublime through ball for Adams – which deserved better treatment than a scuffed finish – his contribution was limited and he made way for Stuart Armstrong just after an hour. Getty
Che Adams – 6. Anonymous for half-an-hour, but sprung into life after looping a header onto the roof of De Gea’s net. Saints’ likeliest attacking source all afternoon, but was unable to fully test De Gea when sights of goal did arise.
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SUBS: Stuart Armstrong (Mohamed Elyounoussi, 63) – 6. Serial sub continued his run of mid-game introductions. Typically tidy and bright as Saints pinned the visitors back in search of a leveller.
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Sekou Mara (Adam Armstrong, 77) – 6. Given little time to impact on proceedings as United clung on, but still caused problems with one audacious late overhead effort and a volley just wide.
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Lyanco (Joe Aribo, 89) – N/A. Introduced as an emergency target man, but Saints were unable to hit him. Romain Perraud (Moussa Djenepo, 89) – N/A. Getty
MANCHESTER UNITED RATINGS: David De Gea - 7. Didn’t concede a goal in away match for the first time since February. Brilliant reflex save on 65 minutes as the Saints pushed for an equaliser. Stood up when needed. EPA
Diogo Dalot - 7. Crossed the ball strongly for Fernandes on 10. A little too strongly as his compatriot couldn’t get on it. Booked after 50 for a foul. Fine ball to Fernandes for the opening goal, but then gave a ball away to set up a Southampton attack on 58. Defended well against consistent Southampton pressure. Goal line clearance on 93. Reuters
Raphael Varane - 8. Stopped a 14th minute Southampton attack with a header and headed another home attack away on 94 minutes. Composed throughout. A clean sheet, some late minutes with his old Real Madrid teammates Casemiro. His best week since joining the club. This is what one of the best defenders in the world looks like. AFP
Lisandro Martinez - 8. Fine timing throughout. Physical, especially when tackling. Handled Adams well. Made a few errors but the 3,000 travelling United fans were already singing ‘Argentina!’ for their new signing. Getty
Tyrell Malacia - 7. Started the game well, though the best moments of turning out of trouble then giving the ball away came in the same 8th minute move. Excellent week for the new signing, with two wins in the first two games he started. Getty
Scott McTominay - 7. Dropped back to form a back three when his side were forced into a low block. That meant United had a numerical balance in the box. Had a 48th minute shot on target after he got behind Southampton’s defenders. Southampton players were convinced he’d handled in the second. Went down in agony on 87. EPA
Christian Eriksen - 6. One of several players who had a shot on the Southampton goal on 19. Dug in for victory until he tired and came off. Settling well in the unsettled atmosphere at his new club where fans continue to protest against the Glazer family. Reuters
Bruno Fernandes - 6. Another who had a shot on target in the first-half goalmouth scramble. His free-kicks underwhelm, he gave the ball away too much, but his first goal of the season was a delight, making a tough finish from a Dalot cross look doable. "Bruno, Bruno, Bruno, he's from Sporting like Cristiano," chant the United fans. EPA
Anthony Elanga - 6. Got behind the Southampton defence but tackled superbly by Bella Kotchap when on goal after 52. Involved in the build up with a run inside which created space for Dalot to cross. Needs to take chances. Reuters
Marcus Rashford - 5. Highly involved on Monday against Liverpool in a central role, barely involved against Southampton in the same role. Getty
Jadon Sancho - 5. Up against Walker Peters and as average as Rashford in a forward line which didn’t convince. EPA
SUBS: Cristiano Ronaldo (Sancho, 67) - 5. Was soon down clutching his knee. Poor choice of pass in a late attack. Might be the last time he wears a Manchester United shirt. Getty
Casemiro (Elanga, 79) - 7. Made a block and tackle to help United see the win out. Reuters
Fred (Eriksen, 91) - N/A. Quickly involved, winning the ball and taking it away from danger. Booked for a 95th minute challenge on Armstrong. Getty
He went into half-time 10 minutes later to hearty congratulations from his new teammates. He should try it again, he was urged from within a dressing-room where colleagues knew Antony had more than enough confidence in his shooting from long range to do just that, and that, even if the basic geometry of his favoured movements would become more and more familiar, his cutting inside was brilliantly finessed.
Two years later, Antony is set on joining Ten Hag at United, Ajax having accepted a fee that would rise to around €100m if certain targets are met. It is a high price but in the United manager’s mind’s eye is the considerable damage that can be done to opponents with the precision tool of that left foot, and the feints and sways that perplex those trying to marshal Antony.
Ten Hag can count up the goals and assists from the two Eredivisie-winning seasons they worked together at Ajax: 20 Antony assists, across competitions, many of them laser-guided crosses; 21 further goals after that curtain-raiser in Rotterdam.
More often than not they were shots angled in with that left foot, but each had its own stamp, high or low, thunderbolt or snooker-shot, and some magnificent curling efforts.
United are closing in a potentially thrilling entertainer, an Olympic champion - Antony’s superb pass set up the winning goal for Brazil in extra time of the Tokyo men’s final against Spain - and a candidate for a place in his country’s fiercely-contested forward line for the World Cup if he starts as well in the Premier League as he did in Dutch football.
Tite, the Brazil head coach, has compared him to Neymar. Cesar Sampaio, Tite’s assistant, calls him “typically Brazilian, in that he breaks between the lines.”
150 summer transfers Perr Schuurs - Ajax to Torino (£8m). AFP
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Tanguy Nianzou - Bayern Munich to Sevilla (£16.9m). AFP
Alan Virginius - Sochaux to Lille (£3.8m). AFP
Thilo Kehrer - PSG to West Ham (£10.1m). Getty Images
Pervis Estupinan - Villarreal to Brighton (£15.1m). Getty Images
Destiny Udogie - Udinese to Tottenham (£15.1m). Loaned back to Udinese. Reuters
Sergio Gomez - Anderlecht to Manchester City (£11m). Photo: Manchester City
Alex Collado - Barcelona to Elche (loan). AFP
Remo Freuler - Atalanta to Nottingham Forest (£9m). AP
Marc Bartra - Real Betis to Tranbzonspor (undisclosed fee). Getty Images
Giovani Lo Celso - Tottenham to Villarreal (loan). Getty Images
Cheikhou Kouyate - Crystal Palace to Nottingham Forest (free). Getty Images
Emmanuel Dennis - Watford to Nottingham Forest (£20m). Getty Images
Nico González - Barcelona to Valencia (loan). AP Photo
Luca Pellegrini - Juventus to Eintracht Frankfurt (loan). AFP
Daniel Wass - Atletico Madrid to Brondby (£1.7m). EPA
Pablo Marí - Arsenal to Monza (loan). AP
Dries Mertens - Napoli to Galatasaray (free). AFP
Jordan Veretout - Roma to Marseille (£9.3m). Reuters
Christian Benteke - Crystal Palace to DC United (undisclosed fee). AFP
Maxwell Cornet - West Ham United to Burnley (£17.5m). PA
Georginio Wijnaldum - PSG to Roma (loan). AFP
Lucas Torreira - Arsenal to Galatasaray (£5m). AFP
Marc Cucurella - Brighton to Chelsea (£55m). Getty Images
Ademola Lookman - RB Leipzig to Atalanta (£12.6m). PA via AP
Renato Sanches - Lille to Paris Saint-Germain (£12.6m). AFP
Riqui Puig - Barcelona to LA Galaxy (free). AP Photo
Alex Telles - Manchester United to Sevilla (loan). AFP
Carney Chukwuemeka - Aston Villa to Chelsea (£20m). Reuters
Kasper Schmeichel - Leicester City to Nice (£1m). AFP
Mattia Viti - Empoli to Nice (£10.9m). AFP
Gabriel Slonina - Chicago Fire to Chelsea (£8.3m). Reuters
Bernd Leno - Arsenal to Fulham (£3m). AFP
Charles De Ketelaere - Club Brugge to AC Milan (£26.8m). AFP
Joe Rodon - Tottenham to Stade Rennais (loan). AFP
Borja Mayoral - Real Madrid to Getafe (£8.4m). EPA
Cesc Fabregas - Monaco to Como (free). EPA
Alexis Beka Beaka - Lokomotiv Moscow to Nice (£11.7m). AFP
Marcus Tavernier -Middlesbrough to Bournemouth (£10m). Getty Images
Aaron Ramsey - Juventus to Nice (free). AFP
Orel Mangala - Stuttgart to Nottingham Forest (£12.7m). AFP
David Raum - Hoffenheim to RB Leipzig (£21.8m). Getty Images
Oscar Mingueza - Barcelona to Celta Vigo (£2.5m). Getty Images
Jules Kounde - Sevilla to Barcelona (£45m). AFP
Dwight McNeil - Burnley to Everton (£20m). Getty Images
Arnaud Kalimuendo - PSG to Rennes (£21m). Getty Images
Filip Kostic - Eintracht Frankfurt to Juventus (£14.4m). EPA
Salvatore Sirigu - Genoa to Napoli (free). Reuters
Mikkel Damsgaard - Sampdoria to Brentford (£12.7m). EPA
Malang Sarr - Chelsea to Monaco (loan). AFP
Issa Diop - West Ham United to Fulham (£15m). Getty Images
Alexis Sanchez - Internazionale to Marseille (free). Getty Images
Timo Werner - Chelsea to RB Leipzig (£18m). AP
Amadou Onana - Llle to Everton (£33.8m). AFP
Emirhan Ilkhan - Besiktas to Torino (£3.8m). PA
Gonçalo Guedes - Valencia to Wolves (£27.5m). AP Photo
Conor Coady - Wolves to Everton (loan). Getty Images
Anthony Modeste - Cologne to Borussia Dortmund (£3.8m). EPA
Angeliño - RB Leipzig to Hoffenheim (loan). Getty Images
Marcos Senesi - Feyenoord to Bournemouth (£12.6m). AFP
Isco - Real Madrid to Sevilla (free). EPA
Raheem Sterling - Manchester City to Chelsea (£50m). Getty Images
Lisandro Martinez - Ajax to Manchester United (£46m). Getty Images
Robert Lewandowski - Bayern Munich to Barcelona (£38.3m). AFP
Hugo Ekitike - Reims to Paris Saint-Germain (loan). AFP
Thomas Henry - Venezia to Verona (£3.8m). Getty Images
Takefusa Kubo - Real Madrid to Real Sociedad (£5.2m). Getty Images
Kalidou Koulibaly - Napoli to Chelsea (£33.8m). EPA
Chancel Mbemba - Porto to Marseille (free). EPA
Breel Embolo - Borussa Monchengladbach to Monaco (£10.6m). EPA
Christian Eriksen - Brentford to Manchester United (free). PA
Raphinha - Leeds United to Barcelona (£49m). Getty Images
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Andrea Cambiaso - Genoa to Juventus (£5.9m). Getty Images
Arturo Vidal - Inter Milan to Flamengo (free). Getty Images
Mohamed Bayo - Clermont to Lille (£11.8m). AFP
Francisco Trincao - Barcelona to Sporting (loan). Getty Images
Samu Castillejo - AC Milan to Valencia (undisclosed fee). PA
Lewis Ferguson - Aberdeen to Bologna (£3m). PA
Keane Lewis-Potter - Hull City to Brentford (£16m). PA
Alessio Romagnoli - AC Milan to Lazio (free). Getty Images
Nathan Collins - Burnley to Wolves (£20.5m). PA
Andriy Yarmolenko - West Ham United to Al Ain (free). AP Photo
David Ospina - Napoli to Al Nassr (free). Getty Images
Kristian Thorstvedt - Genk to Sassuolo (£8.4m). Reuters
Andreas Pereira -Manchester United to Fulham ( £10m). Getty Images
Gabriel Jesus - Manchester City to Arsenal (£45m). Getty Images
Steven Bergwijn - Tottenham Hotspur to Ajax (£26.5m). AP Photo
Andreas Christensen - Chelsea to Barcelona (free). AFP
Sébastien Haller - Ajax to Borussia Dortmund (£30.8m). AFP
Flynn Downes - Swansea City to West Ham United (£12m). PA
Junior Messias - Crotone to AC Milan (£3.8m). Reuters
Luis Sinisterra - Feyenoord to Leeds United (£21.3m). AFP
Brais Méndez - Celta Vigo to Real Sociedad (£12.8m). Getty Images
Moussa Niakhaté - Mainz to Nottingham Forest (£8.7m). Getty Images
Romeo Lavia - Manchester City to Southmpton (£12m). AP Photo
Tyler Adams - RB Leipzig to Leeds United (£20m). AP
Axel Witsel - Borussia Dortmund to Atletico Madrid (free). EPA
Maya Yoshida - Sampdoria to Schalke (free). AP Photo
Tyrell Malacia - Feyenoord to Manchester United (£12.9m). AP Photo
Zeki Celik - Lille to Roma (£6m). AFP
Ritsu Doan - PSV Eindhoven to Freiburg (£6.5m). AFP
Divock Origi - Liverpool to AC Milan (free). AFP
Rolando Mandragora - Torino to Fiorentina (£7m). EPA
Joao Palhinha - Sporting to Fulham (£17m). Getty Images
Franck Kessie - AC Milan to Barcelona (free). Getty Images
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Kalvin Phillips - Leeds United to Manchester City (£45m). Reuters
Giulian Biancone - Troyes to Nottingham Forest (£5m). AFP
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James Tarkowski Burnley to Everton (free). Getty Images
Sime Vrsaljko - Atletico Madrid to Olympiakos (free). AP Photo
Dean Henderson - Manchester United to Nottingham Forest (loan). PA
Luuk de Jong - Sevilla to PSV Eindhoven (£3.4m). AP Photo
Henrikh Mkhitaryan - Roma to Inter Milan (free). Reuters
Cenk Tosun - Everton to Besiktas (free). Reuters
Andre Onana - Ajax to Inter Milan (free). Getty
Moussa Sissoko - Watford to Nantes (£2m). AFP
Corentin Tolisso - Bayern Munich to Lyon (free). AFP
Vitinha - Porto to Paris Saint-Germain (£34m). AFP
Romelu Lukaku - Chelsea to Inter Milan (loan). PA
Lorenzo Insigne - Napoli to Toronto FC (free). AP
Sven Botman - Lille to Newcastle United (£31.9m). AFP
Takumi Minamino - Liverpool to Monaco (£15.5m). Getty Images
Alphonse Areola - Paris Saint-Germain to West Ham United (£7.8m). AFP
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Matt Turner - New England Revolution to Arsenal (£4.7m). Reuters
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Lucas Alario - Bayer Leverkusen to Eintracht Frankfurt (£5.6m). PA
Sadio Mane - Liverpool to Bayern Munich (£28m). Getty Images
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Nick Pope - Burnley to Newcastle (£10m). PA
Ki-Jana Hoever - Wolves to PSV Eindhoven (loan). PA
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Fabio Vieira - Porto to Arsenal (£30m). EPA
Antonio Rudiger - Chelsea to Real Madrid (free). PA
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Giovanni Simeone - Cagliari to Hellas Verona (£10.3m). AP
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Ryan Gravenberch - Ajax to Bayern Munich (£20m). EPA
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Alexandre Lacazette - Arsenal to Lyon (free transfer). AFP
Ten Hag has for most of the summer been pushing his employers at United to seal the transfer, fully knowing Antony would welcome the Old Trafford move. The manager would expect to have his judgement of the player’s potential to adapt to English football put under immediate scrutiny, given the size of the fee.
The leap in standards from the Eredivisie to the Premier League is big, as Hakim Ziyech, who preceded Antony as the man with the magic wand of left foot at Ajax, might testify.
The Morocco international has had impactful moments since leaving Amsterdam for Chelsea in 2020, but the London club are now encouraging interest from Ajax in taking back a player they are ready to sell.
Full-backs in Holland, often raw in what is a youthful Dutch top-flight, are easier to skip past than they tend to be in England’s leading division, where Antony would come up against defenders more skilled at showing him onto his weaker foot. Not that his right leg is only for standing on. He can spear in a fine cross after taking on markers on their outside. It’s just he prefers to cut inside - and backs himself to work wonders once he does.
Updated: August 30, 2022, 3:02 AM