Antony has become the laughing stock of the Manchester United squad after a forgettable 2023/24 season.
He scored just three goals in 38 appearances for the Red Devils last season and what added to his mockery is his strange playing style.
Not only does Antony have problems contributing goals, but his unnecessary showboating does him no good.
The Brazilian winger has become a meme because of his ‘Antourney’ move where he moves the ball in circle in an attempt to fool defenders.
On top of that, the winger has given enough content for, such as making strange facial expressions, for opposition fans to make jokes at his expense.
Antony has a lot to prove in the upcoming 2024/25 season, but fans will keep mocking him unless he’s able to produce big goal contribution numbers.
Amid all the jokes being made at Antony’s expense, a strange clip has started going viral on social media recently showing the Brazilian winger earning major praise from Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola.
The video showed Pep Guardiola being interviewed by Sky Sports presenter Adam Smith in an episode of Saturday Social.
When asked to name one player who he ‘enjoys’ seeing battle his team on the pitch, Guardiola can be heard saying: “Antony 100%. Mr Aura himself. Honestly whenever I face him, I’m scared to death.
“The way he carries himself is just so scary, maybe even scarier than Zlatan the lion. He’s probably the best dribbler and goal-scorer right now. I wouldn’t even be surprised if he wins the Ballon d’Or.”
At first glance, this probably comes off as something really surprising. But the reality is that this is obviously a digitally altered or fake video made by Tiktok user Masterxballer.
Guardiola never gave an interview in which he spoke in such detail about Antony and the voice in the clip is not even his, which can be clarified upon listening it to it carefully.
Moreover, the next part from ‘Guardiola’ in the clip basically points out the joke itself as it states: “I mean look at his stats. 80 games, 80 appearances and 80 mathces. He’s always three goals away from a hattrick. Crazy! Let me ask you this, who scored the most goals in 2024? Antony, Pele or Maradona? It was Antony. The amount of work he puts in is insane and let’s not talk about his Prime in 2008’.
This last bit of the clip itself is the biggest example that it’s a running gag. Antony didn’t even play professional football in 2008 and the bit about his ‘hattrick’ or appearances are direct mockery of his work at United.
The Tiktoker also done a similar one where Cristiano Ronaldo is talking about Antony.
It’s the same as the Guardiola one, as an AI voice can be heard producing the voice-over for Ronaldo and the voice is definitely not the Portuguese sensation’s at all.
This is just a case of football fans taking advantage of Antony’s failures and finding new ways to mock him by creating such clips. The Brazilian winger is probably well aware on how much he is criticized and joked about on social media.
Despite that, Antony appears to be positive heading into the 2024/25 season and has stated that ‘Rest assured, you’ll hear the name Antony in relation to goals and assists.’
For his own benefit, the Brazilian winger will need to ensure that his prediction comes true as scoring or assisting goals at a regular basis can definitely shut up or at least reduce the online trolling.