Some might say do nothing and keep it as it is. I'm not prone to disagree considering his level of shiteness.
I know that the Brazilian has been poor for United for a while and has been subject to much ridicule, jokes and memes over the past few months online but on a serious, what does Erik ten Hag do with his £86m winger?
Two years ago, both player and manager were frothing at the mouth for him to join United yet fast forward a couple of seasons, Antony finds himself as fourth-choice winger, out of the side and has played a total of 1 minute this season.
That is another waste of £200k-a-week.
But I believe that the Brazilian isn't entirely useless, only a little useless 🤣.
Right now, we only have two performing wingers: Amad and Garnacho. Marcus Rashford has been just as bad as Antony but as he's English, the scrutiny and criticism he receives is nothing compared to his Brazilian counterpart. The departure of Jadon Sancho also means that there is one less player who could take that wing spot away from the number 21.
So there is hope for Antony yet.
When he came to United two years ago, he was thrown straight into the thick of it. That was the right call by the manager as Antony went on to score in three games in a row.
This led us all to believe that we had a world beater.
Unfortunately, it hasn't turned out that way as even despite some important goals along the way (Barcelona 22/23 and Liverpool last season), Antony never really hit the heights we thought he would when looking at his performances for Ajax.
He is now an outcast as Erik ten Hag seems reluctant to use him.
Antony's stats across his two-and-a-bit seasons at Old Trafford:
Games - 83
Goals - 11
Assists - 5
However, 8 of his 11 goals came in his first season and he played 3118 minutes in 22/23 v 1910 last season. He also started 39 of his 44 games in his first campaign while being in the starting XI for just 21 of his 38 last year.
Quite the drop-off indeed.
I find this to be unfair not least because the manager desperately wanted him and the amount spent for his services, but more so when looking at some of the performances of other players these past two seasons.
Marcus Rashford has been terrible for over a year yet remains one of the regulars even though he plays like he's never seen a football in his life. ten Hag has backed him to the hilt as no matter what he does, Dr Rashford will always find himself in the side.
When looking at Rashford's recent performances, the Englishman has arguably been one of our worst players. While he appears to be lacking confidence going forward, it is his overall work rate that's been called into question.
This is not something that we can complain about when it comes to Antony. The Brazilian does work his socks off and is the hardest working wide player we have.
Unless he's asked to play at left-back that is, but we'll gloss over that.
I'm not exactly sure why ten Hag hasn't featured him in more minutes this season. He is more than capable of coming on and doing a job of some sorts and definitely helping the team out in terms of that work rate. It's surely worth a try more than not. He can't be any worse than what we've seen.
The Brazilian was also the man to sort of keep Erik ten Hag in a job I believe.
In last season's iconic 4-3 victory over LFC in the FA Cup, it was Antony's last-minute equalizer in normal time that kept United in it and take the game into extra-time. We all know what happened next.
That Amad goal wouldn't have been possible without Antony's strike. He also came off the bench in the 71st minute with his goal coming in the 87th.
Without that equalizer, United crash out at the quarter final stage and don't go on to win the trophy and Erik ten Hag would've been sacked.
It is a little strange as to why he isn't using a player he wanted and one that isn't actually completely useless. This doesn't help Antony's confidence one bit as it probably makes things worse.
There were even rumors of Antony's potential exit with Jose Mourinho and Fenerbahce being interested in the winger. That was quenched when it was reported that he wants to stay in Manchester.
Who knows though, maybe Antony comes on and does something that would boost that confidence and potentially save ten Hag's bacon once again? Maybe that could be tomorrow 👀.
Letting him sit on the bench is just wasting a player that could make a difference.
Background Image: Antony and Erik ten Hag (23/24) | Creator: James Gill - Danehouse | Credit: Getty Images Copyright: 2023 James Gill - Danehouse via United In Focus