Rio Ferdinand has taken aim at Antony for goading Coventry players in the aftermath of Manchester United’s FA Cup semi-final victory at the weekend.
The Red Devils appeared to be cruising towards next month’s FA Cup final after goals from Scott McTominay, Harry Maguire and Bruno Fernandes put Erik ten Hag’s side firmly in the driving seat at Wembley.
However, United were left stunned as Ellis Simms, Callum O’Hare and Haji Wright netted ina spirited Coventry fightback, with the Championship picking themselves up off the floor to force extra-time.
It even looked as if Coventry had won it in the dying moments of extra-time as Victor Torp beat Andre Onana from close range, only for the video assistant referee to disallow the goal for offside.
After United emerged victorious from a nerve-jangling penalty shootout, Antony was pictured turning and cupping his ears in the direction of Coventry’s dejected players as Ten Hag’s men set up a final against holders Manchester City.
Former United winger Lee Sharpe criticised Antony’s ‘out-of-order’ reaction as he reflected on Sunday’s pulsating semi-final and Ferdinand has followed suit, slamming the Brazilian’s ’embarrassing’ behaviour.
‘Antony yesterday…. Embarrassing!’ Ferdinand wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Addressing Antony’s behaviour on the Rio Ferdinand Presents FIVE YouTube channel, the legendary ex-United defender added: ‘It’s just understanding the environment, understanding where you are. It’s Coventry.
‘Yeah, cupping your ears, I get that to a big team or when it has been a really feisty game where you’ve been involved in all the feisty moments or something. I get that. But it weren’t even that.
‘I just feel we’ve got a team that a lot of the time don’t understand where we’re at and can’t manage any situation in a game.
‘We’ve all been there, let leads slip, but you need some sort of management.’
Ferdinand says he would be ‘devastated’ and ’embarrassed’ if a senior member of United’s squad did not pull Antony up on his behaviour in the aftermath of the FA Cup semi-final.
He continued: ‘You’d like to see him doing it and them telling him straightaway: “Oi, you don’t do that… that don’t happen. We’re lucky to be going through, it’s an embarrassment we’re still on this pitch”.
‘It’s hard in the heat of it if you catch it. Your timing has got to be perfect for it all to align like that.
‘I would be devastated, I would be embarrassed now if there hasn’t been a conversation from one of the senior players, like Marcus [Rashford] who understands United, grew up there.
‘Or a Bruno [Fernandes],who is wearing the armband. Harry Maguire has huge experience.
‘One of those guys… Luke Shaw who is watching on. If one of those guys hasn’t got hold of Antony and gone, “Listen, that don’t happen here, man”.’
Ferdinand feels Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS need to instil a ‘clear DNA’ at United, arguing that Antony’s behaviour in many ways epitomised the extent to which club had lost their way in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era.
‘I wasn’t perfect, I had misdemeanours and did loads of stuff wrong. I was at war with United fans at times about signing a contract, I got banned and stuff like that,’ the former England centre-back said.
‘But it is all about: what is the DNA of this football club? If there’s a clear DNA, a clear culture set at the football club then we all abide by it and we all know that if you fall below that then you’re going to get pulled up and told, “Get back to that, that’s the level there”.This is where we stay, this is where we’re at, this is where Man United are seen and we’ll try and stay there all the time.
‘People are going to dip off but there need to be people that pick them back off that and put them back on the line with us and we’re going to keep marching on together, but I don’t see the people in there.’
Ferdinand added: ‘There needs to be a new DNA set and the reset starts at the top with the new people that have come in, with Dan Ashworth, Jason Wilcox etcetera.
‘That INEOS DNA needs to come in and be very clear and that will just filter down through the club.
‘Then they will need to make the decision: is this manager the right person to start implementing that and which players are going to spearhead that that are here now and who is going to be in the shopping basket to go? There is going to a lot of them.’
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