Antony is not a £100million player.
That must be said before this piece commences. But it also must be pointed out that this isn't a slight against Antony.
It is not Antony's fault that Manchester United overpaid for him. In fact, they ended up paying essentially double the initial valuation given by Ajax.
United laudably backed Ten Hag, who justifiably pushed for the club to sign Antony. But the ineptitude of their business saw the process of signing him dragged out to the extent that his price rose exponentially.
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Naturally, people's expectations have been set against the price tag. But this is unfair on Antony, whose transfer fee should be taken as a reflection of United's inefficient recruitment rather than what he is expected to produce.
Mind, none of this is to say signing Antony is and will prove to be a mistake.
He has already shown his ability to produce moments of brilliance, including as he scored in each of his first three Premier League matches.
On his debut against Arsenal, he found himself in space and finished off an incisive United move with a clinical left-footed finish inside the penalty area. Then, against Manchester City, he was a brighter spark in a poor performance, deftly controlling a cross-field pass and deceiving Jack Grealish before delivering an accurate curled effort from outside the box.
The third goal in his run of three successive scoring games in the league came against Everton and was similar to that against Arsenal, with space exploited by typically attentive movement, before a rapid transitional goal was capped off with another left-footed finish into the far corner from inside 18-yards.
Antony has proven a knack for getting into goal-scoring areas, with his off-ball movement is a big threat. That was shown further in United's recent FA Cup victory over Everton, as he found space in the penalty area to find himself on the end of a Marcus Rashford ball across to slide the ball into an empty net.
He has shown an ability to score a variety of goals from different ranges - evident again against Charlton Athletic in the 3-0 Carabao Cup semi-final win as he opened the scoring with another curling effort from outside the box.
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When afforded time or space on his left foot, there are no doubts over Antony's finishing ability (even if the odd chance is snatched at). But, while able to finish in different ways on his left, there is a blatant sense that Antony is over-reliant on his stronger foot.
He is being afforded time and space on his left foot to a decreasing extent due to his increasingly apparent one-footedness. Against Charlton, it was to his credit that he punished being afforded time to set himself to strike from range. But against higher level opposition, he is getting shackled with relative ease.
His sole avenue of cutting inside onto his left foot is often blocked. He comes across as one-dimensional, thus predictable, and cutting inside and the shifting of the ball onto his left foot is telegraphed.
Even when facing Charlton - opposition two tiers below - he was often prevented from threatening due to being forced onto his right foot due to his evident reluctance to use it.
Maybe it was planned, but it felt telling that he was withdrawn around the hour mark with the game still in the balance, even having been the only goal-scorer to that point.
When simply shown onto his right foot, Antony is very easily quelled by defences. Passing angles are reduced, and he often becomes passive in his play by being ushered to pass backwards. Often, he ends up inadvertently slowing attacks down, breaking down moves, and wasting good chances when easily caught by pressing traps.
His creative value is actually quite minimal as a result of his reliance on one foot: his few crosses are in-swingers from the right flank, which are tougher to attack, with out-swinging crosses not an option due to the resistance when it comes to using his right foot.
If he looked to go outside of opponents and cross or cut the ball across with his right foot rather than always look to cut inside, an extra dimension could be added to his game and his volume of creation could be bolstered.
It is at a stage where just using his right foot is worth a try, as he often ends up losing the ball anyway when trying to avoid using that foot.
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There is no doubt that Antony is an incredibly skilled player. His expressive nature is a virtue and is a key part of what makes him a player with a mass of potential.
At the World Cup, it was evident just how effective Antony can be, with some impactful appearances off the bench.
But, even amid his dynamism and skill which can often make defenders look foolish, he is too easily defended against. As exuberant as he may be, his impact is often caused to diminish in matches to the extent he becomes somewhat anonymous and slightly disconnected from the rest of the attack.
If he is going to have a noticeably weaker foot and one particular move that is more prominent than anything else, it has to be refined so that it works at pristine efficiency. At the moment, he is clearly keen to hold width and cut inside with the ball, but his attempts rarely come to avail.
Something that has to be considered is that an adaptation period was always going to be required for Antony. The Premier League is a big step up from the Eredivisie, and this sort of transition is always bound to be more difficult for attacking players.
He certainly possesses ample work ethic which should see him embrace the task of further improving his game - this is shown by his intensity on the pitch, where he commits to tracking back and defending.
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Antony isn't a player that will admit to feeling immense pressure after his tough upbringing in the favelas of Brazil, but his price tag - fair or not - can weigh when people allow it too. He is certainly very much under the microscope, but patience will be necessary.
It must be remembered that he hasn't actually played a huge amount of games for United yet, with an injury issue in the lead-up to the World Cup seeing him miss nearly a month.
Still, he ideally needs to broaden his game beyond its overriding single dimension. You can't often get far when offering only one sole threat. Under Ten Hag, though, he is in safe hands in terms of having a manager that is able to develop players.
An adaptation period has to be granted, but the peaks in his game do need to start to more consistently outweigh the troughs soon enough if United's attack is to continue progressing with Antony as a feature.
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