Diogo Dalot has insisted Manchester United are lucky to have a player like Antony and the reaction to his showboating has been blown out of proportion.
The £85million summer signing made headlines on Thursday night after he performed an audacious piece of trickery during the routine win over FC Sheriff Tiraspol. With no defenders in close proximity, Antony proceeded to do a double pirouette on the ball, before overhitting his pass out of play.
The incident was condemned by several pundits, including United legend Paul Scholes who branded it "ridiculous" and suggested the antics needed to be "knocked out of him". Manager Erik ten Hag didn't appear overly enamoured either, shaking his head in the dugout before hauling him off at half-time of the Europa League encounter.
Speaking after the match Ten Hag suggested that the decision to substitute him was tactical, but said he won't be afraid to "correct" him moving forward: "It was more or less planned. If we were [winning], I wanted to see Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcus Rashford close together, that was one of the reasons," the Dutchman explained.
Asked if he liked the skill, he added: "I don't have a problem with that as long as it's functional. So from him, I demand more: more runs in behind, more often in the box, more tempo dribbles especially and more playing in the pocket.
"So we demand more dominance in this game and when, now and then, there is a trick like that it is nice as long as it's functional, you're not losing the ball and it's attracting players, then it's okay. But if it’s a trick for the sake of a trick, then I will correct him."
But according to Dalot, Antony's teammates have no issues with his flamboyant playing style, with the Portuguese insisting it is part of his job to entertain. In fact, the right-back believes his tricks actually make his job easier, giving him more time to make penetrative runs forward.
"He wants to entertain a little bit, it's part of the way he plays," he told Sky Sports. "For me, it gives me a little bit more time when he has the ball for me to try to open space with runs.
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"We are happy to have Antony with us, he's a fantastic player and I'm sure that his technique and dribbling will help us."
Dalot added: "There's always going to talk after a mistake… he missed the pass, but if it went through, Casemiro was in a good position to receive the ball and to get an assist or score a goal.
"I think it's normal after he missed the pass, but I don't think we should focus too much on what he did. That's just part of his game and we're lucky to have a player like him."
