Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has taken aim at Antony for taunting Coventryâs players in the aftermath of the sideâs FA Cup semi-final victory at the weekend.
The Red Devils appeared to be cruising towards next monthâs showpiece after goals from Scott McTominay, Harry Maguire and Bruno Fernandes put Erik ten Hagâs men firmly in the driving seat at Wembley.
However, United were left stunned as Ellis Simms, Callum OâHare and Haji Wright netted in a spirited second-half fightback from Coventry, 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 Coventryâs dejected players as Ten Hagâs men set up a final against holders Manchester City.
Former United winger Lee Sharpe criticised Antonyâs âout-of-orderâ reaction as he reflected on Sundayâs pulsating semi-final and Ferdinand has followed suit, slamming the Brazilianâs âembarrassingâ behaviour.
âAntony yesterdayâŠ. Embarrassing!â Ferdinand wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Addressing Antonyâs behaviour on the Rio Ferdinand Presents FIVE YouTube channel, the iconic ex-United defender added: âItâs just understanding the environment, understanding where you are. Itâs Coventry.
âYeah, cupping your ears, I get that to a big team or when it has been a really feisty game where youâve been involved in all the feisty moments or something. I get that. But it werenât even that.
âI just feel weâve got a team that a lot of the time donât understand where weâre at and canât manage any situation in a game.
âWeâve all been there, let leads slip, but you need some sort of management.â
Ferdinand says he would be âdevastatedâ and âembarrassedâ if a senior member of Unitedâs squad like Marcus Rashford or Bruno Fernandes did not pull Antony up on his behaviour in the aftermath of the FA Cup semi-final.
He continued: âYouâd like to see him doing it and them telling him straightaway: âOi, you donât do that⊠that donât happen. Weâre lucky to be going through, itâs an embarrassment weâre still on this pitchâ.
âItâs hard in the heat of it if you catch it. Your timing has got to be perfect for it all to align like that.
âI would be devastated, I would be embarrassed now if there hasnât been a conversation from one of the senior players, like Marcus who understands United, grew up there.
âOr a Bruno,who is wearing the armband. Harry Maguire has huge experience.
âOne of those guys⊠Luke Shaw who is watching on. If one of those guys hasnât got hold of Antony and gone, âListen, that donât happen here, manâ.â
Ferdinand feels Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS need to instil a âclear DNAâ at United, arguing that Antonyâs behaviour in many ways epitomised the extent to which club had lost their way in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era.
âI wasnât 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,â the former England centre-back said.
âBut it is all about: what is the DNA of this football club? If thereâs 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 youâre going to get pulled up and told, âGet back to that, thatâs the level thereâ.This is where we stay, this is where weâre at, this is where Man United are seen and weâll try and stay there all the time.
âPeople 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 weâre going to keep marching on together, but I donât see the people in there.â
Ferdinand added: âThere 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.
âThat INEOS DNA needs to come in and be very clear and that will just filter down through the club.
âThen 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.â
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