Ruben Amorim has a player who established himself as a genuine option, he was a rare positive vs Wolves

Add as preferred source on Google

There’s not much to celebrate at Manchester United right now after the loss against Wolves marked three consecutive defeats for Ruben Amorim.

Ruben Amorim’s forecast of a storm after the 4-0 win against Everton looks prophetic now but even he wouldn’t have thought it would be this bad.

Man Utd conceded directly from a corner for the second game in a row and played with ten men after Bruno Fernandes’ silly sending-off let his team down.

Still, United’s performance with ten men and the desire they played with to get back into the game is a small building block for Amorim who can use any at this time.

That mini-revival was mainly down to one player, who has established himself as a genuine option for the manager after his performance vs Wolves.

Antony is no longer the odd man out

Every substitution made by Ruben Amorim made a positive difference except for Alejandro Garnacho, who lost the ball in the final moment from which Wolves sucker-punched United for their second.

It is a complete 18-degree turn because just over a month ago, Antony was the odd man out at Old Trafford while Garnacho started games for United.

Against Wolves, Antony was a rare positive spot, impressing as the right wing-back with his forward-drives and progressive passing.

The team looked to him every time they got the ball and he got them going more often than not, be it through a pass or a dribble forward.

He created one chance and won both his tackles as he was always willing to get himself stuck in and emerge victories from duels all over the pitch.

In contrast, Garnacho, who had a bad cameo vs Bournemouth too, continued his trend of dribbling into blind alleys and losing possession carelessly while being wasteful when presented with chances.

For Antony, he no longer looks like the odd man out after consistent positive cameos off the bench.

Antony adds to Ruben Amorim’s wing-back options

Amorim said near the beginning of his tenure that it’s easier to play a full-back as a wing-back because it’s more difficult to teach a winger how to defend.

He stayed true to it as Noussair Mazraoui, Tyrell Malacia, and Diogo Dalot have played the bulk of minutes in that position.

However, Antony has now followed Amad by impressing as a wing-back which should give Amorim some cause to think about his future selections.

United miss the thrust from out wide with defensive-minded players as wing-backs and that is hurting the offensive game of the team right now.

Antony has always been renowned for his work rate even during his bad runs of form and his ability to track runners is underrated as well.

Playing Antony as a wing-back adds options to Amorim’s wing-back depth which is non-existent beyond the current first choices.

The Man Utd manager made only two changes for this game from the previous one, which means he’s getting closer to getting himself a core group of players worth investing time and effort into.

Antony might just be playing himself into that group through sheer determination and willingness to work hard. That’s more than what can be said for many others at the club.