Amorim gives Man Utd flop chance in unusual position as first XI is revealed in training session
Ruben Amorim appeared to give Antony a chance to impress at wing-back for Man Utd in a training match in his first session on Monday.
The Red Devils sacked Erik ten Hag at the end of October after a terrible run of form which saw them win just three of their first nine Premier League matches.
Ruud van Nistelrooy added another four points on the board during his two games in charge at Old Trafford before Man Utd appointed Amorim as Ten Hag’s successor.
Amorim has a big task on his hands to turn around their fortunes with Man Utd currently sitting 13th in the Premier League table after 11 matches.
The former Sporting Lisbon boss is set to take his 3-4-3 formation to Man Utd when he takes charge of his first match at the weekend against newly-promoted Ipswich Town, who beat Tottenham in their last match.
A possible system change has raised concerns that Man Utd will have to dip back into the transfer market in January after spending big sums over the summer on Matthijs de Ligt, Joshua Zirkzee, Manuel Ugarte, Leny Yoro and Noussair Mazraoui.
There have already been rumours about seven players who could potentially leave under Amorim and Antony is certainly a player whose future is in doubt.
The Brazil international is yet to start a Premier League match this season after a disappointing first two campaigns at Old Trafford.
Antony has made five appearances in all competitions but he could now be set for a greater role under Amorim with claims he played at wing-back under the new Man Utd head coach.
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Amorim took charge of his first training session on Monday with the Portuguese coach putting the Red Devils through a number of drills and organising a practice match.
Marcus Rashford, Kobbie Mainoo, Antony, Casemiro, Luke Shaw and Leny Yoro – who are often on international duty – were all present despite Amorim not having a full squad to choose from.
During the practice match, Amorim selected his strongest possible starting XI against a younger set of players and the Daily Mail reveal that one eagle-eyed fan claimed on X that he’d worked out the full team with Antony playing at wing-back.
‘One fan, an X (formerly Twitter) user with the handle ‘@utdrobbo’, was adamant that he had worked out the exact line-up of Amorim’s apparent ‘Team A’ on Monday.
‘After studying various clips, he deemed that Amorim had gone with Yoro, Jonny Evans and Shaw as his back three.
‘The midfield four was seemingly Antony, Casemiro, Mainoo and Tyrell Malacia, with Amad Diallo, Rashford and Mason Mount as the three most attacking players.
‘Many United fans responded to @utdrobbo, commanding him on his research, while multiple comments welcomed the idea of Rashford playing centrally as a No 9.’ ‘
