MANCHESTER UNITED legend Rio Ferdinand has hit back at Antony after the Brazilian criticised pundits for making “unfair and malicious” comments about him.
Antony, 23, recently accused several pundits of failing to offer him support through “turbulence” amid his poor run of form.
He also argued that they choose to make “malicious” comments rather than give constructive criticism.
Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and Rio Ferdinand are among the former players that have lambasted the winger.
But Ferdinand has urged Antony to stop moaning as it is “part of” football.
The former defender told Vibe with FIVE: “Listen, Giggsy was getting booed at times.
Read More on Man Utd
“Ryan Giggs! So I see people like Antony chatting in the paper about where’s the support and players not having the type of pressures I’ve had.
“I haven’t seen him get booed at Old Trafford yet. Ryan Giggs was getting booed week in and week out for a sustained amount of time. Let that sink in! And these man are talking about pressure.
“It’s different times and different pressures but it’s similar across the board and it’s about how you deal with pressure.
“I wasn’t looking for no support from people, I had pressure when I came back from my drugs ban and I had to play, you think I weren’t under pressure to perform?
Most read in Football
FREE BETS – BEST BETTING OFFERS & NEW CUSTOMER BONUSES
“You think I didn’t have all eyes on me every minute of the day? In training, in the matches, off the pitch do you think there weren’t paparazzi following me everywhere?
“I wasn’t moaning, this is part of it, this is Manchester United, this is what this emblem brings. It brings an extra level of pressure that a lot of other clubs bar the Real Madrids of this world don’t really feel.
“When you walk into the door at that club there’s going to be every type of pressure you can feel, or you didn’t even dream you could feel.
“Listen, I sympathise with Antony in some of things, he’s had a few big issues off the pitch. But listen, us ex-players, we ain’t a vindictive bunch, we’re not a personal bunch. None of us have called him out personally, we’re just saying what we see.”
Ferdinand went on to add: “If there’s a player [that] isn’t doing and we think he should be doing, we’re within our rights in the job that we do to call it out. Simple as that.
“Listen, how many of these players are going to accept a DM from most of these guys who are talking?
“Listen bruv you need to sort yourself out, you need to start doing this or doing that. You think man are going to call you back and thank you for it? I doubt it very much.”
Antony has made 15 appearances so far this season but is yet to score or assist any goals.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
