The Brazilian Antony is not having a good time in his third season with Betis. The most expensive player of the Manuel Pellegrini era at the helm has not found his best performances and the frustration is evident. Tantrums and anger from the forward that have not gone unnoticed by the Chilean coach.
On October 21, in the narrow victory over Feyenoord in the Champions League, the former Manchester United player had already had an outburst of rage. On that occasion, the Santiago-born coach decided to substitute the South American, who had performed poorly, days after suffering a robbery at his home.
In the 64th minute, the former São Paulo attacker gave up his place to Rodrigo Riquelme and, as he came off, his reaction was not the best. The player went straight to the locker room, without sitting on the substitutes' bench. The coach himself even commented on the incident.
"Antony went to the locker room for a minute and returned to the bench immediately. There is no problem. The substitution was a technical decision. We were losing the ball and there are other alternatives in the squad," warned the Engineer.
And so it continues
But Antony did it again. In last Saturday's victory over Elche, on matchday twelve of LaLiga, the São Paulo native did not take his departure from the pitch well. Another episode of frustration when he was substituted by Pellegrini, an anger that was captured with a fierce kick at a bottle and a subsequent kick at a shirt.
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Brazilian Antony is not having a good time in his third season with Betis. The most expensive player of the Manuel Pellegrini era at the helm has not found his best form, and the frustration is evident. Tantrums and anger from the forward that have not gone unnoticed by the Chilean coach. On October 21, in the narrow victory over Feyenoord in the Champions League, the former Manchester United player had already had an outburst of rage. On that occasion, the Santiago-born coach decided to substitute the South American, who had performed poorly, days after suffering a robbery at his home. In the 64th minute, the former São Paulo attacker gave his place to Rodrigo Riquelme, and as he came off, his reaction was not the best. The player went straight to the locker room without sitting on the substitutes' bench. The coach himself even commented on the incident. "Antony went to the locker room for a minute and returned to the bench immediately. There is no problem. The substitution was a technical decision. We were losing the ball and there are other options in the squad," the Engineer warned. And on it goes
But Antony did it again. In last Saturday's victory over Elche, on the twelfth matchday of LaLiga, the Paulista did not take his substitution well. Another episode of frustration when he was replaced by Pellegrini, an anger that was captured with a strong kick to a bottle and a subsequent kick to a shirt. An extreme reaction that reflects his powerlessness at failing to reach the level of previous seasons. Currently, the athlete has played 15 matches across two competitions and has only registered one assist, without scoring any goals. A far cry from the 14 goals and 10 assists of last season. However, the former Ajax Amsterdam player made his mea culpa and faced the public with a message posted on his social media, aimed mainly at the verdiblanco fans, the main supporters of this difficult moment.
"I want to thank from the heart all the Béticos for the love and support they are giving me, even in the moments when things don't go as one would like. I feel your affection and I can only tell you that I love you very much," reads Antony's Instagram.
In the midst of this personal crisis, the Chilean coach has not withdrawn his support for one of his key figures in any way. In fact, the professional expressed confidence in the forward's soon return to his true level.
"Antony has no shortage of self-demand; he is a player who is always running a lot, who recovers balls, who is constantly involved in many plays. Perhaps, due to an excess of anxiety, he is missing that final pass or that efficient finish. However, he is a player who, in the team's functioning, is contributing a lot... the goals and assists will come. He is very aware of all this and is trying to correct it and improve it," the coach concluded.
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