The poor performance by Antony against Bayern Munich is the latest example in the downturn of fortunes that has seen Manchester United go from a winning machine to serial losers, according to Didi Hamann.
Erik ten Hag's side finished bottom of Group A with four points the club’s lowest ever tally in the Champions League group stages. The 1-0 home defeat to Bayern meant United failed to finish above Galatasaray for a place in the Europa League.
It marks another major setback for Ten Hag, who is the latest manager to struggle to restore former glories since the departure of Alex Ferguson in 2013.
While the Dutchman has splashed the cash since assuming the Old Trafford hot seat, the signings have failed to meet expectations, most notably goalkeeper Andre Onana and Brazil international Antony.
Speaking after United’s latest defeat, former German international Hamann was especially critical of Antony, who struggled to make an impact and was fortunate to escape with only a caution for a nasty challenge on Alphonso Davies.
"His performance tonight was abysmal," Hamann said on RTÉ2. "He gave the ball away three or four times in the first half, second half he was caught in possession early on."
On the yellow card incident, Hamann added: "He tries to backheel it on the touchline and it is a poor, poor tackle. It’s a sending off all day. I don’t know why the video assistant didn’t look at it.
"This is a guy who cost £80m, he’s the guy who is meant to create chances, score goals, get the fans on their feet and excited.
"Not only do they want to see successful football, they would settle for it, but they want entertaining football. At the moment they are not seeing either."
Hamann says that while commercially United remain in a healthy position, their results on the pitch could catch up with them as they try to close the gap to the leading lights both domestically and in Europe.
"I think it will take fortunes, it will take years to turn it around," he said.
"The club turned from a winning machine to serial losers. Whenever it is crunch time, they find a way to get beat.
"I think they are miles off and I think they could be struggling to attract a really top-class manager, I would never have thought 10 years ago we would say this."
