Premier League talking points: Ten Hag expects more from Antony

London — Two Premier League managers looked back at a weekend that produced satisfaction for one and hard talk from the other.

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery would have been chuffed with midfielder Douglas Luiz, who scored two goals in the win over Nottingham Forest.

At the same time Erik ten Hag sent a blunt message to Manchester United’s £80m striker Antony that it was time to shape up.

These and other talking points from the Premier League games this weekend:

Luiz living up to Emery’s hopes for Villa: Aston Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz netted two superb first-half goals for Aston Villa in their 4-2 win over Nottingham Forest to repay the faith manager Unai Emery has shown in him to push forward — as long as he gets on the scoresheet.

“He has told me every day, you need to defend — and if you go you need to score,” a beaming Luiz said as he took his tally to nine Premier League goals for the season.

That might seem a modest return in a league full of goalscoring midfielders but it is only two shy of the 11 he scored in his previous four seasons combined and if he had been a bit more selfish Luiz might have bagged a hat-trick.

It is unlikely Emery will complain though. After putting his side 3-0 up and then seeing them pegged back to 3-2, he went about the less visible — but equally vital — work of fetching and carrying in midfield to ensure they held on to win.

Ten Hag’s blunt message about Antony: Despite Manchester United’s mounting injuries, Antony was not brought on until the ninth minute of stoppage time in their shock 2-1 loss to Fulham on Saturday and manager Erik ten Hag was brutally honest about the Brazilian’s lack of action.

“It has nothing to do with fitness,” Ten Hag said of the forward. “The form Antony is in we all have seen and he has to step up. I see it in training but also Omari [Forson] and Amad Diallo and [Alejandro] Garnacho deserve to play.”

Without striker Rasmus Hojlund, who was sidelined with a muscle injury, Garnacho was the most active United player up front on another lackadaisical afternoon for Marcus Rashford.

Antony starred for Ten Hag at Ajax before joining the Dutchman at United for £80m, but has fallen out of favour with the manager, playing just two minutes against West Ham United earlier in February.

“He has to prove a point but he will be able to do that,” Ten Hag said. “He has big potential even though he hasn’t shown it lately, but I know what his talent is and it’s about him proving his talent.”

The Glasner effect: New Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner kicked off his Eagles reign in style on Saturday, becoming only the second manager in the club’s history to win on his debut in their 3-0 victory over 10-man Burnley.

Glasner told fans not to expect miracles, saying he was no magician, but the Selhurst Park faithful would probably disagree as the win moved Palace eight points clear of the drop zone.

“Before the game in the locker room, what spirit the players showed, what power they showed, and for me it was ‘wow’ when I entered the stadium before the game,” the Austrian said.

Manchester City show they can win ugly: Grinding out 1-0 victories is not normally associated with Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City side but when it comes to the business end of a title race their ability to win when not at their best is what marks them out as serial champions.

That was in evidence again this week with back-to-back single goal triumphs against Brentford and Bournemouth.

City were far from their best in both games but, as they have done for the past three seasons, found a way to bank six crucial points and turn the heat up on leaders Liverpool.

While third-placed Arsenal’s free-scoring run is making the headlines, the outcome of a compelling three-way title race will probably not be determined by swashbuckling football but more likely the ability to win ugly and City can deliver both.

Howe under pressure but safe for now: Newcastle United suffered an 11th Premier League defeat of the season in a 4-1 drubbing at Arsenal on Saturday and their hopes of qualifying for Europe rest on a quick uptick in form.

Manager Eddie Howe has been hindered by injuries and the restrictions of financial rules that prevented him bringing in reinforcements during the January transfer window.

However, Newcastle’s slide is starting to ring alarm bells with the manager himself let alone the Saudi Arabian backers of the club who have funded the rebuilding of the squad.

“I need to see it [the Arsenal match] again before I make rash statements but we weren’t where we needed to be, whether that was psychological or technical,” said Howe.

While there is no sign he is in danger of losing his job, failure to qualify for Europe would be a huge disappointment and pile on the pressure for next season. 

Reuters