What Patrick Vieira said about Man Utd star Antony’s showboating in Europa League

Crystal Palace boss shared his view on the controversial issue of players trying out tricks during games.
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Crystal Palace boss Patrick Vieira says football is about respect after Manchester United’s Brazilian winger Antony looked to have been hooked by his manager for showboating against Sheriff Tiraspol in the Europa League.

United ended up winning the game 3-0 thanks to goals from Diogo Dalot, Marcus Rashford and Cristiano Ronaldo.

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The morning after has been dominated by discussions on whether the former Ajax winger is getting carried away with his record breaking move from the Dutch league to the Premier League. The move which has generated debate is a 720-degree spin with the ball stuck to his left foot, which is popular amongst young football fans.

The result from that spin, however has generated debates with some Manchester United legends calling it ‘embarrassing’’ especially as his next move after that was an overhit his pass to an advancing Casemiro.

But Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira, waded into the debate, saying it’s ok to accept that every footballer has their characteristics but has to respect opponents. He told reporters ahead of the game against Southampton.

“I didn’t read that the manager took him off because of that. Every player has different characteristics. Football is about respecting your opponent as well, I don’t have any complaints to make.”

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Palace will win the three games home games for the first time since 2018 if they can beat Southampton- but they are yet to keep a clean sheet at Selhurst this season. Asked about how he’d be approaching the game- the Palace boss said it was better to keep focus and continue working as they have been doing since he took over.

“This is the strength of the Premier League. Teams have resources to enforce the teams and we knew it would be a challenging year for us. But we are competing and it’s important for us to keep doing that and be at our best game after game. When we are not performing the way we are capable of it’s challenging.”