Mikael Silvestre discusses Antony, Fred and Jadon Sancho after the weekend’s final pre season fixtures

With the return of Premier League football swiftly approaching, we recently sat down with Mikael Silvestre who shared his thoughts on Manchester United’s Antony, Fred and Jadon Sancho ahead of the new football season.

In this article:

• Antony will perform better this season
• Fred still has a role to play at United
• Sancho must add more goals and assists to his game

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Antony will perform better this season

After running out as 3-1 winners over RC Lens at the weekend, United will now be looking ahead to their season opener against Wolves next Monday. Goals from Marcus Rashford, Antony and Casemiro were enough for United to run out as victors.

Ten Hag will be particularly pleased with the second-half contribution from £80m winger Antony who was also able to assist Rashford’s goal. Last season was a mixed bag for the former Ajax winger, but Silvestre expects to see more consistency now that he’s settled at the club.

“I would expect Antony to feature a lot. Wide players, even if he’s not a starter, he’ll still have his chances. There will be a lot of games, back to back, where you need fresh legs.”

“This will be his second season, so we should see better performances from him.”

Fred still has a role to play at United

However, fellow Brazilian Fred has been linked with a move away from Old Trafford, with ten Hag looking to freshen his midfield options. Both Fred, McTominay and Donny van De Beek are said to be available for the right price.

Silvestre remains a fan of Fred, particularly due to his off-the-ball work, which sometimes goes unnoticed. According to the Frenchman, Fred has a role to play at the club if he were to remain.

“For Fred, maybe less game time, but who knows, a lot of important games at Man Utd, he was involved because we knew he would step up and do the work. Recover a lot of balls and be strong in the challenges. That’s why he got picked by Brazil for the World Cup.”

“He still has a role to play at United. Maybe not a major role but big enough to contribute to winning trophies.”

Sancho must add more goals and assists to his game

It’s now been two summers since the arrival of winger Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund. During his time at Dortmund, Sancho was a key cog in the machine scoring 38 goals and laying an impressive 51 assists in 104 appearances. He arrived at Old Trafford with high expectations as one of the world’s most promising and exciting players.

However, it’s been a difficult time for Sancho as a United player. He hasn’t lived up to the expectations heading into his third season at the club. However, Sancho has looked bright during pre-season in a false nine central role which Erik ten Hag believes will get the best out of the England international.

Silvestre believes that Sancho must be more clinical, consistent and add goals and assists to his game.

“I don’t know if it will be Jadon Sancho’s last chance at Man United, but he has the opportunity to be more clinical, which is what he is missing. He needs to be consistent and add more goals and assists to his game.”

“We should all expect that from him, and we should definitely see the best version of Jadon Sancho at Man United this season.”

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