At the beginning of his third season at Manchester United, we are starting to see a pattern emerge with Erik ten Hag’s press conferences.

Not for the first time, on Monday afternoon Ten Hag was asked about someone who’s on the fringes of the first-team. On this occasion, it was Antony, a player who has fallen abruptly out of favour with the boss after a dismal second season at Old Trafford.

So far this season, the Brazilian has only played a minute for United and was again named as an unused substitute in the victory at Southampton. When asked about his record signing at United, Ten Hag sent an abrupt message to his forward.

“We have training every day, and the players have to earn the right to play,” Ten Hag told assembled media. “When players are doing the right things in training, when the attitude is good and they show performance in training then they will earn the right to play.”

Sound familiar? Here’s what the Dutchman said about Jadon Sancho when asked why the now-Chelsea player had missed the defeat to Arsenal in September 2023.

“On his performance on training, we didn’t select him,” said former Ajax manager Ten Hag. “You have to reach the level every day at Manchester United. You can make choices in the front-line so, in this game, he wasn’t selected.”

What came next was a breakdown in the working relationship between Sancho and Ten Hag, while that tension was finally ended on deadline day with the winger being loaned to Chelsea for the season with an obligation to buy. Now it can be argued that Sancho hastened his exit with his comments on social media, but it’s not too hard to imagine Antony potentially heading down the same path as his former teammate.

The Brazilian pledged at the beginning of the campaign that he would be back among the goals and assists this season, but he has yet to be given a shot. With so many matches coming before the October international break, Antony might get his chance against Barnsley on Tuesday night, but performing against the South Yorkshire outfit will hardly place him ahead of Amad, Alejandro Garnacho or Marcus Rashford in United’s new pecking order.

Calling out his displays in training is a tried and tested model from Ten Hag as he looks to extract a reaction from the player. But evidence has shown during his time at United, that this could be the first step towards the end.