"No success without taking risk": Rio Ferdinand urges Antony, Sancho to take more risk in order to improve their game

"If Antony looks at his season he will sit there and go, 'I’m not where I want to be, I’m not doing what I thought I would be by now'," said Rio Ferdinand on his Vibe with Five YouTube channel.

"Yes he’s popped up with some important goals here and there but I think if he’s honest with himself he will think there needs to be more to come from him.

"We have to be patient as a fan-base with that. Not everyone hits the ground running. I hope he gets the time to prove what he can do."

The Manchester United legend continued: "There’s one part of Antony and Jadon Sancho’s game that I think needs to improve, and that’s taking more risks.

"You don’t get anything in this game without taking risks. You don’t have success without taking risks, you don’t win trophies without taking risks.

"Alex Ferguson used to say to us all the time that he doesn’t want safe from forwards. That’s what I love about Bruno Fernandes, by the way."

Naming one player the duo could look to for more inspiration, Rio added: "[Leandro] Trossard, for me, has been a masterstroke signing. He gives Arsenal that depth in wide areas and up front.

"When you talk about wide players not taking risks, this guy takes risk. He gets the ball, he goes forward, he plays one-twos, he dribbles, he takes people on and he can see a pass."

Trossard has, of course, played in the Premier League with Brighton before and it didn't take him long to get accustomed to Arsenal's tactics.

However, both Sancho and Antony have come from foreign leagues. It's not easy to adjust to the high-risk high-reward nature of the Premier League - and they've been decent so far.

That said, they must modulate their game and get better to justify their exorbitant price tags.