ashley-young

Ashley Young was one of the last traditional English wingers. Much like Theo Walcott and Aaron Lennon, Young boasted an abundance of pace and loved to run fearlessly at opposition defences. Back in the mid noughties, when he broke through at Watford, managers were still clinging to formations that relied on fast wide players to whip crosses into a target-man. While inverted wingers and overlapping full-backs gradually became the prevailing mode of providing width, Young was once in his element.

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The first game of the new Premier League season is history, and Manchester United fans everywhere are excited at the thought of Bastian Schweinsteiger roaring through the midfield, while Pedro reprises his attacking role from the Pep Guardiola years at Barcelona, running off the Lionel Messi incarnation-in-red that is Wayne Rooney.

As expected in a first game of a new campaign United’s performance was somewhat laboured and tepid. Supporters and commentators failed to mention that the conditions at Old Trafford were more akin to the Seychelles than Stretford, leading to a tiresome affair where neither team had the energy or fitness to excel.

However, United bagged the points – and that is all that matters – but the debate as to where certain individuals should play has reignited. Rooney occupied the striker’s role, with Memphis Depay at number 10, and both were serviced by two wide players who are certainly not flying Red Devils-style wingers.

The inclusion of Ashley Young continues to be divisive among Reds. The former Aston Villa player has had an epic journey since the start of Louis van Gaal’s tenure, finding his way from outcast to on-the-pitch lieutenant in the space of 12 months.

There is little doubt the future for Young is a limited one; he will never be a world-class entity in his own right. However, he has earned Van Gaal’s trust by doing one simple thing: doing as he is told.

This may sound like the least aspirational element in terms of a footballer’s contribution to a team, but it is arguably the most important. Van Gaal entered United during a time of turmoil and meltdown, as the ashes of David Moyes’ failed experiment burned like the stench from a farmer’s field. Out went fan favourites like Danny Welbeck, who—despite running his socks off on a weekly basis—was not the new manager’s “cup of tea,” when he had Radamel Falcao in his back pocket. But unlike Welbeck, Young survived the restructuring process in Van Gaal’s opening gambit, by doing what it takes to survive.

There is a common myth that Young is a bad player. This is a tag shared by Michael Carrick and Jonny Evans. The latter, of course, has done himself absolutely no favours over the past year. Young enjoyed a very credible 1:5 goal ratio during his 250 games at Watford and Villa, winning the PFA Young Player of the Year in 2008-09, and appearing in the PFA’s Team of the Year on two occasions. Add to this Young’s three Premier League Player of the Month awards, and you have the DNA of a very good footballer.

However, it is true to say Young has underwhelmed in a United shirt. Young’s goal ratio has drifted out to 1:9, and he is not the attacking force he once was. For many fans, Young is more famous for falling over in the penalty area than skill and wonderment, and this is undoubtedly his own fault.

But where Nani and Shinji Kagawa focused on using their flair, Young made himself indispensable to Van Gaal when the ship was rocking, and the Dutchman was trying to find ways to stop the vessel from sinking.

United fans are waiting for the arrival of Pedro—who seems destined to roll up at Old Trafford in the next few weeks—and are desperate to see Memphis play in the position from which he dominated at PSV Eindhoven last season.

But the manager will treat his new investment from the Netherlands with kid gloves, and the deployment behind Rooney is an entirely deliberate one. The new number seven does not offer the same defensive coverage as Young and, with the expectation that Luke Shaw will bomb forward at every opportunity, United need a midfielder who will cover the raiding left-back.

Observing Memphis off the ball against Tottenham Hotspur, it is clear he is not tactically ready to fulfil this specific requirement, and he appeared somewhat disinterested in any defensive duties, which is crucial under Van Gaal’s philosophy.

Pedro is a busy player, and certainly has the attributes and experience to press and defend in the wider positions. He will be Young’s main threat in the coming weeks. Juan Mata is a man transformed on the right flank, and despite not being a winger or possessing pace, the Spaniard’s overall work rate is markedly better than in his Chelsea days.

Many would rather Young is dropped all together, with Van Gaal finding a new system that incorporates Ander Herrera, and not witness the pragmatism of the current regime. Herrera is a difficult card to play in the game as things stand. He is a wonderful talent, but a coach doesn’t spend big on Schweinsteiger and Morgan Schneiderlin if he is happy with his central midfield.

Herrera will have to battle for a role at number 10 from the bench, and be used as an auxiliary central midfielder when needed; the next few months will be tricky for the Spaniard to accumulate minutes. He does not have the game to play in the roles occupied by Young or Mata, and he is going to drop down the pecking order if Pedro arrives in the north-west

So for now, United fans are going to have to put up with Young’s presence in the first XI, but they should not ignore that fact he is there on merit. Statistically, he does not provide the assists that Angel Di Maria did for United, but the manager trusts him to execute a role which lets others play.If Young busts a gut, it means Memphis doesn’t have to, and he can still drop wide left to pick up the ball and attack.

If Pedro is successfully signed, Reds may get their wish for Young to quickly return to the bench, but Mata’s place in the team is arguably under more threat.

Young is one of the jigsaw pieces in the full picture of Di Maria’s failure at United, blocking the Argentinian’s route back into the starting line-up last year. Despite his unpopularity with many supporters, he might just also stop Depay playing on the left.

After all, Van Gaal’s formation against Spurs – 4-2-3-1 – is closer to Sir Alex Ferguson’s version of 4-4-1-1 than it is to the Dutchman’s preferred 4-3-3. But it is likely the latter formation will be fully taken up once the manager feels he has the correct personnel to execute it.

Young deserves credit for his application over the past year, in the same way Marouane Fellaini also does. But while the heart of United beats through the chest of Van Gaal, there will always be a place for a player such as Ashley Young. He has rightfully been freed from the chains of public opinion, and a great season could rewrite how the history books look back at his career.

In the furor that surrounds Ashley Young’s dive against Real Sociedad on Tuesday night there must also come a mea culpa. The confession that Manchester United has benefited from cheating; that other United players have also and will also cheat; an acknowledgement that in different circumstances the outrage might be felt for very different reasons. United might, probably will, lose a game this season as the result of similar dubious tactics and equally malicious intent.

It is the game that we play.

It doesn’t have to be though. Young was under no obligation to “fold in half” as La Real coach Jagoba Araste so eloquently put it on Tuesday night. Nor did David Moyes have to so publicly back his player either; not after admonishing the former Aston Villa winger for similar theatrics earlier this season. And certainly not after spending much of the last decade as a strong voice in the campaign against diving.

Yet, Young goes on. Cheating, seemingly at will, and defying his managers with every turn and fall. It is, after all, far from Young’s first offence – the 28-year-old has been warned not solely by David Moyes, but Sir Alex Ferguson too. And in that Young’s tumble at Anoeta during United’s scoreless draw with Sociedad was barely believable, yet all too familiar in the collective memory.

Pundits lined up to add their voice to the general invective over Young’s antics. But none more so that United supporters, whose general sense of  disenchantment rang loud. Young is not only an embarrassment, and a fraud, but – and here is the rub – mediocre with it.

Herein lies another group confession. After all, Adnan Januzaj was cautioned for simulation earlier this season, while Wayne Rooney and Nani have been known, on more than one occasion, to eat grass with the best of them. Few have found the spotlight quite as intense as United’s Stevenage-born winger. Not from the home crowd at least.

“Pathetic,” said former United midfielder Ray Wilkins. “This is as bad for me as all these over-the-top tackles we’re getting at the moment because that is a conning of the referee.”

“He’s conned the referee there,” added Roy Keane. “If you are a Manchester United player and you see a player getting tugged back you want him to go down, but Ashley Young has obviously gone down too much over the last few months.”

Yet, there is something about Young’s manner that grates more than others. It is the shamelessness of it all; the total failure to acknowledge his conceit. The charlatan whose audacity extends to a bare-faced refusal to speak out. An impostor in the famous scarlet shirt.

In that Moyes is culpable too. Words really do come so very cheap, not least if Young is selected to face Arsenal this weekend in the most crucial match of the Scot’s short time at Old Trafford.

United’s top man was certainly in no mood to lay blame on Tuesday following the Reds’ bore draw in Spain. It does not augur well.

“I’ve seen it and the boy certainly tugs him in the box,” said the new United coach. “The referee is two yards away from it and decides to give it. The referee is there and he gave it.”

In that Moyes brought forth a charge of duplicity – disingenuous outrage against diving in one corner, a blind eye in the other. After all, Moyes once advocated for retrospective punishment and even fined hil Neville for hitting the ground too easily. Not this time – it serves not the man on whose shoulder’s the club’s on-the-pitch ethic resides.

“I’m of the view that retrospective viewing of diving should be more important than some of the technology they are talking about bringing in,” said the Scot last season.

“I think it would make the referee’s job an awful lot easier if that was there. If you do it and you get banned for it, it wouldn’t take long before you cut it out. I think it could be easily done.”

So too, it must be said, might an internal review of his player’s actions. Young does not have to face Arsenal next Sunday, nor Cardiff City two weeks hence. Nor, for that matter, Bayer Leverkusen in Germany towards the end of the month. There are many supporters not keen on the Englishman’s return at all such is the monotonous regularity with which Young has brought derison to Old Trafford’s doors.

It is not as though Moyes is short of options either with Januzaj, Nani, Antonio Valencia, and Danny Welbeck available. Nor has Young conspicuously delivered during more than two years at the club. He probably never will.

Although one wonders whether punishment might ever get through – that Young is too callous, or too shortsighted, for the message to fully resonate. Certainly if Ferguson’s rebuke served no lesson, then what might?

“Going to ground too willingly was not something I tolerated,” remarks Sir Alex in his recent autobiography.

“Ashley ran into trouble against QPR in the 2011-12 season, when Shaun Derry was sent off and our player was accused of diving. I left him out for the next game, and told him that the last thing he needed as a Manchester United player was a reputation for going down easily. Ashley did it two weeks in a row but we stopped it.”

Seemingly not.

Young also serves as a reminder to those supporters whose stance includes a matter-of-fact assessment. It is, they say, just part of the game. Penalties are won, and lost, depending on a player’s momentary decision to stand or fall.

They are, but this is surely a zero sum game. Young’s gain could so easily be United’s fall. Inconspicuous, or decisive, there is little merit in defending the indefensible. It will only come back – kismet’s inevitable last stand.

Despite being ultimately responsible for Manchester United’s fortunes David Moyes has been protected by fans to date; the argument being that the new manager has been proffered too little time to impose his own philosophy on the club. Fair enough, although there have been victims during the Scot’s early period at the club, including Ashley Young who is now considered the main culprit of United’s poor start. It has brought into question the winger’s future at the club.

The staggering rise of Adnan Januzaj has certainly not helped the former Aston Villa player’s position, although there are few, if any, United players who are playing to their potential.

Last season’s 20th league trophy epitomised Sir Alex Ferguson’s reign at Old Trafford – a decent squad went on to better more glamorous sides with little else but determination. In that three senior wingers – Antonio Valencia, Nani and Young – were collectively underwhelming, but England international was the best of the bunch.

Young boasted better shot accuracy and had more attempts at scoring than Nani and Valencia. The English winger created more chances per game as well. He also performed solidly in games against big sides when the Ecuadorian failed to impress and the Portuguese was not in the side at all. The fact that Young, who failed to score in 19 Premier League games, recorded better statistics than other senior wingers speaks to the genius of the retired United manager.

Young’s début season offered promise. Injuries limited the former Watford player to just 19 Premier League games, but he scored six goals and notched up seven assists. Prior to United’s 6-1 defeat to Manchester City, the Reds often deployed a swashbuckling 4-6-0 system where the front four of Young, Danny Welbeck, Wayne Rooney and Nani roamed at will, with Anderson and Tom Cleverley supporting the front players with almost reckless runs into attacking midfield positions.

This season Moyes’ team is playing with more structure. Robin Van Persie and Rooney are deployed as a traditional strike partnership and the central midfield duo does not consistently support the forwards.

Dribbling has never been one of Young’s great strengths – last season the English forward attempted one take-on per game, while Valencia tried 2.9 times per fixture. United’s opposition successfully marshals Young down the left flank and forces the right footed forward away from areas where he can use his stronger foot.

However, Ferguson often used Young in big matches, where in counterattacking situations, there is more space for Young’s pace and his right foot to shine.

The England international suffered twice as many fouls as Nani or Valencia last season – one data points that suggests opponents found Young far more threatening than the latter two. Crucially Rooney’s presence in the middle took some attention away from the former Aston Villa winger.

In part Young’s future depends on how Moyes handles Rooney, with the Scouser making it abundantly clear he has no interest in playing in midfield. The English striker’s recent admission that he is “enjoying” playing up front is a clear threat to the new United manager – a demand to which Moyes has acquiesced. With there being no chance of the Scot dropping Rooney to play Shinji Kagawa, Young is unlikely to receive the more central attacking midfield support he needs to be effective.

With little hope for a more permanent role, Young’s transfer should be considered, although at 28 the former Villa player would need to be sold sooner than later. The trouble is with Young acquired for more than £17 million, with wages reportedly topping £130,000 per week, there are few that can afford the England international. Let alone a long line of club’s seeking his ‘talents’.

Still, if Arsenal can find room for the limited, if speedy, Theo Walcott then there is little reason why United can’t utilise a player of Young’s ilk. After all, Young is a highly versatile player who can play across attacking midfield. Perhaps Sir Alex Ferguson’s comparison of Young and John O’Shea is prophetic after all.

Meanwhile, there is little role for Young elsewhere in the team, especially since Kagawa can’t get a game at number 10, the other position at which the England man has been used.

It leads to a conclusion – if Young remains at Old Trafford the right flank beckons. Young is a more direct than Valencia and the Englishman’s tendency to quickly cross could aid United in maintaining a high tempo, especially in counter-attacking situations. The former Wigan Athletic player’s tendency to get close to the box is becoming problematic to Moyes’ preferred game.

The fact that Young needs to cut in is a great hindrance on the left. On the opposite flank, though, the fact that Young can operate centrally is a burden to bear for the opposition. The Englishman has contributed defensively just as much as the Ecuadorian and a run on the right should be considered. Nani is more technically sound, and a greater attacking threat, but a more defensively responsible player is needed for certain occasions.

The burgeoning Januzaj will, of course, limit Young’s opportunities, and in any case, the current system will not bring out the best from the former Aston Villa player. But Moyes is likely to appreciate having a such versatile player in the squad and an experimental deployment on the right is tempting with Nani and Valencia struggling to convince.