[stepic]

Not good. Couple of decent games have masked the fact he's very one dimensional. Di Maria must be very frustrated at the moment.

 

[ZDwyr]

Not good. Couple of decent games have masked the fact he's very one dimensional. Di Maria must be very frustrated at the moment.

Probably, but it's not like he can blame anyone but himself for being frustrated. Young has performed better than he has over the last few months.

 

[Roboc7]

I dont think LVG transformed young he just gave him confidence and has played him a role that suited him! he is still going to struggle to perform to the required level on a regular basis, a good squad player but no more than that.

 

[Sean_RedDevil]

I would be totally shocked if he would be starting instead of Di Maria next Saturday.

I like him and would keep him for next season but his role can only be as squad player.

 

[Sylar]

DI Maria has not shown anything to say he deserves to start ahead of Young tbh. Di Maria wastes a lot of opportunities and chances, which wouldnt be too bad if he was still scoring / assisting in every game to provide end product.

Young linked up well with Shaw. One thing that annoys me is whenever Young cuts in and crosses, why does nobody ever go back post? Fellaini did it against City but cant remember many other times.

 

[Walrus]

To be honest, he stilled looked our best attacking player to me, and the one most likely to create something - moreso than Fellaini, Herrera or Mata.

 

[Empire]

@Twigginater

Hopefully you can tag me after WBA when Young plays well, if not then Palace! That's the problem, we have to wait a few weeks before you can do it again!

I suppose you'll be telling me about how David Moyes has been vindicated now, Liverpool winning their game in hand puts them 4 points behind us!

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Not good. Couple of decent games have masked the fact he's very one dimensional. Di Maria must be very frustrated at the moment.

You spelled "frustrating" wrong.

 

[caisenma]

Tuned into a nice back up player for us, but it's time for someone else to take his spot, likely Di Maria.

 

[Kag]

We've witnessed the nice transformation from whipping boy to important squad member, so now I'm expecting the goods consistently. No wide man can start week in, week out for a club like United and fail to put up the numbers.

Harsh, maybe, but that's two weeks in a row. He needs to contribute more regularly to justify his inclusion in the team. There's only so long you can admire what he's been doing, I'm at the point now where I want to see him creating chances and contributing towards goals every week.

 

[Sam]

If he's still starting for us on a regular basis next season, something has gone seriously wrong in the Summer, as harsh as that may sound.

He's more then earned himself a new contract and a place in the squad, mind.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

We've witnessed the nice transformation from whipping boy to important squad member, so now I'm expecting the goods consistently. No wide man can start week in, week out for a club like United and fail to put up the numbers.

Harsh, maybe, but that's two weeks in a row. He needs to contribute more regularly to justify his inclusion in the team. There's only so long you can admire what he's been doing, I'm at the point now where I want to see him creating chances and contributing towards goals every week.

Same is true of all our attacking players and if they all ticked those boxes every week we'd be in a title race.

The problem we have is that nobody is giving Young a meaningful challenge for his place, so when it's not his day we're toothless. Be nice to think that English football's most expensive player ever could put some pressure on him for his place but, alas and alack....

 

[marjen]

Same is true of all our attacking players and if they all ticked those boxes every week we'd be in a title race.

The problem we have is that nobody is giving Young a meaningful challenge for his place, so when it's not his day we're toothless. Be nice to think that English football's most expensive player ever could put some pressure on him for his place but, alas and alack....

I think it's telling that Young has what, two goals and three assists in what's being hailed as a great campagin while Di Maria's got three goals and 10 fecking assists and is "rightfully benched".

A Di Maria playing out about a quarter of his potential is still a much better player than Young.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I think it's telling that Young has what, two goals and three assists in what's being hailed as a great campagin while Di Maria's got three goals and 10 fecking assists and is "rightfully benched".

A Di Maria playing out about a quarter of his potential is still a much better player than Young.

Di Maria looked very good for a month or two. At his best he was way more productive than Young (albeit much poorer, defensively) Hence he looks decent on paper. Sadly, the season is several months long and being good on paper won't cut it.

He played today, by the way. Almost thirty minutes. Wouldn't blame you if you didn't notice.

 

[marjen]

Di Maria looked very good for a month or two. Sadly, the season is several months long.

He played today, by the way. Almost thirty minutes. Wouldn't blame you if you didn't notice.

Even Di Maria totally off form produces moments that wins matches and unlocks defences.

Young, good match vs City aside, does not. Simple as.

 

[Sam]

I think it's telling that Young has what, two goals and three assists in what's being hailed as a great campagin while Di Maria's got three goals and 10 fecking assists and is "rightfully benched".

A Di Maria playing out about a quarter of his potential is still a much better player than Young.

Tbf, Di Maria was an absolute disgrace today.

An Ashley Young, who couldn't beat Coleman for love nor money, looked 10x more threatening.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Even Di Maria totally off form produces moments that wins matches and unlocks defences.

Young, good match vs City aside, does not. Simple as.

No, that's not true. Again, I refer you to the fact he played today.

 

[Kag]

Same is true of all our attacking players and if they all ticked those boxes every week we'd be in a title race.

The problem we have is that nobody is giving Young a meaningful challenge for his place, so when it's not his day we're toothless. Be nice to think that English football's most expensive player ever could put some pressure on him for his place but, alas and alack....

True, but then you look at Mata and Rooney of the front three, as well as both Herrera and Fellaini behind them, and all of them have put up considerably more numbers than Young.

Even Di Maria, who you go on to criticise, has directly influenced our goalscoring in a way Young hasn't in spite of his admittedly irritating general play. His cameo today, which was shite, still lead to him playing a lovely ball into Falcao, as well as whipping in a great ball to Young at the back post, which he duly made a pig's ear of.

And that's my point, Young's upturn in form is admirable to a point, but I want to see more given he's seemingly a regular starter.

 

[Kag]

Tbf, Di Maria was an absolute disgrace today.

An Ashley Young, who couldn't beat Coleman for love nor money, looked 10x more threatening.

My problem with him in a nutshell.

 

[marjen]

No, that's not true. Again, I refer you to the fact he played today.

Well, none of them were any good today.

Come on Pogue. 10 assists/three goals for Di Maria. Three assists/two goals for Young.

And that's with Di Maria "off form bar one or two months".

How about playing him, getting his assists and moments of brilliance as a nice bonus, and hopefully let him find his form? You know, the key player in the CL winning Real Madrid campaign kind of form? Because a Young in peak form clearly hasn't got much more than this output in him, so either way it's no loss.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

True, but then you look at Mata and Rooney of the front three, as well as both Herrera and Fellaini behind them, and all of them have put up considerably more numbers than Young.

Even Di Maria, who you go on to criticise, has directly influenced our goalscoring in a way Young hasn't in spite of his admittedly irritating general play. His cameo today, which was shite, still lead to him playing a lovely ball into Falcao, as well as whipping in a great ball to Young at the back post, which he duly made a pig's ear of.

And that's my point, Young's upturn in form is admirable to a point, but I want to see more given he's seemingly a regular starter.

I agree with you that Young needs more end product. Although his recent run has been productive enough, to be fair. He's been very good defensively, under Van Gaal. Which will also get him games.

I'd also like to see him dropped if we had a really potent attacking threat as an alternative. If Nani was still here I'd give him Young's place in our next game. Di Maria's just been so shit though. And seems to be getting worse.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Well, none of them were any good today.

Come on Pogue. 10 assists/three goals for Di Maria. Three assists/two goals for Young.

And that's with Di Maria "off form bar one or two months".

How about playing him, getting his assists and moments of brilliance as a nice bonus, and hopefully let him find his form? You know, the key player in the CL winning Real Madrid campaign kind of form? Because a Young in peak form clearly hasn't got much more than this output in him, so either way it's no loss.

We can't let Di Maria play his way into form when he's such a horrendous defensive liability. As a team we've been wank all season but finally looked decent when he was dropped. That isn't a coincidence. He just doesn't deserve to start every week, no matter how many scuffed shots have been converted into assists.

 

[marjen]

We can't let Di Maria play his way into form when he's such a horrendous defensive liability. He's been dogshit for ages and doesn't deserve a game, no mater how many scuffed shots have been converted into assists.

Really, we're going down the route of "scuffed shots" now, are we?

I guess Young's goal against City doesn't count since he scuffed his first shot against Clichy and it bounced back to him, then?

We're playing a diciplined 4-3-3 verging on a 4-5-1 when defending. We can afford Di Maria's dodgy defending as a trade-off for creating chances.

Even today he played a beauty in for Falcao that he could've converted if he'd controlled it on his chest instead of heading it from 14 yards.

Alternatively, we can play against teams man-marking Fellaini without any sort of attacking threat. I guess it's okay since Young does a good job defensively and all. Helped us massively today.

 

[Kag]

I agree with you that Young needs more end product. Although his recent run has been productive enough, to be fair. He's been very good defensively, under Van Gaal. Which will also get him games.

I'd also like to see him dropped if we had a really potent attacking threat as an alternative. If Nani was still here I'd give him Young's place in our next game. Di Maria's just been so shit though. And seems to be getting worse.

I get you. But after two defeats I think we could do with bringing back Di Maria against West Brom, just to freshen up the attack. If he reacts well to the nod then we could be in for a really good performance. There isn't much to base that on, I know, but the rewards could be great if we give him the opportunity. Neither Mata or Young covered themselves in glory today or last week so a day on the bench wouldn't be all that undeserving.

 

[marjen]

Bottom line is teams that play Ashley Young in the first XI as one of the main, creative outlets doesn't win the Premiership.

That's what I'm getting at here, really. He's deserved his place in the squad but he's not going to cut it if we're aiming to win anything.

 

[Rado_N]

We can't let Di Maria play his way into form when he's such a horrendous defensive liability. As a team we've been wank all season but finally looked decent when he was dropped. That isn't a coincidence. He just doesn't deserve to start every week, no matter how many scuffed shots have been converted into assists.

FFS Pogue, come off it.

 

[Kag]

Bottom line is teams that play Ashley Young in the first XI as one of the main, creative outlets doesn't win the Premiership.

That's what I'm getting at here, really. He's deserved his place in the squad but he's not going to cut it if we're aiming to win anything.

Basically, this.

 

[saivet]

Might be harsh, but I wouldn't give him a new contract. I'm concerned that he's just had a good bit of form and converge back to his usual self. I doubt he'd drum up any interest anyway, so keep him but tell him to show good form next season to earn a new contract.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I get you. But after two defeats I think we could do with bringing back Di Maria against West Brom, just to freshen up the attack. If he reacts well to the nod then we could be in for a really good performance. There isn't much to base that on, I know, but the rewards could be great if we give him the opportunity. Neither Mata or Young covered themselves in glory today or last week so a day on the bench wouldn't be all that undeserving.

Yes, you're probably right. I was more arguing as to why Young has earned his place on merit. He was excellent in our best game of the season (one of the best in recent years) and has been a a key player in a really important run of games, so his selection has been completely justified.

For the next game, though? Maybe we should shake things up. I just wish to feck Di Maria had made a more compelling case to start him instead of Young. He's just so dissapointing, every time he plays. It's painful to watch. Still, we might as well start him because we're looking very flat right now.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Bottom line is teams that play Ashley Young in the first XI as one of the main, creative outlets doesn't win the Premiership.

That's what I'm getting at here, really. He's deserved his place in the squad but he's not going to cut it if we're aiming to win anything.

Taking his age into account we're blatantly not building any future side around him. He's a lowish bar to get over for anyone else that plays the same position, whether they're in the squad now or added in the summer. It's obviously not ideal that he's been our best option for so much of this season but that's the reality.

 

[marjen]

Taking his age into account we're blatantly not building any future side around him. He's a lowish bar to get over for anyone else that plays the same position, whether they're in the squad now or added in the summer.

Which is why I'm arguing that playing Di Maria even completely off form would be wise. He'll bag us more assists and goals than Young anyway, and if he turns it around you've got a top tier player on your hands. No-brainer.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

FFS Pogue, come off it.

I just get irritated with people banging on about those 10 assists, as though this somehow proves he hasn't been poor for most of the season. Take away those two scuffed shots converted by Mata and Falcao and he's got the same number of assists as Chris Brunt.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Which is why I'm arguing that playing Di Maria even completely off form would be wise. He'll bag us more assists and goals than Young anyway, and if he turns it around you've got a top tier player on your hands. No-brainer.

Well you're arguing wrong. He got a lot of games when off form. He was crap. We dropped points. Got sent off, dropped to the bench, we improved. No-brainer.

 

[Rado_N]

I just get irritated with people banging on about those 10 assists, as though this somehow proves he hasn't been poor for most of the season. Take away those two scuffed shots converted by Mata and Falcao and he's got the same number of assists as Chris Brunt.

I don't think anyone would argue he's been firing on all cylinders, but for the ones you say are lucky there's a bunch of others that people blew that should have been assists against his name.

He came on today and almost straight away put in our most dangerous through ball of the game.

You can grumble about his overall performance all you like, but he creates chances basically every time he walks on the pitch, and will only improve with more minutes.

 

[Bwuk]

He's an absolute nothing player who had a few good games.

People like him because he works hard, and loves the club.

No other side in the top 4 would consider him as a viable starter.

 

[marjen]

Well you're arguing wrong. He got a lot of games when off form. He was crap. We dropped points. Got sent off, dropped to the bench, we improved. No-brainer.

In those games he still threatened and created chances, even when being quite crap. He's one of the creative outlets of the team. His job is creating chances/goals. I'd gladly take that ahead of Ashley Young and his non-existing end product.

Like I said even today, if Falcao's anywhere close to the level a United striker should be, that's a clean strike at goal from Di Maria's brilliant through ball.

He created more in 30 minutes than Young did the entire time he was on the pitch. From my wingers, I want chances.

I don't think that's wrong. I think it's obvious.

 

[DWelbz19]

And his chance creation stats? Young has played well recently but it's so clear Di Maria creates an absurd tonne more.

 

[Escobar]

Showed his limitations again. He can be very good in top form but that is usually for 4-5 games. He's still a back up player for me and I was surprised that he stayed on.

His main problem is his delivery. He has too little assists

 

[Empire]

Showed his limitations again. He can be very good in top form but that is usually for 4-5 games. He's still a back up player for me and I was surprised that he stayed on.

His main problem is his delivery. He has too little assists

He should have a good game today, Blind will be supporting him and Fellaini too. As he mentioned in his interview he has improved due to the coaching from Louis van Gaal and executing what the manager asked, I'm sure he will do that again, the trick lies in Louis van Gaal's preparation using his team mates to bring the best out of him, Fellaini moving to the far post so he can cut in and cross to a target but also Blind timing his overlap to draw one of the players closing him down away at the right moment.

I agree we need to improve on him, when you look at the wide players of our competitors (Bale, Ronaldo, Neymar, Suarez / Messi, Ribery, Robben, Sanchez, Hazard) then we need to target that level of quality. And he does need to demonstrate more consistency, he had a good match against City but has done little since despite getting the ball plenty, I think the trick to overcome his limitations is the understanding he develops with the players around him and it will be interesting to see how that left flank works together to find spaces against what is expected to be a well drilled defence, the right side also through their combination overcome the limitations of Mata (as a winger) and Valencia.

This does depend on the set up however, that isn't so obvious from the team sheet.

 

[Kag]

Man of the match? Righto. Zero end product yet again. Just another typical Young performance. He should have scored but didn't and not one cross met a United player. Waste.