Smashley Young

[Plechazunga]

Do people watch the same Ashley Young as me?

I've been watching the same Ashley Young as you since midway through last season after his first injury.

Before that, I was watching a different Ashley Young, yes. One who was very sharp in possession, kept it moving but didn't generally take the safe option, indeed was quite creative without exactly opening up defences the whole time, and who always looked likely to chip in with a goal.

 

[Cina]

Wait, I'm confused, so ... there's two of him?

 

[Tomuś]

Very very good today, he is so useful defensively. Some great passes as well. Stick with him for that LW spot for the time being, two very good games since his return.

 

[KingEric7]

Ha, opinions...I thought he was almost pointless! That was a nice ball to Van Persie, but we would gain so much from having someone down that left who actually provided something on a bit of a consistent basis. He's the weak link in the team a lot of the time when he plays, in my opinion. Sounds harsh again, but it is really frustrating seeing him play against top teams.

 

[Bross]

Thought he was poor. Did a good shift defensively to help out Evra, but hardly did anything in attacking positions. I want us to go back to a diamond-ish formation. This left side isnt working out at all, either with Welbeck there or Young.

 

[paceme]

He was OK, some nice stuff but then some invisible periods. I'd still stick with playing him though, seems to work well with Evra.

 

[Freak]

He was decent today. I would like to see him be more direct and run at defenders more instead of always passing it sideways or backwards

 

[Galactic]

He played today basically due to his superb performance in the 8-2 game.

 

[Traub]

I don't think he is anything more than a very good squad player like Park. Seeing as Nani is as good as gone, I think we need to bring in another winger.

 

[Scrumpet]

He played today because he was quite effective against Chelsea.

 

[Ole's_toe_poke]

He played today because he was quite effective against Chelsea.

Really? I thought he was poor in both games.

Very wasteful.

 

[Lawman]

Very very good today, he is so useful defensively. Some great passes as well. Stick with him for that LW spot for the time being, two very good games since his return.

I thought he was pretty poor today, he had one great pass but it felt like he kept losing possession and looked like he didn't have the beating of Sagna and just wanted to play safe. Very handy squad player but was expecting him to be a first 11 right now Nani for me is a level above. Hopefully Young improves as had high hopes for him.

 

[Tomuś]

'Wasteful' is probably the last word I'd use if I were to downplay those two performances.

 

[Scrumpet]

Really? I thought he was poor in both games.

Very wasteful.

He was important for our first two goals against Chelsea. Contributed less today, won the penalty but not much more.

 

[Magnus]

Very very good today, he is so useful defensively. Some great passes as well. Stick with him for that LW spot for the time being, two very good games since his return.

Ok I watched another game then

 

[Commadus]

Cuts back all too often and doesnt have the pace or trickery to beat his man. He will have one great performance in 5 and then live off that for a few weeks.

Not good enough but as mentioned looks like Nani has burned his bridges so we are short in this department.

Tried Welbeck on the left but it hasn't really worked, Young is a limited footballer - our best player Nani is off form/ turmoil.

 

[Carl]

Typical Young performance for me. Pretty mediocre all game but then still comes up with a wonderful pass or cross to either assist a goal or set up a glorious chance.

Fergie absolutely loves him. I don't get it.

 

[Lawman]

Cuts back all too often and doesnt have the pace or trickery to beat his man. He will have one great performance in 5 and then live off that for a few weeks.

Not good enough but as mentioned looks like Nani has burned his bridges so we are short in this department.

Tried Welbeck on the left but it hasn't really worked, Young is a limited footballer - our best player Nani is off form/ turmoil.

I think he has both just not the courage/confidence to try it right now for whatever reason. Imagine we had Bale or an inform Nani on that wing. We'd rip this league a new one.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Very very good today, he is so useful defensively. Some great passes as well. Stick with him for that LW spot for the time being, two very good games since his return.

Okay then.

 

[Fergus' son]

The ball to Van Persie was ridiculously good. Had that been another player people would be talking about it a lot more.

He did well again today, in his Park-esque role.

 

[Devil may care]

Anonymous for large periods, did create a great chance for RVP though.

I don't think he is anything more than a very good squad player like Park. Seeing as Nani is as good as gone, I think we need to bring in another winger.

Agreed.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

The ball to Van Persie was ridiculously good. Had that been another player people would be talking about it a lot more.

He did well again today, in his Park-esque role.

Not if it was literally the only thing the player did well going forwards.

And he's got nothing on Park at his best in terms of stamina, winning 50-50's and closing people down.

 

[Cheesy]

He was poor today. Looked lost for much of the game and didn't really offer a lot for us.

 

[Fergus' son]

Not if it was literally the only thing the player did well going forwards.

And he's got nothing on Park at his best in terms of stamina, winning 50-50's and closing people down.

I disagree. Anyway the point is he was responsible for arguably our best bit of creativity in the whole game.

He may not be as much of a terrier as Park but he has more ability and quality, which I don't necessarily think is a bad trade off. He still works very hard, is good at his defensive duties, keeps the ball moving, and makes tremendous runs, like Park used to.

 

[Inigo Montoya]

He was poor today. Looked lost for much of the game and didn't really offer a lot for us.

Utter nonsense. He had a Better than average game against a side who offered precious little thanks to the closing down of the midfield, Young included.

 

[Forevergiggs]

I defended him all week only for him to put up a really mediocre performance at the weekend.

 

[Baxter]

Fergie seriously can't prefer him to Nani. Surely.

 

[Inigo Montoya]

Fergie seriously can't prefer him to Nani. Surely.

He's more dependable to put in a defensive shift and not give stupid passes away.Having said that Nani offers tons more in terms of adventure and creativity.

There'll be games for Nani to express himself

 

[KingEric7]

These Park comparisons are way off the mark. Park was pretty much an indispensable big game player for us for a lot his time here; Young is not that important. There are scores of players that could've offered what he did today. If we are to sell Nani and still keep a midfield 2, it's so important that we sign someone for that position who is comfortable in possession and willing to create.

Young is clearly better than what he is currently showing, but he's not showing more in an attacking sense at the moment than Park did at his best (10/11). Not a chance. Park was way more expressive and likely to get involved. It even looked like Rooney and Evra were actually avoiding Young at one point today when we were chasing the second.

 

[SATA]

It's just his second game back after a long layoff. Give him another couple more weeks and we'll see a better Ashley Young

 

[amolbhatia50k]

I disagree. Anyway the point is he was responsible for arguably our best bit of creativity in the whole game.

He may not be as much of a terrier as Park but he has more ability and quality, which I don't necessarily think is a bad trade off. He still works very hard, is good at his defensive duties, keeps the ball moving, and makes tremendous runs, like Park used to.

It's not that relevant when it's pretty much the only good thing he did going forwards.

Regarding Park, I think he can be around Park's level of player but I rate him lower right now. Since the first 10 games of last season he's become a player who going forwards offers less than Park did in terms of work rate and defending. At his best they'd be the same but I haven't seen much of that from Young. Mostly I've seen a guy who is okay average going forwards (but better than Park) and nowhere near Park in terms of closing down, stamina, winning 50 50's (but still a tryer).

 

[Inigo Montoya]

These Park comparisons are way off the mark. Park was pretty much an indispensable big game player for us for a lot his time here; Young is not that important. There are scores of players that could've offered what he did today. If we are to sell Nani and still keep a midfield 2, it's so important that we sign someone for that position who is comfortable in possession and willing to create.

Young is clearly better than what he is currently showing, but he's not showing more in an attacking sense at the moment than Park did at his best (10/11). Not a chance. Park was way more expressive and likely to get involved. It even looked like Rooney and Evra were actually avoiding Young at one point today when we were chasing the second.

Not really.

He was dropped for the UCL final which we won.
Young must have some importance for Fergie to pick him, in fact I'd say the Park comparisons are quite valid.

The suggesdtion that we were chasing a second is laughable.That was the most toothless Arsenal side I've seen since Rioch's side came here.We had them comfortably held

 

[Nate Dogg]

He is Mr Average, and today he was just....

 

[SATA]

He will probably score a couple next week against his old club and he will be great again

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Not really.

He was dropped for the UCL final which we won.
Young must have some importance for Fergie to pick him, in fact I'd say the Park comparisons are quite valid.

The suggesdtion that we were chasing a second is laughable.That was the most toothless Arsenal side I've seen since Rioch's side came here.We had them comfortably held

Yeah, I'd say they are. I've made that comparison myself. They're roughly around a similar level. And I'd consider Park a bit better. Then again, I don't think we've seen the best of Young so far at United (apart form very early on).

 

[Ekeke]

Passes the ball to Evra quite well, occasionally makes a good run off the ball and he makes some effort to help defend. Other than that he's a passanger at the moment

 

[Inigo Montoya]

He is Mr Average, and today he was just....

In his defence how many players would you say, Rooney apart, really had to raise their game to anything other than average?

It was a tame pretty bloodless game for Utd-Arsenal affair.If it wasn't for Wilshire trying too hard and getting a red, it might as well been Norwich or Reading we were playing

 

[Inigo Montoya]

Yeah, I'd say they are. I've made that comparison myself. They're roughly around a similar level. And I'd consider Park a bit better. Then again, I don't think we've seen the best of Young so far at United (apart form very early on).

It took Park a while to settle as I recall and he had his detractors too.Young hasn't been helped by niggly injuries

 

[KingEric7]

Not really.

He was dropped for the UCL final which we won.
Young must have some importance for Fergie to pick him, in fact I'd say the Park comparisons are quite valid.

The suggesdtion that we were chasing a second is laughable.That was the most toothless Arsenal side I've seen since Rioch's side came here.We had them comfortably held

This is true (the first bit), but he was then picked against Barcelona the second time around when he was in quality form during 10/11. He was preferred over Nani in spite of the fantastic season he'd had. Perhaps indispensable is too strong a term, but he was of much greater importance to us then than Young is now, and put in far, far better performances than the likes of that one today. Those performances against Chelsea and Arsenal were quality all-round performances, and not just for the defensive side of his game. More involved in the attack, and just ridiculously good in terms of work rate. In regards to the bolded bit, I'm not saying he doesn't have any importance, but Park was pretty much one of our players to be relied on in the big games. He put in great performances time and time again, even chipping in with goals on occasions. He was played a hell of a lot and performed very well more often than not.

As far as the last comment goes, I didn't mean that too literally (I don't mean we were going absolutely mental trying to get one). Nevertheless, it did look at times like Evra and Rooney were turning inside looking for other options despite him being open. I was surprised a more defensive option was deemed necessary today on the wing given that Arsenal really don't have anything too special on that side.

Despite all this like I say, Young is better than he's showing and will hopefully grow into the team more. I will admit that saying Park comparisons were way off the mark given similarities in role employed was a bit much also (although I believe the difference in performance and importance is actually quite large). Really though, I just don't quite 'get' him, and am not sure why I feel so strongly about it!

 

[DevilRed]

Fergie seriously can't prefer him to Nani. Surely.

I think there are two main reasons why he is getting the nod over Nani.

1. He is a more disciplined player defensively.

2. Nani's contract situation is still up in the air.


There is no denying that Nani is infinately more talented and capable of scoring/creating a goal. However, I don't think Young did too poorly today and he did put in a good shift on both ends.