Ashley Young image 18

Ashley Young England flag

2014-15 Performances

View full 2014-15 profile

6.3 Season Average Rating
Appearances
29
Clean sheets
9
Goals
2
Assists
6
Yellow cards
5
Status
Not open for further replies.
Can't be said enough - he deserves so much credit for turning his United career around. Everyone wanted him gone and he got lots of abuse but he's knuckled down and earned his place. The confidence in his game is obvious now and we're better off for it.
 
Good game from him today, constantly looked a throat and helped out Rojo with the defensive duties on the left flank.
 
togg said:
I hated him last season..wanted him out, but bloody hell has he got his confidence back. Just shows how fans really have knee jerk reactions like me. Easily the most improved player this season. Doesn't even dive anymore...
Click to expand...

It wasn't knee jerk, in fairness, as he was legitimately terrible. He should thank his lucky stars he wasn't out on his arse in the summer, but since then his improvement has been terrific and he deserves all the plaudits he's receiving.
 
He's always been a good player. His disastrous euro 2012 destroyed his confidence then the Moyes era.

When he switches it up and goes left to get crosses in it make shim such a more threatening player.

Happy for him.
 
Impressive, most impressive. He's now taking on his man again and looks capable of running with the ball. He also looks twice as fast as last season; probably more a sign of confidence than physical ability.
 
Kag said:
It wasn't knee jerk, in fairness, as he was legitimately terrible. He should thank his lucky stars he wasn't out on his arse in the summer, but since then his improvement has been terrific and he deserves all the plaudits he's receiving.
Click to expand...

Yep, some good performances in the summer pre season saved his career here but credit where it's due, he's grabbed the opportunity and deserves to be playing for us now.
 
Twigginater said:
@Empire what you think?
Click to expand...

Firstly I've been saying we need Young in the team for weeks, it's a side that lacks balance and one of the reasons for that is because of the lack of pace and Young provides that. Louis van Gaal has also shown his ability to improve players, Young along with the likes of Fellaini and Valencia have performed much better this season than under Moyes.

Young has been poor in the past couple of seasons but with Louis van Gaal's help and his own determination he has done enough to get a stating place for the next few games.

I'm not sure why you have tagged me in this post, it's one match since his return, but then again you might be of the opinion a player need only perform well in one game to be considered 'good'. Let's give him a run in the team and see what he can do, but as Louis van Gaal says the team is more important than the player, most important are results irrespective of who plays.

Your observations that Young was a good player last season I still disagree with completely, for instance look at his desire to cross on his left this season (he has added to his game), he is more unpredictable and that's not surprising since Louis van Gaal talks about the importance of a player being two footed and so likely he planned that training for Young.

As for your other assertion that Cleverley was good last season, I disagree and thought he was poor but I think it's a shame we let him go, he is another player that might have improved had he been here and Nani too.

That's the difference between a manager like Louis van Gaal and David Moyes (no offence intended, I know how much respect you have for the latter). Had Moyes still been in charge then Ashley Young would not (in my opinion) perform like he has done in Louis van Gaal's system (for one start since his return (against relegation threatened Sunderland who were reduced to 10 men), which isn't really United standard, we want consistency over ten or more matches so again not sure why you tagged me now...).

I also think in the summer we need to look at getting better wingers in, currently we are looking to scrape top four but if the championship is our objective then we must be looking to sign players like Depay and Reus. Moving forward at best he is a squad player but even then at 120k per week probably not worth that, hopefully he will agree to a pay cut.

(btw - I completely forgot about you, nice to know you remember me though, very respectful of you).
 
Last edited:
Another great performance by him, outclassed Di Maria comfortably.
 
Like him a lot, he will be very valuable player for us this and upcoming seasons, can numerous positions. Use him as a winger and when he drops in form play him as fullback, I also think he could play as 8 if needed but right now there is no need for him to play there as Herrera is bossing it. Shame Smashley didn't score, would be happy for him..
 
He's done brilliantly to turn things around. Didn't see it coming at all but it's a most welcome surprise. He is so threatening when he cuts inside on his right foot at the edge of the area, I almost expect it to result in a good shot on target every time.
 
Great that we have an genuine wide threat in form. Smashley just needs to bless us with one of his trademark goals where he cuts in on his right.
 
He was very good today, defo one of our top two performers. Massive respect for how he has turned his United career around.
 
Amazing it took him that long to turn his United career around and I have never been a fan of his, but my God has he turned it around. All credit to him (and LvG in this case tbf).
 
togg said:
I hated him last season..wanted him out, but bloody hell has he got his confidence back. Just shows how fans really have knee jerk reactions like me. Easily the most improved player this season. Doesn't even dive anymore...
Click to expand...
It wasn't kneejerk at all because he was terrible in the last couple of years but he deserves credit for turning it around under LVG. He has added some variations to his play like the left footed cross, he is taking players on again and has cut out the diving. Besides offering a genuine wide threat he also works hard defensively which helps with the balance of the side. I hope he kicks on and finishes the season strongly, we need him to.
 
I can't really express how impressed I am by Young's turnaround - he's been very good for us this season. Maybe the case of his should be a lesson for us in terms of how we react to players going through a bad patch.
 
Just goes to show how little most of us know about football. Maybe if we are a little more patient with other players, they might come good too?
 
I think the indicator as to his mental state is whether he is willing to take the ball wide instead of only cutting in from the left. When things started to go badly for him under Fergie and Moyes, cutting in was plan A, B, and C for Young. He was cutting in almost exclusively early this season, although he was putting in good performances. It wasn't until late November/early December that he started regularly taking whatever option the opposition fullback gave him and I don't think it was a coincidence that his form went up another level.

I'm glad I was wrong about him. I didn't see this coming from him, because he looked absolutely broken after the last two years.
 
Back to the player I hoped we got from Villa. Happy he hasn't lost form from the Injury he sustained last month.

Everytime he's on the ball in the final third I think a chance will be created. He destroyed their right back. He mixed it up which is good as you never know if he's gonna cut in, run down the flank or even both at once. Really impressed with his improvement. Will be useful for the next couple games.
 
I'm genuinely happy for him, he always gave everything on the pitch and his lack confidence was evident, but it was still infuriating to witness.
 
ChaddyP said:
Back to the player I hoped we got from Villa.
Click to expand...

Exactly this. This is the Young who was such a huge attacking threat at Aston Villa, and now we can see why Sir Alex spent the money that he did on Young.

Having said that, though, I'm not sure he has the quality to be a regular starting winger in our team for the long run. I even think Sir Alex saw it that way in the summer of 2012 when he was going after Hazard and then Lucas. Still, though, he is an excellent squad option, and his improvement on his left foot makes him even more dangerous now as he'll be tough to deal with outside and inside.

His ball control is still not good enough, but his quickness, directness, movement, and good deliveries make him a good wide player and someone we can look to in the squad.
 
I am so so so pleased with his performances this season, for us and for him. He's been brilliant.
 
He had a good game today, one of the most improved performers under van Gaal by far. Extremely unlucky not to score.
 
Played very well. I still think he should be one of the best players on a slightly lower side in the table, starting at LW and hitting crosses every week, but he's done enough that it's tough to argue against this being our best lineup right now:


-----Rooney------
Young-Mata-DiMaria
------Herrera-
----Blind--------
Shaw----------RB
---Rojo-Smalling
------De Gea----

And in certain tougher games, maybe Mata out and Carrick or Di Maria central and good lord we still need another wide attacker.
 
Still eager to see how long this lasts for. He's only played 13 league games this season too.
 
Deserves to be commended for how he has turned his United career around. Hopefully it continues. Is one of our best players at the moment (if not the best).
 
slir32 said:
Genuine question, did our dip in form start when Ashley young got injured?
Click to expand...

Looks like i was right when i posted this in January. Ever since coming back from injury we look much better in attack.
 
Good performance today. When at his best, he's always disruptive and unsettling to this opposition.
 
He looks like he's been practicing going down the line and crossing on his left foot which is good. He drives to the byline with much more confidence and purpose which subsequently gives him more space to whip a cross in when he cuts back onto his right.
 
The only player in the team that can consistently take on and beat players.
 
I've always thought he's been a decent/good performer for us since he joined. His injury record has been abysmal since he joined us though (what a surprise), and he generally struggled coming back from injury. Especially as you can't get any run of games because of the competition at the club.

Most of the abuse he got last season was for being chosen over Kagawa.
 
Should win player of the season for me. Everyone wanted him out but the way he has turned his career here around is astonishing - from zero to hero.
 
Empire said:
Firstly I've been saying we need Young in the team for weeks, it's a side that lacks balance and one of the reasons for that is because of the lack of pace and Young provides that. Louis van Gaal has also shown his ability to improve players, Young along with the likes of Fellaini and Valencia have performed much better this season than under Moyes.

Young has been poor in the past couple of seasons but with Louis van Gaal's help and his own determination he has done enough to get a stating place for the next few games.

I'm not sure why you have tagged me in this post, it's one match since his return, but then again you might be of the opinion a player need only perform well in one game to be considered 'good'. Let's give him a run in the team and see what he can do, but as Louis van Gaal says the team is more important than the player, most important are results irrespective of who plays.

Your observations that Young was a good player last season I still disagree with completely, for instance look at his desire to cross on his left this season (he has added to his game), he is more unpredictable and that's not surprising since Louis van Gaal talks about the importance of a player being two footed and so likely he planned that training for Young.

As for your other assertion that Cleverley was good last season, I disagree and thought he was poor but I think it's a shame we let him go, he is another player that might have improved had he been here and Nani too.

That's the difference between a manager like Louis van Gaal and David Moyes (no offence intended, I know how much respect you have for the latter). Had Moyes still been in charge then Ashley Young would not (in my opinion) perform like he has done in Louis van Gaal's system (for one start since his return (against relegation threatened Sunderland who were reduced to 10 men), which isn't really United standard, we want consistency over ten or more matches so again not sure why you tagged me now...).

I also think in the summer we need to look at getting better wingers in, currently we are looking to scrape top four but if the championship is our objective then we must be looking to sign players like Depay and Reus. Moving forward at best he is a squad player but even then at 120k per week probably not worth that, hopefully he will agree to a pay cut.

(btw - I completely forgot about you, nice to know you remember me though, very respectful of you).
Click to expand...

You can just admit you were wrong you know. I'm wrong all the time. No one would think any less of you.
 
I really like him. One of several players proving a lot of people wrong.

Man of the match for the fifth or sixth time this season.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.