[SteveW]

You must be joking? He was almost pointless. 10 crosses and not one of them hit their target, worst pass completion rate on the pitch and the only thing he did that had any impact on the game was playing a simple pass to Blind who showed him how to do his job properly. In that one moment Blind set up as many goals as Young has all season. 1 goal and 1 assist all season is atrocious. Even Carrick's contributed more than that for feck's sake...and he's played less minutes than Young!

I honestly can't believe how much praise he's received from fans, commentators and pundits alike. The commentator on NBC today said he thought he was our best player up until that point. Bizarre. I'm glad van Gaal didn't feel the same way.

I'm not his biggest supporter. I don't think he's good enough for United. However I think you're being a bit unfair on him.

You can't reduce a performance to stats alone. His end product was poor but I'd argue he had a good influence on the overall team performance. Whether you like him or not, you must admit his workrate, energy, defensive awareness and understanding with Blind have definitely contributed to our recent good performances. While he's not scoring or assisting it's fair to say that himself and Blind have have been solid and dominated their side of the pitch in recent weeks.

 

[Loublaze]

Awful final ball. He came off and Di Maria got an assist about 10 mins later.

Funny that.

Di Maria's cross to Rooney wasn't perfect, Rooney's control of the ball was astonishing.

 

[El Zoido]

His and Valencia's crossing and distribution around the penalty area is one of the main reasons we struggle to create chances in so many games. We see tons of the ball, and it constantly gets rolled out to these guys on either wing and neither of them can put a decent ball in. Both love to get their head down and drill a low cross in, which is just a numbers game at that point. Sometimes it works, but when it's your only option it becomes a problem. Even with high crosses there doesn't seem to be any particular intent, they just put it over and hope for the best. We got spoiled with Beckham and Neville, both intelligent footballers who knew where to place a ball for their centre forwards. It's the old "no end product" problem, it's pointless being able to skin two players if you're just going to waste the advantage anyway.

 

[psychdelicblues]

The difference between 2nd and 4th is not insubstantial in financial terms, both from the PL money and from the increased share in the CL pool money.

I don't see it in financial terms. I see it in more symbolic terms. Finishing the season strongly and claiming 2nd spot above City and Arsenal should be the priority now. It sets a symbolic benchmark for a club like United for next season.

 

[caisenma]

I don't see it in financial terms. I see it in more symbolic terms. Finishing the season strongly and claiming 2nd spot above City and Arsenal should be the priority now. It sets a symbolic benchmark for a club like United for next season.

I think most would agree - but Ashley Young would not be the factor in determining that.

 

[kouroux]

Di Maria's cross to Rooney wasn't perfect, Rooney's control of the ball was astonishing.

The thing is, Di Maria, when he crosses, looks for his teammates. Young on the other hand, has a poor accuracy.

His crosses would be superb if our players could predict where he puts them. He always puts them in a dangerous area but there is always no one on the end of them. And it goes harmlessly out of play or the defender at the near post clears it. RVP if he could get back to his best could benefit from his crosses as I think his movement in the box is by far the best among our strikers.

Wouldn't it be better if Young actually aimed at where the players are ? The best crossers/passers in the history of the game, have always been about finding the right player in the open space and not just focus on the space alone.

 

[carlosp]

Di Maria's cross to Rooney wasn't perfect, Rooney's control of the ball was astonishing.

Same with Mata's assist the previous week, bad ball and Mata did the most with it. Against Liverpool, he had an excellent opportunity then decided to pass to Rooney but it failed miserably. Poor pass, again.

His touch and finishing has been poor too, there's been times when he could have scored but didn't.

Look, I'm not going to bash him, I think he is very useful but I think Young has his place in the team and Di Maria is good to come on as a sub and put even more pressure on the opponents.

 

[Brwned]

Di Maria's cross to Rooney wasn't perfect, Rooney's control of the ball was astonishing.

Di Maria's cross was going straight to Mata in plenty of space if Rooney didn't do what we did. It was a perfect pick out and exactly the kind of thing Young fails to do over and over again.

 

[Orton]

Same with Mata's assist the previous week, bad ball and Mata did the most with it. Against Liverpool, he had an excellent opportunity then decided to pass to Rooney but it failed miserably. Poor pass, again.

His touch and finishing has been poor too, there's been times when he could have scored but didn't.

Look, I'm not going to bash him, I think he is very useful but I think Young has his place in the team and Di Maria is good to come on as a sub and put even more pressure on the opponents.

Bad ball utter nonsense. A bad ball is all 25 of young and Valencia's crosses combined against Aston villa. Easy to defend against.

 

[legball]

Young has earned his play in the team, I salute his bravery and how he's willing to take players on. He doesn't get assists but so what? His general play has been very good [and I absolutely don't rate Young]. Di Maria has been really poor and the execution of some of his so called assists were poor too, it was magic how Rooney was able to control that terrible cross from him.

 

[mu77]

funny that both ADM assists were on great strikes. young has put in some good crosses and no ones scored a wonder goal. that's the difference and that ADM gives it away easier and doesn't track back.

 

[Brwned]

Young has earned his play in the team, I salute his bravery and how he's willing to take players on. He doesn't get assists but so what? His general play has been very good [and I absolutely don't rate Young]. Di Maria has been really poor and the execution of some of his so called assists were poor too, it was magic how Rooney was able to control that terrible cross from him.

Terrible cross

Rooney stole the cross and made it his own, otherwise it was going straight to the only free United player in the box. It was a great cross and displayed exactly the kind of vision Young is sorely lacking.

 

[Cooksen]

His crossing has been to great areas most of the time just nobody is getting on to them.

I expect him to smash a wonder goal soon.

 

[Acole9]

His crossing was very good vs Villa, shame he didn't get a goal to round off what was a good performance.

 

[Striker10]

Needs to be more productive but is helping us by keeping the width. Can we do better? Of course we can, but Ashley can too. I'm sure we'll buy in the summer but he's a good squad player.

 

[legball]

Terrible cross

Rooney stole the cross and made it his own, otherwise it was going straight to the only free United player in the box. It was a great cross and displayed exactly the kind of vision Young is sorely lacking.

Yeah, just like Mata stole that one that was played behind him at Anfield.

 

[Brwned]

Yeah, just like Mata stole that one that was played behind him at Anfield.

What a strange response. Even if you choose to believe it was a "poor" cross to Rooney, you can quite clearly see it was going straight into the path of Mata in acres of space which is more than Young managed all day, and that was due to a combination of skill and vision which Young has practically never shown. He created the space with skill and then crossed it into a place where no defenders could reach it and in a position where as many as three forwards could take it on. With Young it's usually the opposite.

The idea that Young is simply unlucky and di Maria is lucky is just incredible.

 

[Loublaze]

Di Maria's cross was going straight to Mata in plenty of space if Rooney didn't do what we did. It was a perfect pick out and exactly the kind of thing Young fails to do over and over again.

You clearly don't rate Young. He's the only player we have who takes on players and consistently beats them. You're not even acknowledging his involvement for the first goal

 

[legball]

What a strange response. Even if you choose to believe it was a "poor" cross to Rooney, you can quite clearly see it was going straight into the path of Mata in acres of space which is more than Young managed all day, and that was due to a combination of skill and vision which Young has practically never shown. He created the space with skill and then crossed it into a place where no defenders could reach it and in a position where as many as three forwards could take it on. With Young it's usually the opposite.

The idea that Young is simply unlucky and di Maria is lucky is just incredible.

I've never even suggested anything remotely close to this ever.

 

[MelvinYeo]

The thing is, Di Maria, when he crosses, looks for his teammates. Young on the other hand, has a poor accuracy.


Wouldn't it be better if Young actually aimed at where the players are ? The best crossers/passers in the history of the game, have always been about finding the right player in the open space and not just focus on the space alone.

True that's why I always preferred Nani and AdM's crossing because they always try to whip one in to pick out a man. Young and Valencia are both more hit and hope but Young's crosses at least have the potential to be productive with the right runs.

 

[Feedingseagulls]

I think people are missing an important aspect wrt Young's game and his failed crosses.

Whilst I like everyone else wish that he were better at picking out a player when he gets the chance, the defence still have to cover Young (and those in the box) as if he might. He wears them down, he provides a consistent focus drawing resources towards him and away from others, perhaps especially Blind. This gives Blind greater opportunities, and their synergy in both attack and defence gives Blind greater freedom. Between the two of them (and Fellaini) they control that side, give out-balls and avenues for forward progress, their ball retention until Young tries to cross is excellent. In combination with the trio on the other wing they cause major headaches for our opponents.

Now if LVG can work out a way to improve Ashley's final ball...

 

[Shark]

Who in a million years after last season would of thought Ashley Young with his aimless crosses would be starting ahead of Di Maria? I honestly think Di Maria should be back in the team, he's a world class player and Young is, well Young. That's not to say I think Ashey hasn't done well.

 

[Annahnomoss]

I think people are missing an important aspect wrt Young's game and his failed crosses.

Whilst I like everyone else wish that he were better at picking out a player when he gets the chance, the defence still have to cover Young (and those in the box) as if he might. He wears them down, he provides a consistent focus drawing resources towards him and away from others, perhaps especially Blind. This gives Blind greater opportunities, and their synergy in both attack and defence gives Blind greater freedom. Between the two of them (and Fellaini) they control that side, give out-balls and avenues for forward progress, their ball retention until Young tries to cross is excellent. In combination with the trio on the other wing they cause major headaches for our opponents.

Now if LVG can work out a way to improve Ashley's final ball...

The issue is that all that ball retention means nothing if the final ball played is an aimless cross that almost never reaches it target. Whether one wants Young to start or not, it is very obvious that the current final balls from him are useless and just gives away possession.

If we want a cross, Blind is a bloody excellent crosser of the ball. Young should be told to never cross the ball and instead play it short and low, and continue his runs towards goal to offer a passing option for whoever he passes to.

Look at the dynamics of our right side. Herrera and Mata are excellent one touch players and they manage to break down teams really well and Valencia is just a last option resort for an aimless cross. Aimless crosses have a big part to play in a game if you have enough men inside the box which we have had lately with Fellaini especially.

Our right side has had a really nice balance lately in that way.

 

[Feedingseagulls]

The issue is that all that ball retention means nothing if the final ball played is an aimless cross that almost never reaches it target. Whether one wants Young to start or not, it is very obvious that the current final balls from him are useless and just gives away possession.

If we want a cross, Blind is a bloody excellent crosser of the ball. Young should be told to never cross the ball and instead play it short and low, and continue his runs towards goal to offer a passing option for whoever he passes to.

Look at the dynamics of our right side. Herrera and Mata are excellent one touch players and they manage to break down teams really well and Valencia is just a last option resort for an aimless cross. Aimless crosses have a big part to play in a game if you have enough men inside the box which we have had lately with Fellaini especially.

Our right side has had a really nice balance lately in that way.

Whoosh!!

 

[Nighteyes]

What a strange response. Even if you choose to believe it was a "poor" cross to Rooney, you can quite clearly see it was going straight into the path of Mata in acres of space which is more than Young managed all day, and that was due to a combination of skill and vision which Young has practically never shown. He created the space with skill and then crossed it into a place where no defenders could reach it and in a position where as many as three forwards could take it on. With Young it's usually the opposite.

The idea that Young is simply unlucky and di Maria is lucky is just incredible.

I've looked at it again and it's definitely not going straight to Mata. Mata would have done very well to control that even if Rooney had missed it

 

[Loublaze]

Young served the ball on a plate to Fellaini a few times and the big man just wasn't jumping in that game. On one occasion right after we took the lead Young played a ball directly to an unmarked Fellaini who failed to control it, should've been 2-0 at that point. But no, he was wasteful all game

 

[mu77]

I've looked at it again and it's definitely not going straight to Mata. Mata would have done very well to control that even if Rooney had missed it

it was going behind mata , just saw the goal. mata was slamming the breaks on. there was no other united player near getting to that "great" cross. no one! two shi7 balls turned into goals.

 

[Sam]

it was going behind mata , just saw the goal. mata was slamming the breaks on. there was no other united player near getting to that "great" cross. no one! two shi7 balls turned into goals.

fecking hell.

If you want 'shit balls' just watch any of Young's 3000 crosses.

 

[mu77]

fecking hell.

If you want 'shit balls' just watch any of Young's 3000 crosses.

so you agree those two "assists" ADM will get credit for were sh1t.

 

[Sam]

so you agree those two "assists" ADM will get credit for were sh1t.

No, anyone that thinks that is a complete moron.

The Liverpool one especially is something no one else in our team would have done. Just watch it again, the way he drops into the space, gets the ball then returns it to Mata. Young could only dream of pulling of a piece of skill like that.

 

[mu77]

No, anyone that thinks that is a complete moron.

The Liverpool one especially is something no one else in our team would have done. Just watch it again, the way he drops into the space, gets the ball then returns it to Mata. Young could only dream of pulling of a piece of skill like that.

he showed vision but the pass to mata was sh1t. the pass to rooney was worse. they were both behind and the goal scorers did a great job not only controlling them but scoring on them. and watch the name calling.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

They were neither shit balls, nor were they great balls... they were simply, (fine, hairy) balls.

 

[Rado_N]

shi7

sh1t.

sh1t. .

Stop this.

 

[mazhar13]

I think people are missing an important aspect wrt Young's game and his failed crosses.

Whilst I like everyone else wish that he were better at picking out a player when he gets the chance, the defence still have to cover Young (and those in the box) as if he might. He wears them down, he provides a consistent focus drawing resources towards him and away from others, perhaps especially Blind. This gives Blind greater opportunities, and their synergy in both attack and defence gives Blind greater freedom. Between the two of them (and Fellaini) they control that side, give out-balls and avenues for forward progress, their ball retention until Young tries to cross is excellent. In combination with the trio on the other wing they cause major headaches for our opponents.

Now if LVG can work out a way to improve Ashley's final ball...

This is the main reason that Young made most of the poorer opposition concerned about him (even as a left wing back).

I feel like I'm watching Young at Aston Villa again. Back then, he'd have been lauded for such performances with Aston Villa with him beating players, causing the opposition problems with his pace, and crossing balls into dangerous areas without them making it to the players. With us, however, given that we've had better wingers in our times, we expect more than what Young's been showing at the moment. It's not enough for Young to just play the ball into dangerous areas and not aim for the players. In Aston Villa, he got away with it because O'Neill flooded the opponent's box with the strikers, the right winger, and a midfielder, not to mention the large number of set pieces he took and delivered into the box with big, tall players like Laursen, Knight, Harewood, Carew, etc., to aim for. I should also mention that O'Neill did play a fast-paced, counterattacking game as well with Villa, which suited Young and co. very well.

Man. Utd. played and still play differently from O'Neill's Aston Villa, so Young isn't going to create enough goalscoring opportunities playing in his usual way. We don't flood the box too often, and until we had Fellaini playing well, we didn't have a big, strong player who can challenge for crosses into the box. This is why, even if he's been back to his best, we still don't see him really create enough chances as he rarely looks up and picks players. Given how di Maria hasn't been the most efficient on the ball, he still spots players and seeks to play them in even if it doesn't always work. Young, however, does none of that. Even Valencia looks up more often than Young and puts in better deliveries, overall, than Young does.

However, what makes Young so dangerous is the fact that he plays balls into dangerous areas. This keeps the opposition defenders on their toes and makes them sink deeper into the box, leaving space in the box for players like Herrera, Rooney, and Mata to enter and score goals from. Of course, if he aimed his crosses rather than play them in blindly, he'd be one of the league's best wingers. What keeps him ahead of di Maria and Januzaj, at the moment, is his positional discipline, his ability to beat players more often than those two, his defensive discipline, and his good combinations with his full back. Both di Maria and Januzaj haven't contributed enough defensively for some time, both haven't been as consistent as Young in beating their man, and both don't combine that well with their full backs at the moment.

Still, though, this cannot mean that he will do well doing forward against decent defenders. Against Newcastle away, Janmaat dealt well with Young, and Young was effectively ineffective. Against Liverpool, Young had a relatively quiet game when compared to his performance against Spurs, where he didn't even create a chance (out of my own memory).

Against Man. City, I see Young being quiet again, going forward, but his link-ups with Fellaini and Blind will make them more dangerous than if di Maria or Januzaj played on the left wing. 2 dangerous players over 1 dangerous player is a no-brainer, at the moment.

TL;DR: Young's Aston Villa style won't be enough for him to create chances here; his other qualities make Blind and Fellaini more dangerous, though. di Maria and Januzaj might not be able to make our left side more dangerous than Young has at this moment.

 

[Brwned]

I think people are missing an important aspect wrt Young's game and his failed crosses.

Whilst I like everyone else wish that he were better at picking out a player when he gets the chance, the defence still have to cover Young (and those in the box) as if he might. He wears them down, he provides a consistent focus drawing resources towards him and away from others, perhaps especially Blind. This gives Blind greater opportunities, and their synergy in both attack and defence gives Blind greater freedom. Between the two of them (and Fellaini) they control that side, give out-balls and avenues for forward progress, their ball retention until Young tries to cross is excellent. In combination with the trio on the other wing they cause major headaches for our opponents.

Now if LVG can work out a way to improve Ashley's final ball...

All true and there's no doubt that Young has built up a good partnership with Blind in both attack and defence and adds balance to the side, but what you're essentially saying is he does the basics well. He's doing what basically any decent winger does, while adding a bit more in defence and a lot less in end product.

The good partnership with Blind is in part down to Young but also in part down to the fact Blind's a very intelligent player, because he creates options for the man on the ball and uses the ball well. There's no reason to think di María wouldn't do the same. The penalty against Liverpool shows di María's perfectly capable of utilising Blind's intelligent movement, for example, and given time I can't see why they wouldn't develop a strong partnership. It'd be a different kind of partnership, certainly, and Blind would be asked to do different things, but nothing he's not capable of IMO.

Di María obviously wears down the fullback and provides a constant outlet and creates space for others too - more so than anyone else in our team. That just leaves you with ball retention where Young comes out on top and even then the difference is fairly marginal. Young gets a lot of praise for this side of his game but the only outfield players that give the ball away more often are di María and Wilson, and in Di Maria's case you're comparing 78% to 81% - it's not hugely significant, particularly when you take into account di María makes more passes and of course does much more with his passing.

"Causing headaches", "giving outballs" and providing a "consistent focus" are the bare minimum we should expect of our wingers, not something we should praise them for. IMO the only reason people are praising Young for this is because our wingplay for the last couple of years has been so, so poor, and because people get so frustrated by di María that they fail to acknowledge he does every bit of this too.

 

[mazhar13]

"Causing headaches", "giving outballs" and providing a "consistent focus" are the bare minimum we should expect of our wingers, not something we should praise them for. IMO the only reason people are praising Young for this is because our wingplay for the last couple of years has been so, so poor, and because people get so frustrated by di María that they fail to acknowledge he does every bit of this too.

I agree. I believe the price tag set on di Maria means that fans expect much more from him than they do from Young, and thus, Young gets a bit more of a free ride than di Maria (as already mentioned by some posters recently). If Young was bought for more than £18 million, then he'd be more lambasted for his lack of end product than he currently is at the moment. Given the highly-inflated prices nowadays, Young's price tag doesn't look as bad as it did before, so people are more forgiving to him along with the fact that he was much worse than this before.

I'd rather see di Maria as well as I'd believe he can develop a good partnership with Blind whilst being more dangerous than Young, but I guess most want Young's apparent reliability over di Maria's "erratic" playing style.

 

[carlosp]

This is the main reason that Young made most of the poorer opposition concerned about him (even as a left wing back).

I feel like I'm watching Young at Aston Villa again. Back then, he'd have been lauded for such performances with Aston Villa with him beating players, causing the opposition problems with his pace, and crossing balls into dangerous areas without them making it to the players. With us, however, given that we've had better wingers in our times, we expect more than what Young's been showing at the moment. It's not enough for Young to just play the ball into dangerous areas and not aim for the players. In Aston Villa, he got away with it because O'Neill flooded the opponent's box with the strikers, the right winger, and a midfielder, not to mention the large number of set pieces he took and delivered into the box with big, tall players like Laursen, Knight, Harewood, Carew, etc., to aim for. I should also mention that O'Neill did play a fast-paced, counterattacking game as well with Villa, which suited Young and co. very well.

Man. Utd. played and still play differently from O'Neill's Aston Villa, so Young isn't going to create enough goalscoring opportunities playing in his usual way. We don't flood the box too often, and until we had Fellaini playing well, we didn't have a big, strong player who can challenge for crosses into the box. This is why, even if he's been back to his best, we still don't see him really create enough chances as he rarely looks up and picks players. Given how di Maria hasn't been the most efficient on the ball, he still spots players and seeks to play them in even if it doesn't always work. Young, however, does none of that. Even Valencia looks up more often than Young and puts in better deliveries, overall, than Young does.

However, what makes Young so dangerous is the fact that he plays balls into dangerous areas. This keeps the opposition defenders on their toes and makes them sink deeper into the box, leaving space in the box for players like Herrera, Rooney, and Mata to enter and score goals from. Of course, if he aimed his crosses rather than play them in blindly, he'd be one of the league's best wingers. What keeps him ahead of di Maria and Januzaj, at the moment, is his positional discipline, his ability to beat players more often than those two, his defensive discipline, and his good combinations with his full back. Both di Maria and Januzaj haven't contributed enough defensively for some time, both haven't been as consistent as Young in beating their man, and both don't combine that well with their full backs at the moment.

Still, though, this cannot mean that he will do well doing forward against decent defenders. Against Newcastle away, Janmaat dealt well with Young, and Young was effectively ineffective. Against Liverpool, Young had a relatively quiet game when compared to his performance against Spurs, where he didn't even create a chance (out of my own memory).

Against Man. City, I see Young being quiet again, going forward, but his link-ups with Fellaini and Blind will make them more dangerous than if di Maria or Januzaj played on the left wing. 2 dangerous players over 1 dangerous player is a no-brainer, at the moment.

TL;DR: Young's Aston Villa style won't be enough for him to create chances here; his other qualities make Blind and Fellaini more dangerous, though. di Maria and Januzaj might not be able to make our left side more dangerous than Young has at this moment.

This.

 

[Escobar]

He will be picked instead of ADM against City but only for his work rate and defensive abilities. It was evident against Villa that he does not have an end product and is not able to pick out a United player in the box. All the great runs and dribblings are for nothing if there is no final ball. It was frustrating watching him getting into great positions but only for a poor ball to end the attack.
Great that he has found some form again and is playing ok'ish, but I wouldnt really pick him before ADM or Januzaj

 

[Orton]

fecking hell.

If you want 'shit balls' just watch any of Young's 3000 crosses.

Mental how split this forum is on di Maria. Its not a shit cross at all considering top players manage to control the ball and score. Shit crosses are ones that are cleared easily every time. Young just aimlessly puts them in the box, that doesn't take skill. Same with tony v.

 

[Ixion]

To be fair at least Young's crosses make it into the box most of the time and not just the defender's shins like Valencia's. I think Young's crosses are pretty good for the most part, it's just the strikers need to make the perfect run (like the Falcao goal at Villa) as no one seems to know where he'll put it.