Smashley Young

TBH when we signed Young I thought it was with the intention of playing him more of an inside forward than he was eventually used by SAF as an out-and-out winger.

You underestimate Young's performances for Villa, KE7; playing the inside forward role he was accustomed to he was crucial to the club's successes, the real dangerman behind Agbonlagor and Carew's goals and much more versatile than the one dimensional Stewart Downing.

Unless Moyes makes me drastic change then Young won't play that role for United, but nevertheless he is capable of producing goods at a level which many on here just don't appreciate due to his torrid time with injury since signing.

I too believe Nani in full flight as being one of the best wingers in Europe, but not so Antonio Valencia; the latter just doesn't have enough flair and variation to receive such a lofty plaudit. I'm not trying to take anything away from Tony V but in terms of raw ability he falls behind Nani and imo Ashley Young also.

My point remains though; as things stand our four wingers go into the upcoming season on equal footing with any one of them an equal chance of finishing the season as the star man. All four face obstacles they need to overcome (Young: fitness / Valencia: confidence / Zaha: inexperience/ Nani: who the feck knows!) and for me at least they should each be given various benefits of the doubt and the opportunity to go into a new season and a new era with the full support of the fans behind them.

It's unfair to single out Ashley Young for criticism as seems that fashion. He has just as much chance as anybody right now of giving us match-winning performances and I for one look forward to an injury free season from him.

My prediction is that he'll achieve the 30+ goals + assists tally for 13/14 if he stays fit. You lot can quote me on that and come back in twelve months to discuss how massively wrong you all were.
 
30+ :eek: I would take 10-15 to be honest with you. Such was the poor contribution from our wingers last season.
 
ciderman9000000 said:
TBH when we signed Young I thought it was with the intention of playing him more of an inside forward than he was eventually used by SAF as an out-and-out winger.

You underestimate Young's performances for Villa, KE7; playing the inside forward role he was accustomed to he was crucial to the club's successes, the real dangerman behind Agbonlagor and Carew's goals and much more versatile than the one dimensional Stewart Downing.

Unless Moyes makes me drastic change then Young won't play that role for United, but nevertheless he is capable of producing goods at a level which many on here just don't appreciate due to his torrid time with injury since signing.

I too believe Nani in full flight as being one of the best wingers in Europe, but not so Antonio Valencia; the latter just doesn't have enough flair and variation to receive such a lofty plaudit. I'm not trying to take anything away from Tony V but in terms of raw ability he falls behind Nani and imo Ashley Young also.

My point remains though; as things stand our four wingers go into the upcoming season on equal footing with any one of them an equal chance of finishing the season as the star man. All four face obstacles they need to overcome (Young: fitness / Valencia: confidence / Zaha: inexperience/ Nani: who the feck knows!) and for me at least they should each be given various benefits of the doubt and the opportunity to go into a new season and a new era with the full support of the fans behind them.

It's unfair to single out Ashley Young for criticism as seems that fashion. He has just as much chance as anybody right now of giving us match-winning performances and I for one look forward to an injury free season from him.

My prediction is that he'll achieve the 30+ goals + assists tally for 13/14 if he stays fit. You lot can quote me on that and come back in twelve months to discuss how massively wrong you all were.
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Like I say, I've a mate that's a Villa fan who, as well as myself, watched a large percentage of these games, and a lot of the praise for Young has stemmed from the fact that his stats took a real boost from penalties, corners and free kicks all at once. By the sounds of it, a lot of Villa fans were astonished we were getting him, never mind for such a fee. Downing was definitely on a similar level in his final season, and Young, whilst more an inside forward than a winger, certainly was not to such an extent that he was constantly driving inside and causing real damage. He was a little more expressive than he has been for us in my opinion but I don't think that's saying too much; his actual performances were not that good, which is the discussion here given that there is mention of there not being too much between him and Nani/Valencia at their best (two players that have probably been our best attacking players in title winning seasons). You could've halved Nani's assists/goals stats back then and he still would've been one of the best players in the league.

At the risk of going on, Young has not put in a performance particularly close to the absolute masterclasses that were Nani against Hull, Arsenal or Bayern Munich, nor has he matched Valencia's destruction of Ashley Cole. If we are to try and measure top level in terms of single performances, then that's the level he should be judged by. If we are to measure in terms of consistently top class performances, then he should be judged against Nani's 2010 or Valencia's 11/12. You say that about Valencia's talent, but it's performances alone that matter. Perhaps Valencia has been shown up currently because, without confidence, there is less technical ability and skill to fall back on, but nevertheless he has reached a level some way beyond anything Young ever has.

That point is true, though; it is about as up for grabs as it ever has been. I'd very much like Young to reach such a figure, though I'd rather him become a player that would have a lot more beneficial impact on our overall approach (I think this is within him as a footballer). Ronaldo was very productive in his final season for example, but was actually a liability in the build up a lot of the time and our football suffered a lot for it (the difference between that team and the one two years before was huge). It'd be great for Young to just focus on his general performance and build up play, with any further goals or assists that come from that being a nice bonus. That after all is the main problem when he is on the pitch - the poster that used the term 'bottleneck' had it spot on.
 
Is there a better backup winger in England? And who cares about the fee paid. He's English and had a productive past with few injuries. English players are overpriced and this is nothing new.

He dives and is a bit of a fanny and had a terrible Euro and missed a crucial penalty against Italy. This is why so many people don't like him.

He's a backup winger here and a very good one.
 
I like Young.

Sure he's not set the world alight but he is a steady squad player - I'm not sure what more people expected?. He's had a horrid time with injuries, if he can stay clean this year hopefully he will regain his top form. Certainly if Nani stays and with Zaha around, he will not be getting a lot of game time unless he steps up.
 
Ah the old wage debate...lets believe every figure in the tabloids because they're right. Rooney earns £250k a week too I suppose?

It's not of any concern to anyone if he's on a certain wage and the people who offer these wages think he's worth it.

The only thing I have against Young is his injury record. It's been horrendous since his switch and it will most likely be the key reason as to why he won't ever be a genuine starting eleven player every week. Not quite a Louis Saha situation given that Young was bought as a squady for the entire front 4, but still disappointing that he hasn't been able to replicate the form he showed for Villa or for England in the 2012 WC qualifiers.
 
ciderman9000000 said:
My prediction is that he'll achieve the 30+ goals + assists tally for 13/14 if he stays fit. You lot can quote me on that and come back in twelve months to discuss how massively wrong you all were.
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Quoted. The only way for you to not look stupid next season is if he cannot stay fit.
 
ghaliboy said:
Which will please a few in this thread.. Since they're slagging the chops off of him through that very means.. :lol:.
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Being realist is not being pleased. Cider saying that Young will contribute on 30 goals + assist next season, Hectic saying that Welbeck will score 15-20 goals next season is a bit (in the kindest possible way) deluded. We're going to score 800 goals next season with these predictions.
 
Revan said:
Being realist is not being pleased. Cider saying that Young will contribute on 30 goals + assist next season, Hectic saying that Welbeck will score 15-20 goals next season is a bit (in the kindest possible way) deluded. We're going to score 800 goals next season with these predictions.
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Depends if Rooney leaves IMO, if he does then Welbeck will get a lot more starts and it wouldn't shock me if he scored 15 goals - he has the ability
 
Revan said:
Being realist is not being pleased. Cider saying that Young will contribute on 30 goals + assist next season, Hectic saying that Welbeck will score 15-20 goals next season is a bit (in the kindest possible way) deluded. We're going to score 800 goals next season with these predictions.
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I honestly don't know what this means. But anyway..
 
It's difficult to argue against the fact that when he does contribute that it is anything other than effective. He's a fecking cnut as well and I like that.
 
Revan said:
Being realist is not being pleased. Cider saying that Young will contribute on 30 goals + assist next season, Hectic saying that Welbeck will score 15-20 goals next season is a bit (in the kindest possible way) deluded. We're going to score 800 goals next season with these predictions.
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Welbeck scored 12 goals two seasons ago. I think you are exaggerating the word "deluded" if you don't believe he can get 15 goals next season.
 
He's capable of 15 but it all depends on where Moyes plays him, or if he actually gets enough games. I guess some of that will hinge on whether Rooney is here.
 
ciderman9000000 said:
ust as much chance as anybody right now of giving us match-winning performances and I for one look forward to an injury free season from him.

My prediction is that he'll achieve the 30+ goals + assists tally for 13/14 if he stays fit. You lot can quote me on that and come back in twelve months to discuss how massively wrong you all were.
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I guarantee that he'd be as fit as Cristiano, he would never achieve those numbers. You're taking "overrating" to ridiculous levels cider.
 
Hectic said:
Welbeck scored 12 goals two seasons ago. I think you are exaggerating the word "deluded" if you don't believe he can get 15 goals next season.
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He was our main striker that season. Bar a big injury to RVP and an injury/big lose of form to Chicha he won't be our main striker next season. He also scored only two goals last season when he played in a position I think he'll play again in the coming season.
 
Where do you rate him in terms of pecking order when it comes to our wingers? I see a tweet the other day that proved Nani was still our most productive winger over the last few seasons with limited game time and Nani is arguably better technically but Zaha has impressed pre-season and Tony V could still be first choice on the right. Personally I think Young is good but as back-up/rotation.
 
I'd rather have Bebe on the wing than Young (you could at least be entertained by Bebe, Young is completely predictable and rarely does anything of use)

i am not serious about what i have just written, please don't kill me
 
30 goals/assists for Young this season :lol: I want some of what Cider is smoking!
 
No.8 said:
Where do you rate him in terms of pecking order when it comes to our wingers? I see a tweet the other day that proved Nani was still our most productive winger over the last few seasons with limited game time and Nani is arguably better technically but Zaha has impressed pre-season and Tony V could still be first choice on the right. Personally I think Young is good but as back-up/rotation.
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I'd say he's perfect for that role, Young isn't the type to moan, cry and bitch about lack of playing time. He seems to be happy to be a United player, we need players like that. Not everyone can fight for a starting eleven.
 
I was watching the game last night (on replay) and when I first saw Young go down I thought automatic yellow card for diving. When a I saw Kagawa take a pk a few seconds later I was really surprised.

I don't like his diving, but if it's a huge game and you just got fukked by a Turkish cnut ref (see Nani) I've got no problem returning the favor. But in a pre-season match? Fukk that!
 
The diving won't last long under Moyes. I'm not particularly optimistic about his ability to retain the title in his first season, but I know he's got a great sense of integrity for the game and doesn't stand for that shit.
 
Sam said:
30 goals/assists for Young this season :lol: I want some of what Cider is smoking!
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According to John W Henry, it is available in and around the Emirates. :p

Young has never ever had a 30+ goals/assists season, so its hard to imagine him having one now. I like him and think he is a very solid squad player. He needs to stay fit and justify his price tag. Needs to shut up his detractors.
 
A realistic target for a player like Young who isn't hit with constant injuries, 10 goals 10 assists maybe pushing it.

He certainly doesn't play like he did for Villa though. He's been too safe and withdrawn for us.

His games when he first joined he was willing to run in behind, take people on and smack in a curler or a low cross. Now whenever we see him he's often behind Evra or looking to pass to Evra. I always thought he had decent movement when he was linking up with Carew and Aggy but he is either over-disciplined or scared to make errors nowadays.

It took me a while to appreciate what someone like Park did, but Young isn't even doing that which baffles me. I fancy him to grow a pair of bollocks with some ego tickling from Moyes, after he's threatened to rip off his balls for diving that is.
 
Brwned said:
It really shouldn't but spending that amount of money on him on the last year of his contract really annoys me every now and then. I think I might actually like him if we'd have gotten him for £10m or something. Stupid but there you go. He's also clearly a bit of a wimp. Hard-working, keeps possession well, makes clever runs, supports his fullback...he does pretty much everything Park did and offers more on top but I don't like him anywhere near as much. I just think he gives off this vibe of being a bit of a fanny. He's more talented than he's generally given credit for but he just rarely plays with the confidence to go along with it.
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Well yes, £10 million and the wages to match that kind of fee and he'd have been a good signing as a squad player. I honestly dont think he supports his fullback anywhere near as much as Park did at his best
 
30 goals and assists sounds insane for Young

Lets start by having him score 5 goals and assist another 7. That'd be an improvement of 5 goals on last season for a start
 
Makes you appreciate what an amazing signing Park actually was at £3m or whatever it was. I hope he doesn't get lost to history over the years - he was a very important player for us.
 
Godfather said:
The funny thing is he almost never got injured at Villa. feck knows what happened to him.
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Our training methods? Anyway it's getting a bit irritating with these injuries he's having. That's partly why he's been unable to reproduce the form I know he's capable of. People have forgotten what a good player he used to be, and that's a shame for everyone.
 
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