Smashley Young
- Thread starter Red Defence
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Amazing what a goal does to a players confidence. Valencia has improved after smashing 1 in a few weeks ago, Cleverley has played well last couple of games, and Young improved notably for the rest of the game after scoring.
That goal must have been a massive relief for him. Loved his celebration as well.
Bound to be. 19 months is a ridiculous wait, and all the stick he's received in that time, it would be a huge relief. Needs to kick on from this though, as a i thought he was generally shite before the goal
The goal was a welcome surprise, have thought poorly of him for some time, one trick pony easily cottoned on to, jink outside cut inside on his left, producing nothing. The diving. See if it sparks him. He has the ability to add more variety to his game, like lots of players, has he the mentality to follow it through?
I think the fans frustration at Young was/is more than justified. He hasn't lived up to the hype or his wages/price tag. However, like somebody else said, there is a good, maybe even very good winger in there somewhere. He has all the attributes. Maybe he can start to perform consistently with a bit of confidence. Stranger things have happened.
So only 28 more goals and assists needed to hit ciderman's target.
He'll never be widely accepted at Manchester United, I feel sorry for him in that sense. Pleased for him last night.
There wasn't any hype when we signed him? We expected a squad player and we got one. As for the price tag, that was the expected extra £5 or so million English tax. And the wages, as have been pointed out many times before, are as high as they are because his signing on fee was paid in weekly snippets through his contract rather than one large sum.
That Arsenal game..He hit an all time high that match and hasn't hit it since.
Still don't like him as a player though
You hardly expected Ronaldo like contribution from him? I think most of us knew what we were getting with the lad, and for the most part he's delivered.
Don't agree with that at all. I expected him to at least give the same contribution he did at Villa i.e 9, 10 or 11 goals and 10 assists etc a season.
Thought he would kick on last season after a decent first season but so far, it hasn't happened.
You obviously expected more from him then, which is fair enough. When we signed him I felt he was simply a squad player to allow the likes of Nani and Valencia rest, a bit similar to Büttner's signing last season to be honest.
I actually expected him to take over on the left and Nani to take over Valencia, which would leave Anderson and Cleverley in the middle to control the tempo and to unlock defences with orgasmic passes into Rooney and Welbeck to finish off.....
That paragraph right there should be enough to ban me from this forum, to ban me from OT and to just generally ban me from even thinking about football again
I actually expected him to take over on the left and Nani to take over Valencia, which would leave Anderson and Cleverley in the middle to control the tempo and to unlock defences with orgasmic passes into Rooney and Welbeck to finish off.....
That paragraph right there should be enough to ban me from this forum, to ban me from OT and to just generally ban me from even thinking about football again
Ah noting wrong with having high expectations as a Manchester United supporter I suppose. I always felt Young was destined for Liverpool to be honest, I'm sure if I dig deep enough on the forum I'll have said as much. So I wasn't all that excited by his signing.
He just doesn't look like a Liverpool player. He doesn't have the face for it.
Bit like when you know someone just looks like an Arsenal player. Dixon, Winterburn, Keown, Henry, Wilshire, Ramsey, Gibbs, Chesney....All have smug, arrogant, anger inducing faces you just want to slap
Young need a consistency to his game, i thought he played well and was unlucky not to get another early in the game which hit the side netting. May this goal inspire him to play at the level which is required at Manchester United.
He had a decent first season for us, and he was one of England's better players in the Euro 2012 qualifiers. It's a shame he never progressed.
He was good in qualifying but was the worst player at Euro2012. England played with 10 men. That goal changes nothing for me. I still want him to leave asap. Also you don't pay £20 million for a squad player a year before his contract runs out. Fergie expected him to be first team player but he failed to make the step up. Those midtable clubs fom Birmingham are his level.
Read the reaction to last night in this thread.
The truth about him, last night's performance was the exception that proves the rule.
Wouldn't disagree but that's also true of a couple of other players who have had one or two good games of late. Only say that about either of them you'll get flamed. For Young? It's fine.
I'd like to know what makes a good performance in a sea of mediocrity a "turning point" for one player and the "exception that proves the rule" for another.
Let's be fair, when Anderson came off, most of us were hoping that Young would be hauled off at the same time. He was awful up to when he got the goal.
He was awful before the goal, but the goal seemed to invigorate him. He was running forwards with the ball and actually having a go after that, where he usually looks to turn his back to goal and play as safely as possible. I don't really expect him to kick on and save our season or anything, but I hope it gives him some confidence to play with purpose when called upon, and not always look for the safe option or look for the dive when it seems easier to score.
For the most part he hasn't delivered anything. He has been absolutely terrible since the first half of his first season here (almost 2 years now).
Same about me. He isn't a good player and a goal against the mighty Stoke in Coca Cola Micky Mouse Cup (after 2 years of consistently awful delivery) doesn't change anything. Him, Ando and Buttner aren't even near the level of a United squad player.
I thought Young was awful last night, apart from the goal and the assist (which is obviously why he was there). His crosses are either woefully under-hit or completely over-hit, he never goes round a player and he loses it constantly. But at least we got a goal and an assist from him, which has been extremely rare over the last year. I think Moyes would get shot of him if he could.
To be fair, he was still shite after the goal.
He clearly was not.
Shite compared to how we have seen him play recently? Sure he improved. But for me he still isn't United quality in the wings. Also, even after the goal, he skewed a terrible shot and hit a number of bad passes. What has it come to if we are saying a player played well just because he took on his man? Furthermore, Young has always been willing to run at his man even during his off form period. Also what made his performance better after the goal compared to before? He drew plenty of fouls earlier in the game too, took on players too. He still hit a few bad corners and passes.
Appreciate the wind and rain played a part, and appreciate that yesterday was one of his better performances in recent times, but I wouldn't say he played well. Saying he was shite is a tad harsh but I'm not going to lower my standards for what I expect on the wings just because our wingers aren't on form right now. There are signs Valencia is getting better and were signs Nani was getting better too. If they both continue to go towards their historic peak form I don't think we would be hailing this Young performance as a good one.
We're talking about after the goal, where he clearly wasn't 'awful', he was our most promising attacker on the pitch from that point on.
This is from someone who has slated Young for years now, but feck sake, I can still see when he does well.
I did not predict the immense drop in form they would have face at various points. Not to mention the fact Nani has been missing since about then.
We should phone interpol and someone could surely find him?
Absolutely cracking goal wasn't it.
Now if he could only do that more than once a year he might be useful.
Now if he could only do that more than once a year he might be useful.
It's like I'm not allowed to disagree with you. I'm not the only person on this thread who said he wasn't great yesterday. I've clearly stated that maybe shite was a bit harsh, which you've chosen to ignore. I didn't think he was as good as you are making him out to be.
And whether you've slated Young for "years" is irrelevant. I haven't. I've complimented him when his performances have been good, been disgusted with him when he has dived, and critical when he's been rubbish. So stop bullshitting as if I have some biased agenda, or am on a Young hatefest. I disagree with you, as do some others on this thread. Accept it.
I didn't say you weren't allowed disagree with me, I think that's actually the whole point of a forum, isn't it?
Or, feck it, should we all just agree to disagree on every matter on here and all be best friends for life?
Really, how?
Young was rubbish in the first half, but overall that was much, much better. A great goal and a nice assist. I cannot believe how a supposedly quick player like he can look so sluggish at times though, and he can't run with the ball. Still, a decent performance with two vital moments.
He was awful in the first half and apart from the 2 great moments in the second was mediocre (so overall he was good in the second half because of those 2 moments).
I thought he was good from a defensive point of view. Helped out Evra and also created plenty of space for him over the course of the match....
His overall contribution to general play was pretty dire but the strike was first class. It will take a lot more than that to convince people he is worth a squad place. It is one moment in a back catalogue of utter mediocrity extending back to his first season.
He has the odd fine game and then it's just rendered pointless as he returns to mediocrity and fails to push on.
He has the odd fine game and then it's just rendered pointless as he returns to mediocrity and fails to push on.