Aston Villa winger Ashley Young has finally completed his move to Premier League champions Manchester United, a transfer that hasn’t raised as many eyebrows as it arguably warrants. The former Watford player will be a real loss for Villa, whose supporters are currently getting to grips with the loss of one of their most important players for the third consecutive close-season. In 2009 and 2010 respectively Gareth Barry and James Milner departed for Manchester City, with varying degrees of success.
It’s hard to see either of them starting matches a year from now, such is City’s approach to the transfer market, and with limitations on squad size it is possible both will be moved on long before the next World Cup, to select an arbitrary marker in time. It’s a common discussion point among Villa supporters that the players who leave the club to move on to supposed “better things” rarely achieve whichever stated goal they use to justify what is nothing more than the natural professional greed of the modern football player. The Middlesbrough-bound exodus of 2000 and 2001 hardly resulted in Gareth Southgate and Ugo Ehiogu achieving anything beyond that of which Villa were capable. And while Dwight Yorke became the exception to the rule after his transfer to Manchester United in 1998, Mark Bosnich certainly did not.
FA Cup medals for Barry and Milner have edged them towards Yorke’s bracket in the Tales of the Departed and there may be more to come, particularly for the younger of the pair. But the theory’s latest guinea pig is Young, who seems to be leaving if not with the supporters’ blessing, at least a with begrudging understanding of the situation. Villa in his rearview mirror, exactly what has Alex Ferguson purchased with a reported £16m of United’s hard-earned?
While he’s not worthy of the ludicrous hype placed on him by TFT favourite Martin O’Neill during the Irishman’s spell at Villa Park, Young is a prodigious talent. At his best and in full flow he’s got it all: attitude, pace, skill, swagger, delivery, finishing and defensive graft. He has been deemed inconsistent, but a fairer description would be that he can be brilliant for a long spell within a season but will also go off the boil for matches, even months on end. At 25, he’s got plenty of time to polish that aspect of his game and United could be just the place for him if pressure and high standards will persuade him towards a more predictable standard.
Young’s speed, skill and vision are the crucial differentiators at his disposable. Seemingly almost indestructible and impervious to occasionally vicious tackles, Young is as quick today as he was in his first Premier League season. Pace is an attribute that terrifies defenders and their reticence enables Young to use his trickery to leave them for dead. His football brain and vision are sometimes under-rated; the little one-twos he can play and his ability to frequently offer himself up as an incisive attacking option or an out-ball for a troubled defence are no accident - Young is a very bright footballer and will learn much from the array of teachers available to him at his new club.
The presence of Wayne Rooney should also put paid to one unfortunate delusion, that of being any kind of number ten. Make no mistake, Young is a winger - an extremely good one - and if he seriously thinks he can play centrally then not being allowed to do so could do him the world of good. He’s also much more effective on the left than the right, despite being right-footed. It’s quite a simple explanation as to why, in my opinion.
When faced with a full back, two instincts come into play: first, the desire to hit the goal-line and deliver a cross, and second, the natural shift onto one’s favoured foot. On the right, both of these drive Young on the outside of the defender, making him quite predictable. On the left, one takes him inside and one outside - cue defender soiling his club-issue undercrackers.
Fortunately for Young, he can do damage with both left and right, and for Villa supporters the sight of Young dropping his shoulder and cutting in on his right foot has been one of the sources of real excitement in his years at the club. His unrivalled work ethic defensively is even more endearing, and might well be what Villa miss most. His diving, however, might be a better fit at Old Trafford.
In spite of all this, vast swathes of Young’s time at Villa have been surprisingly disappointing. He is an enormously frustrating player, simultaneously superb and rubbish, selfish and visionary, ingenius and moronic. When he is good he is very, very good. When he is bad it probably means you’ve travelled back in time to large parts of 2009 and a few poor spells in 2010. Despite his obvious talent and occasional breathtaking brilliance, there are some quite significant kinks in his game that could do with ironing out.
For one, don’t believe everything you’re told about Young’s set pieces or see on highlights shows. Give or take a couple of nice goals from free kicks and his large contribution to 2007/08, the season in which Villa scored an inordinate amount of their goals from set pieces, his delivery from corners and free kicks is atrocious; annoying, as he’s got some absolute belters in his arsenal.
That, of course, will be less of an issue at United, but the fact that he can be marked out of matches too easily will need to be rectified. “Double mark Ashley Young,” must be one of the most common instructions issued in pre-match team talks in the Premier League. Not only is it obvious - it works. Young initially dealt badly with it and has grown into a better player as he’s worked to counteract it, but he still gets marked out of matches too easily. It has a benefit too, of course. Stewart Downing’s contribution to Villa’s 2010/11 season was a rare bright spot, and probably owes something to the space created for the rest of the side by the attempted nullification of Young’s threat.
Two players who make this more of a conundrum for opposing managers are Nani and Antonio Valencia - after all, you can’t double-mark everyone. And in those two players lies the question that remains after the summer’s worst-kept football secret was finally ratified: what now for United’s existing wingers? At his best, Young might well be as good as either, but he reaches that level all too rarely. Overall I think Nani is the most talented of the three, while Valencia arguably does the best job in totality. In truth it’s a credit to Young that there’s even an argument to be had.
For all the negatives that can be levelled at Young, he is a wonderful footballer when he’s at his effervescent best, and it is with no little sadness that Villa supporters bid him farewell. Whether he manages to achieve the same kind of affection from United’s demanding fans remains to be seen. I think he’ll have his work cut out to even get close, but he’s certainly capable.
Tags: Ashley Young, Aston Villa, Manchester United