Ashley Young: From zero to hero

Ashley Young who moved from Aston Villa to Manchester United in 2011 was expected to be a perfect replacement for the veteran winger Ryan Giggs in the team. Sir Alex Ferguson was pretty confident that his new signing will have a successful career at Manchester United.

First season

In the first season, Ashley Young brought out decent performances in which he netted 6 goals and assisting 7. But in spite of his performances, Young was criticized for his diving which was not even accepted by the manager. Young’s form was going from bad to worse by the end of the season. It decreased his value in the market. He could not show the fans what he is capable of.

Second season

In the second season, it was clearly seen from starting itself that he was not having a good spell at Manchester United. After the second game he had a knee injury which kept him out of action for more than one month. After returning from injury, the manager had doubts regarding how long he can play Ashley Young on the flanks.

It was the worst season for Ashley Young being sidelined due to various injuries for most of the season. He ended the season with just 19 appearances without scoring in a single match. The fans started criticizing him for his poor form and did not want him to feature on the team list.

Third season

By this time the legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson had retired and he was now playing under David Moyes , manager of Manchester United.

Even with the change in coaching his poor form continued. The out form Englishman was free from injuries but he could not get more than 20 appearances and he scored just 2 goals in the entire season. But it was seen that he had more number of crosses than previous seasons, but out of that most of them went out and some could not even go past the defenders.

It was called a waste of money to pay him salary every week, something only a huge club like Manchester United could afford!

Fourth season

In his fourth season , the new manager Louis Van Gaal clearly expressed his views regarding how he expects his players to perform on the pitch. It was almost confirmed that Ashley Young will be sold as he was not up to the level that his manager expected.

But the pre-season friendlies in the United States turned out to be a change in Ashley Young’s fortunes both on and off the pitch. He performed well above expectations. He played both as winger and left wing back. As Luke Shaw the main left back at the club got injured, Young had to play as a defender in some games. 

As the season stared he played first few games at the left flank and the same old injury kept him out for more than two months. After returning he was assigned to play as a defender, mainly as a left wing back and left back in some games. At present, he is on a good run with more opportunities at different positions.

As a defender he has performed well so far with 19 clearances and 3 clean sheets in just 11 appearances. In attack, he is regaining his lost form with running at the opponent’s defense.

Regarding the number of shots and crosses, he has done a great job in converting more than 50% of them on targets. 

Now Van Gaal may find it difficult to give Ashley Young a place in the team when Luke Shaw the injured left back returns. Same is the case for most of the players in the team. Clearly we can say that it was a zero to hero performance from the Englishman in the past 5 months where he regained his lost form and it have surely made an impact to the team’s performance too.

The manager Louis Van Gaal will be happy for a player who has made all the critics wrong with his outstanding match performance.