English Premier League: Ashley Young’s impact on Manchester United’s formation and squad (Part 1)
With Ashley Young’s move to Manchester United almost a certainty, it will be interesting to note what exactly he brings to the Manchester United team which won the English Premier League by a margin of nine points and also made
it to the final of the UEFA Champions league. Young is a marvellous talent, there is certainly no doubt about that and his move to Manchester United has been helped by the fact that he was in the last year of his contract.
If Young was in the third or the fourth year of his five year contract, then his price would’ve been nearer to the 30 million pound mark but at the moment the Englishman’s move is reportedly going through for a mere 16 to 18 million
pounds. Considering the fact that http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Fernando-Torres-c13707 as well, it Young’s fee almost seems like a complete bargain.
Coming back to the main point as to how Young will fit into the Manchester United team and how will he play alongside the likes of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Dimitar-Berbatov-c11254, it seems unlikely that he will be used predominantly on the wing
by Sir http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Alex-c4752 Ferguson.
Admittedly for most of his career, the former Watford player has been deployed on the wing with the exception of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Gerard-c14664 Houllier at Aston Villa. The French manager is on the record to have said that Young has the potential to become
a top playmaker when played just behind the two strikers.
But it is also evident that whenever Young has played this role, he has more often than not shifted towards the wings almost sub-consciously. For managers who play a strictly structured formation, this will be a nightmare but not
for Sir Alex.
In the 2007-2008 season when Manchester United won the UEFA Champions League, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Nani-c27299 had not developed as a winger in order to usurp any of the two
from their traditional roles, thus http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ronaldo-c31734 usually started on the right whilst Giggs started on the left.
However it was evident to tacticians that both the players interchanged their positions almost at will during the match to confuse the opposition. In Young’s case, this position in behind the two strikers is usually termed as the
trequartista position.
In last year’s FIFA 2010 World Cup, Mesut Ozil played this role in question for http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Real-c30728 Madrid in the 2010-2011
season, Ozil has resumed this role at the club level under Jose Mourinho’s guidance. Young himself has admitted that his best position is behind the two strikers but as a central winger.
Ashley Young’s new found position in the 2010-2011 season for Aston Villa was this role as a central winger. He used to start as a central trequartista but then his tendencies to go out wide used to take effect and he used to link
up with the wingers such as Mark Albrighton. This worked well for Aston Villa under Houllier’s management. In the next part of this article, we will take a look at different formations that Young can fit in at Manchester United....
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