Is Ashley Young a viable solution to Manchester United’s left-back conundrum this season?

Ashley Young - Is Ashley Young a viable solution to Manchester United’s left back conundrum this season?
Ashley Young could be the man to solve United's left-back conundrum Credit: AP

Matteo Darmian had been relegated to the substitutes’ bench after his unconvincing show at Stoke City last weekend, Daley Blind was omitted from Manchester United’s squad altogether against Everton, there was still no sign of Luke Shaw among the 18 despite three run-outs in recent weeks for the reserves and Marcos Rojo is still a couple of months away from returning from injury. If there is an area of Jose Mourinho’s side that remains a headache for the United manager, it is the left-back position. 

When United paid Southampton £28 million to sign Shaw in 2014, they envisaged the England defender filling that slot for the next decade. But the troubles the player encountered under Louis van Gaal have only gathered momentum under Mourinho, and while he is young enough to retrieve the situation, there will have to be a marked shift in opinions for the 22-year-old to become a first-choice pick under the Portuguese. As such, the left back slot has become something of a multiple job share at Old Trafford, with Mourinho never seeming to have enough confidence or faith in his array of candidates for the position to make them the permanent fixture Antonio Valencia is on the right side.

Perhaps that will change when Rojo comes back but there are no guarantees and, until then, he needs a temporary solution before he considers entering the transfer market, if not in January then certainly next summer.

Trust, in truth, is something Mourinho has never really lacked in Ashley Young, even if opportunities have been a lot more limited than the player would have liked and would not exactly point towards the manager having much faith as he does. But perhaps now there is an opening for Young to make the left-back slot his own, or at least until Rojo proves his fitness and form again.

Ashley Young
Young may just be Jose Mourinho's best option at left-back right now Credit: Getty Images

Young had impressed at right-back against Basel in the Champions League in midweek, with Valencia for once rested, and Mourinho had evidently seen enough in that game to decide the 32-year-old was his best bet for the left-back role against Everton. Is it an ideal situation? Of course not. Would Young have a hope of playing left back at those rivals well covered in the position? No. But he might just be United’s best bet at the moment.

A winger by trade, Young has a natural inclination to get forward and attack, which Mourinho wants, but not at the expense of defensive diligence. Even as a wide player, though, Young always demonstrated a capacity and willingness to track back and cover his full-back so the adjustment is not nearly as big as it might be for more of a flair winger unaccustomed to such duties. The same applied to Valencia.

There will be tougher tasks than Basel and an Everton team in the midst of an early season rut but Young was a model of solidity here. He read the game well, pressed, tackled and harassed and, even in his early thirties, possesses the energy to get up and down. In the 20th minute, he made an excellent sliding tackle to cut out a through ball from Gylfi Sigurdsson and then had the composure to drill a pass into the feet of Romelu Lukaku and kick-start a counter-attack.

Ashley Young
Young had the beating of Cuco Martina, the Everton right-back, on Sunday Credit: Getty Images

He had the beating of Everton right-back Cuco Martina and the measure of him defensively for the most part. There is another thing Mourinho likes about Young – his character. There are few more popular figures in the dressing room. He never bleats, is relentlessly positive, and funny with it, and with a Premier League title to his name, he also knows what it takes to win. Young could easily have left Old Trafford in the summer.

There were enough clubs queuing up to sign him, after all. Mourinho was loathe to lose him, though, and Young was happy to stay, confident he still had a role to play. A groin injury suffered towards the end of last season wrecked Young’s pre-season and he was not fit enough for the start of the season but he looks like a man desperate to make up for lost time.

The verdict

Moment which changed the match: De Gea denies former team-mate

Wayne Rooney had wriggled his way through a posse of United bodies into the six-yard box at the start of the second half. The Stretford End collectively held its breath as the Everton striker shot, no doubt fearing he was going to make a goal-scoring return to Old Trafford, but there was David de Gea to thwart his former United team-mate.

Most influential player: Juan Mata

As one-sided as the scoreline ultimately looked, no one really dominated for United but Juan Mata routinely looked like the player most capable of making the difference for the home team and, on another day, might have had more to show individually for his efforts.

Juan Mata
Juan Mata, again, played a key role for United and was unlucky not to have scored Credit:  Action Images

He was a step ahead of most on the pitch, as evidenced when he had the awareness to anticipate and intercept Michael Keane’s stray pass and tee up Romelu Lukaku for a chance the United striker should have converted. Only a post denied him a fine goal from a free-kick.

Crowd rating: 7/10

Mourinho has been urging United fans to raise the decibel level at Old Trafford for some time now and he was at it again in his programme notes. “I do hope that our noisy supporters are back from their holidays for today’s match to give the players the backing they need and deserve,” he said. For the most part, they obliged.

Romelu Lukaku
United fans were given plenty to cheer about as their side scored four goals Credit: GETTY IMAGES

Referee rating: 7/10

There was some bemusement among United fans when Tom Davies escaped a foul for obstructing Ashley Young and seconds later Nemanja Matic was penalised for a challenge on Idrissa Gueye that looked no different but this was otherwise well officiated.

Match rating: 7/10

United were well on top for most of it and ran out comfortable winners in the end, without producing the sort of scintillating football showcased against West Ham.

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