Ashley Young Officially Joins Manchester United

Has signed a one-year extension according to Daily Mail

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...ear-contract-extension-Manchester-United.html

 

We need bodies until we buy a starter...

 

AY has officially signed a 1yr extension.

https://www.skysports.com/football/...ng-signs-manchester-united-contract-extension

 

Eh, why not.

The more I think about it, we're going to need another wingback this summer with the expected departures. If we lose Valencia and Darmian, we can't go into the season with Shaw, Young, Dalot as our only wingbacks. Even if we keep TFM, that's not enough. Shaw, Dalot, and TFM all have dodgy injury records. We need another body, hopefully a young LB with promise. I don't think anyone in our youth setup is ready for the step up yet.

 

Shaw doesn't have a dodgy injury record. He has a horrendous injury and then the typical niggling injuries associated with coming back from that.

Spending any money on trying to replace Shaw is redundant. Not only do we have Laird in the academy, but it'd be tough to find a better U25 LB in the world than Shaw. He's defensively very, very good. And he can singlehandedly transition us from defense to offense through his dribbling and pace.

So what if his crossing is only improving.

Hinging your entire argument on stats is a very good example of the misuse of stats.

None of our attackers even have good stats before Ole took charge. So of course our wingbacks don't have good stats. Even Val didn't have good stats from wingback and he's a former RW with multiple 10+ assist seasons who won our POTY award in 16/17.

 

Wow. I mean...just wow.

Shaw doesn't have a dodgy injury record? Ok, lets look at before his leg break shall we? In 2014/15, before his leg break, he missed a total of 18 games due to 4 separate injuries. So far he only has one season in his career where he hasn't missed double-digit games due to injury. So....you're wrong there. It's not really even up for discussion.

Then you say we shouldn't spend money on a LB because Laird is ready and Shaw is the best u25 LB in the world. FFS man are you serious? Laird has played less than 40 games at the youth level and has only a few U18 NT call ups. He's nowhere near ready for the senior squad. We can agree to disagree on Shaw's abilities, that horse has been beaten to death. But for the record, he is not "very, very good defensively". Hes fast and can recover from a lot of the mistakes he makes. There's a difference.

Then your final paragraph is a real odd one. You decide to selectively compare his stats to Valencia (your "shutdown" defender), who has been awful offensively even before his move to RB. Why not Young, who has managed 4 goals and 14 assists in the past 4 seasons under our various shitshow of coaches while playing almost exclusively at wingback? Oh and btw, Valencia has 4 goals and 11 assists in that time. Oh and Shaw has 1 goal and 4 assists in the same timespan.

 

You have a problem with reading comprehension. I'll dispel your claim about Shaw, but I'll stop addressing your post after your attempt to put words in my mouth, again. I didn't say Laird was ready. I said he was present in the academy. He's a highly talented young player who has a good chance at making it here. You do this frequently and you need to calm down when you post. You're way too emotional and it gets in the way of your otherwise sometimes decent arguments.

Shaw was 18/19 years old in 2014/15. He was a kid. Of course he will have growing pain injuries - the Rashford, Rooney, Fabregas players are the exception to the rule when it comes to u20 fitness. You should never expect a player under 20/21 to be consistently fit when stepping into the Premier League. In 16/17 he had niggling injuries coming back from a major leg leak, but in 17/18 he was simply out of favor and out of shape per Jose. He's not listed as injured in the records - in fact he's listed with the 2nd team a few times. This year he's been ever present.

Shaw is a thick old boy. It takes him a while to build fitness, but when he has it, he keeps it.

 

First off, I have no emotion to my posts or in general.

Second, it's not a lack of reading comprehension but a lack of relevance in your arguments that makes you hard to understand. In a paragraph explaining why a new LB wasnt needed, you listed Laird. One would assume that means you expect him to be ready to contribute soon. Otherwise, naming him in that argument is pointless.

As for the nonsense about Shaws injuries, this is just you moving the goalposts again. You just said in your last post that his dodgy injury history is only a result of his leg break and associated comeback. I showed you facts that contradict that. Now you're just pivoting. It's fine.

 

extension for Young makes a lot of sense. If nothing else, it gives us a little more time to blood Dalot and makes sure he's a good fit (he definitely looks the part so far).

 

Giving him 1 yr extension is understandable.

 

Some praise for AY.

https://www.fourfourtwo.com/feature...ster-united-best-outfielder-post-ferguson-era

Would not go as far as to claim he's been the best outfield player post SAF, but for me he's definitely one of the most underrated. The way in which he was able to rebuild/restart his United career after being a disappointment originally, is noteworthy.
But he also managed to become an important presence in the dressing room and has embraced his role as one of the leaders in the team, and a player who will do whatever he's asked and is completely at the service of the team.
Been a surprise of sorts that he's lasted as long as he has (guessing this coming season will be his last) but he's justified his place on the team with his work ethic and attitude. Can't ask more from a squad guy tbh.

 

Meh

 

Very well done from AY.

http://sportwitness.co.uk/pay-atten...pool-bigger-man-united-red-devils-player-not/

Wasn't having it. Absolutely love it.

 

Seeing Ashley Young with the armband.

It bothers me a little more than 2x transfer requesting Rooney.

 

Nothing bothered me more than Rooney wearing the armband. I think Young would bother me more, but we've been so bad for so long that it seems like a stupid thing to get mad about.

 

It wouldn't bother me if we didn't have Herrera here. To me he's clearly the guy that should have the armband.

 

.AY is definitely not the top choice for captain. Not when we have Pogba or Herrera who would be better candidates. That being said, as noted above, AY really has grown as a leader in recent years and he's still a better choice than Valencia IMO.
The captain really needs to be a regular for me as well, so next season should be a good time for the new manager to select someone else, if AY becomes nothing more than a squad guy as expected.

 

Pogba isn't a better choice for Cap'n. He's a great player and he may even be a leader, but there is still something about him that comes off as a modern mercenary.

This might be a personal preference, but I will always desire the United captain to be a player whom I believe will spend his best years at this club no matter what - guys like Gazza, Evra, Herrera, etc...

I'd be (super ********ing happily) surprised if Pogba is a United player in 3-4 seasons. Something just tells me he will move on to Spain eventually.

 

Ethan Laird? This is very random.

 

I think if his development goes as it should, he has a shot at making it here, but we're 18 months (of no injuries and solid development) before he's ready for even bench minutes I would think.

 

You have the original poster ignored. In the context he mentioned, Laird is a very random call up.

 

He was talking about buying a talented young LB to replace Shaw.

Why spend 30-60m on a 18-20 year old who might be better than a 23 year old Shaw? Especially when Shaw isn't even close to being the weakest link in our defense, and we have a very promising 16 year old in the academy who has a legitimate chance to make it here?

We don't need to even consider LB options under the age of 28 for 3 years. If we buy one, it should be someone like Dani Alves - a veteran who is okay being used as cover for injuries and rotation.

The context is encompassing. You have to consider the entire system and not just focus on a singularity.

 

Only thing I agree with TCSboys so far. He just signed a 5 year contract. Nothing is going to happen to this space in the next 2 years. This conversation is moot.

 

So if we buy a LB, you aren't expecting that person to take Shaw's starting spot. Just spell him?