Speak to a Villa fan today regarding Ashley Young’s departure from the club, and the response you will get will put that person into one of two diverse camps. Those two camps either regard Young leaving as a minor blip on the club’s radar, or profess loudly that we won’t know what we’ve lost till the season starts.
With Ashley Young spending most of the season mentioning that his future would be decided at the end of the season, it was in most Villans mind to think that was code for “I’ll be leaving.” To that end, they were proved right. He completed a transfer to Manchester United on Thursday for a fee of between £16m and £22m depending on which media outlet you care to believe. The reality is that the fee is undisclosed.
A new season, a new tactic?
Perhaps one of the biggest questions for Villa regarding next season, and how it is affected by Young’s departure, is whether we will change our formation accordingly.
As regular Villa fans will know, for large portions of last season, Ashley Young played in what can mostly be described as a secondary striker/in-the-hole player. Whether this move was down to the player’s request, a change in thought following the managerial change, or any other reason, it is fairly safe to say that it didn’t result in Ashley’s best season for the club. If Downing leaves the club, it would leave us with very few wide options, and thus we might see Villa play a different style of football to compensate. Who knows, it could even involve 4-3-3, especially if we are to use Gabby in the front line.
As for Ashley, most of us Villa fans remember fondly his first season at the club where he would terrorise defences with runs down the wing, often beating players on his way, and finishing off with a whipped in cross. All good stuff. Pity he didn’t keep up the performances. I just hope Marc Albrighton doesn’t suffer from a similar second season syndrome.
Man in the Middle
The fact that he was moved inside hides a bigger issue, and that was that we never really replaced Gareth Barry. We sold Barry and switched a winger into the middle in Milner, and it kind of worked. We sold Milner, and we tried the same with bringing Young into the centre. It didn’t work as well.
We really need to get a solid midfielder who will play in the middle to be that man. Some will say go rebuy Milner, others will say buy Scott Parker. Me personally, I’d go for Parker. Why? Less money and a very solid player. Sure we won’t get that many years out of him, but he is absolutely what we need in the middle of the park.
As for Ashley, I can only hope for his sake that United play him out wide. He won’t displace Rooney from the role in the middle, and thus he would be better placed sticking out on the wing.
Oh and if United want to sell us Nani or Ji Sung Park to free up a slot for Ashley, I’d bite their arm off.
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