How Ashley Young has been reborn at Manchester United under Louis van Gaal

Four years ago, Fabio Capello’s England went to Cardiff for what looked like an awkward European Championship qualifier against a Wales side showing signs of improvement under Gary Speed. They went 2-0 up inside quarter of an hour, thanks to a Frank Lampard penalty and a goal from Darren Bent and never really looked threatened. The key figure was Ashley Young, surprisingly used at the tip of a midfield diamond, and it seemed then that the Aston Villa forward would be the creative hub of England for years to come.

What a strange thought that seems now. Or, perhaps more accurately, what a strange thought that seemed last summer, when one of Louis van Gaal’s main tasks at Manchester United seemed to be offloading Marouane Fellaini and Young to make room for Daley Blind and Angel Di Maria.

There is a theory that the vast majority of professional players are pretty much the same in terms of talent: it’s just that some of them find a manager and a team shape that suits them, and some of them don’t. The correlation between success and wage spending would suggest there is talent-differential.

But the rehabilitation of Fellaini and Young lends credibility to the theory: these are two players who a year ago were on the scrap-heap, written off as “not good enough” for a club of United’s stature, who have become mainstays of the spring surge. Both had vital roles in United’s 4-2 demolition of Manchester City on Sunday, Young scoring one and setting up two. Van Gaal hailed him afterwards as United’s “best player” on the day.

In the summer of 2011, Young joined Manchester United and for a year he was an England regular, scoring five goals in six games and playing in every match at Euro 2012. Since then he has started only twice for the national team. He wasn’t even in the squad for the qualifier against Lithuania last month. So what has suddenly gone right?

The sense of decline wasn’t illusory. In his first season at United, 2011/12, Young’s WhoScored rating was 7.24, higher than it had been in his final season at Villa. He scored six goals, registered seven assists, 2.2 shots per game, as well as 1.7 key passes and 1.4 accurate crosses.

He was a persistent, lively presence and the main criticism of him was his diving that reached a head in the April in games against QPR, when Shaun Derry was sent off, and Aston Villa when he won a penalty. Even Sir Alex Ferguson suggested he might be going down too easily.

Perhaps that affected Young’s confidence. The following season, although he started only two fewer Premier League games, he didn’t score and his assists were down to three. He played more passes per game, but key passes, shots and crosses were all down.

Last season, under David Moyes, he started only 13 games. He was a peripheral figure, making far fewer key passes than in the previous two seasons. Pass completion, crosses per game, shots per game, key passes and crosses all fell. His WhoScored rating dropped to 6.55.

The first signs that Young might prosper under Van Gaal came in Michigan in the summer when United beat Real Madrid 3-1, and Young spoke of how Van Gaal’s system gave everybody time and space to play. The arrival of Di Maria and a groin injury, though, disrupted him so much that when United lost to City last November he wasn’t even in the squad.

The last time he didn’t start was the defeat to Swansea in February. United have won all six games since and Young’s industry and crossing have been key factors. Even after Sunday, he’s still only on two goals and three assists for the season, but key passes (1.2 per game) and crosses (1.6 per game) are rising.

Defenders have even started falling for his trick of shaping to cross with his left foot (which he almost never does) then checking back. He is happy and popular again, and, at the moment, his rating is higher than it’s ever been. Young has been reborn.