Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: kippaxvilla2 on September 04, 2011, 12:17:31 PM
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With added MO'N for true piss boiling.
FOOTBALLASHLEY YOUNG'S AS GOOD AS MESSI AND RONALDO
Ashley Young’s £17million move to Manchester United has given the England winger a bigger stage
Sunday September 4,2011
By Dave Harrison Have your say(0)
IT was dismissed as premature hype when Martin O’Neill hailed Ashley Young as a “genius” and “world class” after a match-winning display for Aston Villa against Everton at Goodison Park.
And when the then Villa boss went on to compare Young with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, the reaction switched from wide-eyed astonishment to hysterical laughter.
Three years on and O’Neill’s assessment is not looking so exaggerated.
Young’s £17million move to Manchester United has given the England winger a bigger stage to display the gifts O’Neill recognised when he took him to Villa from Watford as a raw 22-year-old.
He has had an immediate impact, seizing the moment to convince any doubters of his talent with moments of individual brilliance – like the clever cross that set up England’s third goal for Wayne Rooney in Sofia on Friday night – as well as proving he can become an integral player in Sir Alex Ferguson’s new-look squad.
Young, 26, possesses the skills which will always set him apart from football journeymen. But he should not be dismissed as a bag of tricks with no substance.
Ashley Young’s £17million move to Manchester United has given the England winger a bigger stage
There is a fierce ambition to make it to the very highest level which stems from an early rejection from the Watford Academy.
He fought back and earned a pro contract at Vicarage Road. Every career step since has been taken with a refusal to ever again be dismissed as a no-hoper. Young grew up playing football alongside Formula One star Lewis Hamilton.
They were in the same year at the John Henry Newman School in Stevenage, and though they eventually went their different sporting ways, they shared the same vision for stardom.
The United player has now moved into the fast lane but the warning hazards ahead of him should not be ignored, according to someone who made the same journey from Villa Park to Old Trafford.
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Dwight Yorke did it in sensational style, completing the treble of Premier League title, FA Cup and Champions League in his first season at United. Yorke warns Young that the challenges ahead of him will test his mentality as well as his football ability.
Yorke said: “It’s the ultimate in football. When you go to United you are playing Champions League football all the time, that is what it is all about.
“I can understand why Ashley has gone there, but he must realise there will be expectations like nothing he has ever known before.”
Young will be under the microscope at Old Trafford and any indiscretions will incur the wrath of Fergie.
The new United man has attracted attention in the past – once for exposing himself on an internet webcam while on England duty and more recently when he cancelled his wedding in mysterious circumstances.
Yorke knows to his own cost that Ferguson does not tolerate that kind of publicity.
“You are scrutinised at United,” said Yorke. “He is going to have to fight for his place. He has been given a shot at success and he has to make sure he does everything he can to be a winner.”
And if Young does, a certain Ulsterman will be quite entitled to say: “I told you so.”
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i read this earlier today, and it made me urge...
typical media arselicking one of the sky four nonsense, and if it wasnt for my job at the moment, i would be calling sky to cancel my subscription...
almost time to divorce football, for she is a gold digging cheating whore...
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FFS let's not discuss this s*it any more.
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FFS let's not discuss this s*it any more.
Seconded. Fucking nonsense.
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I don't see anything in that article to disagree with.
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The media will turn Martin into Alan Partridge, suggesting all his sentences must end wit 'needless to say I had the last laugh.'
If he was that good he would have a decent job by now.
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The media will turn Martin into Alan Partridge, suggesting all his sentences must end wit 'needless to say I had the last laugh.'
If he was that good he would have a decent job by now.
Ill bet he is at Sunderland (debatable if its a decent job) by October.
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Somebody said to me today that Ashley Young looks a good player now he's moved. I politely pointed out that he has been a good player for a few years now !
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As good as Messi my arse!
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If Ashley Young is good as Lionel Messi then I am good as Paul McGrath in defending.
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If Ashley Young is good as Lionel Messi then I am good as Paul McGrath in defending.
I'm as good as Paul McGrath at drinking. No strike that.
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Ever grateful for the many magical moments when Ash was at Villa, but this statement, utter garbage springs to mind, Ash is no doubt having his day in the sun at this moment, but he is only at least as good as SWP was in his early days and many others before and after, in other words he is a good player, that's it, to compare Young with Messi or Ronaldo the bloke is clearly on some kind of drug that is having a massive side effect on him.
Ash will have this good season with Man Utd and then become one of the rest of there squad in terms of making up the numbers.
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I don't think he will become an also ran. I obviously don't know, but I think he has the mentality to succeed and the skill to back it up. Him and Rooney look the business.
Who knows if he will become world class, but for once I genuinely hope he does. Always gave everything for Villa, when he was in form and when he was out of form.
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Ever grateful for the many magical moments when Ash was at Villa, but this statement, utter garbage springs to mind, Ash is no doubt having his day in the sun at this moment, but he is only at least as good as SWP was in his early days and many others before and after, in other words he is a good player, that's it, to compare Young with Messi or Ronaldo the bloke is clearly on some kind of drug that is having a
massive side effect on him.
Ash will have this good season with Man Utd and then become one of the rest of there
squad in terms of making up the numbers.
He's better than you suggest and I think he will be a cornerstone of Man U's season. Let's face it, he is playing with better players further up the pitch and will therefore show his quality more often.
For what it's worth, I think he'll do the same for England.
He deserves it. He always gave 100 per cent for us and his tendency to go down too easily often masked what a brilliant performer he was most weeks.
Like Dwight before him, he'd outgrown us and because of his higher profile, people are taking notice as to just how good he is.
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Well, as mentioned before over the years we have seen many many of these so called super stars hyped up way above there capacity, and as much as I wish him well at Utd it takes a huge amount more than he as in his locker to become a legend at the theatre of dreams which is what this bloke is suggesting, ask Berbatov, excellent goal ratio last season, can't get in the side,
Ruud Van Nistleroy, Joe Cole was going to be the next world legend at Chelsea, I remember Clive Tildesley commenting on a Man City game and describing SWP as the next Pele, only last season one of them was describing Gareth Bale as the next Messiah in football, and Harry Redknapp agreeing.
When Ash has been there 3 or 4 seasons doing it game in game out, then by all means bump this forward and i'll be the first to mark it up as got that one wrong, even so in no way does he compare with Messi or Ronaldo, if for nothing else he's to old to start comparing at that level, how old is Messi, in Ash's dreams is the only way he will every get at that level.
Just to add to this and as a reasonable example of how this journo is talking through his bum, messi is 24, he's been at a World level for over 4 seasons, that's a massive amount of experience, Cristiano Ronaldo is 26, feels like he's been around for 20 years, but he also as been at World level for over 6 seasons, Ash is 26/27 unless he is exceptional as in Ryan Giggs then he's already fast approaching his peak, maybe already there, and his career at the top spans Aston Villa, worlds apart.
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He had spells with us in which he was nearly unplayable. The move to United has given him 2 advantages:
1, he is not relied upon to track back as much as he was with us as the centre of United's team is stronger than ours.
2, he is no longer (arguably) the best player on the pitch. The opposition have to think about doubling up on Nani & Rooney.
He's reaping the benefit of being able to concentrate on the aspect of the game he likes best without the same defensive attention he's recieved in the last 2 years at Villa.
Best of luck to him.
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Best of luck to him indeed.
At least we won't be having the "Downing is as good as Messi "thread on here any time soon.
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He's looked very good for Man Yoo so far, and seems to be doing the things he didn't do often or consistently enough for us. He was good for us in patches, and always had the talent, but for me he rarely played to his potential, going down too easily when in good positions, wasting possession and his decision making was often poor (when to shoot, when to pass etc). I reckon Fergie has already been working on all those aspects with him, plus the other good players around him means he probably gets less special attention from defenders. I wonder if his often appaling dead ball delivery will improve.
Whatever, he'll never be in Messi's league.
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I thought he drifted in and out during that England game against a team who were nothing but truly atrocious.
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I don't think it was a surprise he was quiet for England playing a bit more centrally.
At Manure he's been glued to the wings like the good old days here rather than as a second striker which blunted his game last season for us.
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The biggest difference that will work to Ash's advantage at Man Utd is the tempo they play at, and the way so many of them pour forward. Ash can and will cash in on the chaos this causes on opposing defences.
He's not as good as Messi - no-one is.
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The biggest difference that will work to Ash's advantage at Man Utd is the tempo they play at, and the way so many of them pour forward. Ash can and will cash in on the chaos this causes on opposing defences.
He's not as good as Messi - no-one is.
Agreed.
Also, there is no way that opponents can afford to put 2 defenders on him now, unlike when he was playing for us.
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For me Ash, always seemed to take on that one more player than he should, always that extra yard, often finding himself in a dead end before lifting his head and realising just where he was on the park, difference with a player like Messi he is gifted beyond belief in that he can take a player on or just as confident in laying of a defence splitting pass and be right in the right place for the return instantly, Maradona was the same as is Cristiano Ronaldo, Ash for me never learned the simple stuff, never learned how to take the pace of a cross, he could bang one in at a million miles an hour curving and bending and often over the bar and catch a defence out as well as everybody else, but rarely did you see a deft lofted ball in.
Good luck to him, he'll never be up there with the best and although he'll enjoy his first season at Man U i doubt he'll ever achieve greatness at the club, Fergie in time will see the limitations in his game, all that said we got our pound of flesh.
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(http://i51.tinypic.com/2rcbnzp.jpg)
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JJ, I will never ever tire of watching that. Along with Goodison (queue Legion) one of my favourite Villa moments.
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Great isn't it :-(
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JJ, I will never ever tire of watching that. Along with Goodison (queue Legion) one of my favourite Villa moments.
Extended highlights of that game on AVTV at the moment.That was our 5th(I think) victory on the bounce 2008/9 season
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Great isn't it :-(
He was always happy to be a Villa player and gave everything for the colours. He made a career decision and went to one of the top 3 club sides in the world. He's now showing he does have another gear and as he plays with better players he'll improve further. Lionel Messi he ain't. There are super clubs and there are super players. Messi is on his own in the latter category.
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I always thought he was class, and he is on a bigger stage now with more pressure. Lots of ppl on here were critical of him "oh he's so wasteful", "a terrible crosser", "wasteful", "runs down dead ends", blah blah. What bollocks that turned out to be.
It seems we aren't content unless we are criticising our own players. Part of the problem at Villa IMO.
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I always thought he was class, and he is on a bigger stage now with more pressure. Lots of ppl on here were critical of him "oh he's so wasteful", "a terrible crosser", "wasteful", "runs down dead ends", blah blah. What bollocks that turned out to be.
It seems we aren't content unless we are criticising our own players. Part of the problem at Villa IMO.
Just because he's had a good start to the season up there does'nt change the fact that he was extremely wasteful alot of the time for us.
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I simply can't agree with that. Massive amount of assists, decent goal scoring record and tremendously hard working. He hasn't had a good start at Manu he has had an amazing start (and has played well for England as well).
A lot of our fans expect our players to produce every time they are on the ball. I can see Nzog as being the next receipient of the grief.
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Cock and balls is he as good as Messi. Just the media doing their usual Kleenex filling wankathon as soon as any player pulls on a red scum shirt.
I feel no animosity towards Ashley - but come on - he is nowhere near Messi caliber.
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He was brilliant for us more often than not for a long time, deserved the move, chose a club that is truly outstanding rather than going to the money, and is showing what a player can do with more space in areas that hurt teams. Rooney, Nani, Anderson, Wellbeck etc all pull defenders around and move the ball quickly. Ash is quality and will take advantage of the space.