Harry Kane and John Stones have received plaudits for their heroics as England matched into the world cup knock-out stage with a 6-1 demolition of Panama. But there has been one unsung hero in the team.
A man who has gone about his job without a fuse, his name is Ashley Young. The Manchester United utility man has been deployed by coach Gareth Southgate as a Left Wing Back in all the two matches. Interestingly, the former Aston Villa man has been preferred for the role ahead of Danny Rose.
This comes as a surprise for a man who was in the peripherals of the Manchester united team a few years ago and would have been sold by David Moyes.
But the remarkable revival can be traced back to 2014 during Louis Van Gaal’s first pre-season. Once tarnished by a reputation for diving, Ashley Young’s resurrection arguably surpasses that of Marouane Fellaini after cementing his place in Louis van Gaal’s starting XI.
When Louis van Gaal took Ashley Young to one side in Los Angeles in 2014, it was probably the moment the Manchester United winger had been dreading ever since the Dutchman was appointed as manager two months earlier.
Frozen out by David Moyes and discarded by England manager Roy Hodgson, the tap on the shoulder from Van Gaal appeared destined to lead to further rejection for him.
But rather than tell the £16m signing from Aston Villa in 2011 that his time at United was up, Van Gaal instead made it clear that he regarded Young as one of his senior players and urged him to grasp the responsibility that comes with status and experience.
From fearing he was one step from the exit door, Young was suddenly a central figure in the manager’s plans.
Young, according to Sir Alex Ferguson in his recent autobiography, was “signed to replace Ryan Giggs”, yet he ended the 2013/14 season fighting a losing battle on and off the pitch, with supporters angered by his unsavoury reputation for diving.
Moyes’s failure to defend Young publicly, after he was booked for diving against Crystal Palace in September 2013, quickly damaged the pair’s relationship, with sources close to the player bemused by what they regarded as a tactless approach by the Scot.
But with Van Gaal robustly defending Young after a similar incident at Sunderland in 2015 which once again saw the United player booked, the trust which did not exist between Moyes and Young was secured between the new manager and his player.
Young’s readiness to embrace a wing-back role handed to him by Van Gaal during the pre-season tour of the United States, having never previously played in the position, impressed the manager, with Young admitting he was determined to safeguard his future at the club.
“When the manager asked us to do a job at the start of the season, he was honest and truthful in what he wanted to do,” Young said. “He told us that we would all get a chance and that made it down to the players to show him exactly what you are about.
“And in pre-season, I basically went out there to show the manager that I was capable of playing, whether it was as a winger or as a wing-back.
“I don’t think my confidence had gone or was affected by not playing last season, but I just wasn’t playing and, as a professional, you want to play every week.
“When I was left out, it was really disappointing, but it is all about how you react to that and when a new manager comes in – he may have seen players and watched them, but not know everything about them until he works with them.”
Mourinho replaced Van Gaal in 2016, and again many people thought that the new Manager would discard Ashley Young. Manchester United had splashed money to sign Luke Shaw from Southampton and it was expected he would cement his place in the left of the back four.
But the Youngster failed to recover from a career-threatening injury and his fitness became a big issue. Ashley Young was the man to be deployed in the position.
It was surprising to see Mourinho, who is known for having a solid defence deploy two converted wingers in Valencia and Young at the Back.
Young played almost all games last season and was deputized by Shaw who failed to impress in the few games he played in. No eyebrows were raised when he was named in Southgate’s 23 man squad for Russia.
At 32 years, Young is the oldest player for the Three Lions. Many fans think this team can go all the way and win the trophy they last won 52 years ago in 1966. Even though it is still early for such talk, if it does happen, Young will play a very big role