Ashley Young: Should David Moyes kick the diver out?

Ashley Young

Ashley Young‘s latest bout of diving – this time in Sociedad has really brought the spotlight back on him and not for the right reasons. Is it time that David Moyes finally bins the striker who hardly resembles the lad who Sir Alex signed from Aston Villa in the summer of 2011.

To find out just what is it that has gone wrong we need to first have a look at Young’s antics that earned Manchester United the penalty which Robin van Persie failed to convert( if he had most people would have probably forgotten about the dive)

As was quite visible, Young went tumbling down to the ground in the box without even a hint of challenge from the Sociedad defender Markel Bergara(who got carded for no real reason) and by some miracle earned United a penalty from a referee who really wasn’t paying that much attention to what was happening at that moment.

So what is that has gone wrong that has forced one of the best prospects that the English said that they had ever seen to one whose name is reviled around the playing fields of Europe. Well Young would blame his numerous injury lay-offs for his loss in form.

However, in the 41 appearances that he has made in the past two years, he has found the back of the net only 3 times and that too in International games (once each against the Netherlands, Norway and San Marino). Its already been over 8 and a half months since he last scored for England and over a year and a half since he netted one for Manchester United.

Tuesday’s dive is just the latest of the incidents where Young has tried to qualify for Great Britain’s Olympic diving team. The last time he caused such an incident was just a few months back which lead to him being publicly rebuked by Moyes.

Even Sir Alex was not impressed with his inability to stay on his feet, as he benched the winger for the 4-4 draw against Everton at the end of the 2011-12 season after Young dove twice in the space of eight days.

His latest stunt in Spain could have been forgiven had he preformed well when he came on as a substitute(just his seventh appearance in all competitions this season). However, all the characteristics that made him catch the eye of United seem to have wandered away from. His trade mark runs down the flanks and maybe show boated a bit with a few neat crosses and dribbles.

None of that ever showed up in Spain and what made it worse was the fact that even his usual passes and runs seemed to be lacking any urgency behind them. In fact what we saw on Tuesday was a player devoid of confidence due to a rather huge lack of match practice. Something he will have no solution for considering the fact that he has once again done what he had been told not to. Seeing that he has gone back to his old ways – there is hardly any chance that he will be given the option to play for longer periods of time.

Taking into account that Moyes already has better wing options like Adnan Januzaj and also factor in Young’s inability to listen to orders, it would be better for both Moyes and the team that Young’s presence is limited at United. One has to take into account the fact that Young usually manages to fool the refs into believing that he had been fouled means that he could prove to be a rather bad example for United’s up and coming talent or even the one’s that have already broken into the squad.

United should for the time being shunt young to the training grounds and keep him away from a few more games so that he can really ponder over his actions and make a decision that will benefit everyone. If they allow him to stay with the team, he may prove to be a hindrance right now. A clearer head with proper goals in mind will do everyone a whole lot of good.

However, if benching him does not help – well there will be only one thing left to do – toss him out without any mercy.