Manchester United

Savage tears Young apart

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Robbie Savage tore Manchester United defender Ashley Young apart during the 3-0 loss to Barcelona on Tuesday.

The outspoken pundit shared he was sorry to say this but the 33-year-old needed to do better during the match when highlighting how Lionel Messi was able to put his side up in the 16th minute.

“I know Darren Fletcher stuck up for his mate before the game but there Ashley Young in the left-back position tried to clear it but even though he has loads of time, he does a Cruyff turn, his clearance gets deflected, then he misses the tackle against Messi and the run of Suarez takes Jones away, opens the space for Messi who uses Smalling as a shield and bends it around Smalling into the far corner, David De Gea no chance,” said Savage on BBC Radio 5 Live (20:16, Tuesday April 16th).

“I’m sorry but…Ashley Young has got to be better there, clear it then misses a challenge, but great play from Messi.”

However Savage didn’t stop there when it came to Young as mere minutes later, he tore into the veteran once again.

“He gets the ball on his left-foot, and he’s too slow, Rakitic closes him down and then he misses a challenge, just clear the ball with your right foot, put it in the channel and use the pace of Martial and Rashford,” added the pundit on BBC Radio 5 Live (20:18).

“If no ones there, still put it there as instead he gets caught on his left foot, too slow, too many touches by the captain.”

OPINION

Savage seemed incensed over Young’s part in Messi’s opening goal and wouldn’t let it go. The pundit actually went on to reiterate his thoughts once again at half time, just to ensure everyone was crystal clear on who Savage blamed for the goal. While sometimes it can be difficult to hear a pundit go in so hard on a player, it was easy to see why Savage tore Young part. The 33-year-old made several rookie mistakes in the build-up to Messi’s opener and that’s unacceptable for a player of his experience. If you watched Young’s attempt to defend on Tuesday, you wouldn’t have thought it was a player who had played 237 times for a team like Man United. It’s clear that if the club want to take a step forward under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, then one of the players they need to replace in the first team by raiding the transfer market is Young. That shouldn’t underestimate his previous efforts for the club, but at this time Man United need a more capable left back.

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