Luke Young admits he'll leave Villa Park this summer

[jonno_2004]

Meh.

He just wants to go back to London.

Why these players love the horrific rush-hour so much I have no idea :?

[Hanky]

we don't have as many midfielders who naturally play down the left so we need Warnock to overlap more.

We've got two of these IMO. Plus I think Warnock was simply awful on the ball in the second half of the season. Everytime he would come inside and panic and seem to lose it.

[Phumfeinz]

I find it utterly bizarre that after such a solid season MON decided to drop him just to accomodate a CB.

I was really excited by the prospect of Warnock and Young as our fullbacks but alas.

First: Young was injured in the first matches this season and had a compassionate leave after his brother's death. So he was not dropped.

Second: In the first 5 matches, there was no CBs that were playing as right back. It was Habib Beye.

Feel a bit sorry for Young for getting two starts less than Heskey this season.

So do all the other games where he was on the bench just not count?

[CarewsEyebrowDesigner]

I think it's more that it's his home town and he want's to be close to his fambo.

But aye, London seems to obsess players. But if your a young millionaire living in England it's probably the best place to live, then you can get old and grumpy and live in Surrey.

[AVFC-Prideofbrum]

Honest player, very good right back, couldn't ever understand why he weren't right back.

Not at the start of the season because when he came back from time off and the team is performing well, noone deserves to jump straight back into the team. HOWEVER there was a spell of around 10 premiership games when we beat like Man United etc...he played in and the defence was IMO just as good then but as soon as Collins was fit, Luke Young was straight out for some reason.

I don't get the "our defence was better" arguement because our defensive record when he was out the team in the second half of the season wasn't the greatest at times.

I hope this ends all rumours that he wasn't in the right shape etc...I really like O'Neill and think he deserves to stay but however it's things like these that have to make you question him because you know the situation is exactly the same with the likes of Reo-Coker who probably work their but off in training only to be just dismissed.

[rjshare]

but if he doesn't want to be here, theres little point in keeping him here, might as well get some cash and get a replacement. I did say I'd prefer him to stay, I think he's a decent player but he's being kept out of the side because of tactical reasons more than anything. MON plays Cuellar because its more a case of playing three central defenders and no right back, we don't need a right back because we have plenty of fluid midfielders who all naturally attack down the right and because of that fluidity we need to shore up the defence a bit more, we don't have as many midfielders who naturally play down the left so we need Warnock to overlap more. If Milner goes that whole dynamic could completely change depending on who the replacement is

sorry, dont agree with you. why are we the only team in world football who play three centre backs and a left back if it is so obvious the a team can operate without a right back?

its isnt tactis that are keeping him out at all. i dont know what you are basing the last bit on but we have both downing and ashley young who specialise on the left wing and no one at all who enjoys playing on the right!

[GaztonVilla]

Can any of the stattos on here tell me how many goals we conceded from set pieces this year compared to last season?

[bickster]

but if he doesn't want to be here, theres little point in keeping him here, might as well get some cash and get a replacement. I did say I'd prefer him to stay, I think he's a decent player but he's being kept out of the side because of tactical reasons more than anything. MON plays Cuellar because its more a case of playing three central defenders and no right back, we don't need a right back because we have plenty of fluid midfielders who all naturally attack down the right and because of that fluidity we need to shore up the defence a bit more, we don't have as many midfielders who naturally play down the left so we need Warnock to overlap more. If Milner goes that whole dynamic could completely change depending on who the replacement is

sorry, dont agree with you. why are we the only team in world football who play three centre backs and a left back if it is so obvious the a team can operate without a right back?

its isnt tactis that are keeping him out at all. i dont know what you are basing the last bit on but we have both downing and ashley young who specialise on the left wing and no one at all who enjoys playing on the right!

I don't know if or why we're the only team that play that way, I think its just something that's developed because of the players in our team. It is tactics that are keeping him out, you say we have Downing and Ash who play down the left, (plus Warnock and what has been said about him in the second half of the season is also true but not really relevant), thats three. On the Right we have Ash, Downing and Milner, thats three. Milner going forward leaves the gap in the centre (which is why Petrov is some peoples pariah) but we've strengthened at the back with Cuellar to help balance the defence and attack. Sorry but thats the way I see it. So like I said, if Milner does indeed go, the dynamic changes and maybe a right back with some attacking qualities is needed

Just the way I see it

[ozvillafan]

Meh.

I thought we'd be lost without Laursen. Then we signed Dunne.

I thought we'd struggle without Barry. Then we put Milner in midfield.

I think Luke Young is the best right back in the squad. But the summer isn't over.

Thanks and good luck, Luke.

[Guest Ricardomeister]

I feel very sorry for Luke as I think he has been unfairly treated by MON (just as NRC has imo). Luke has never let us down (except the Chelsea game where Dunne/Collins/Warnock were even worse). He is a very solid defender who can actually pass the ball to a team-mate rather than to row z. We have half a dozen very good defenders at the club and it a shame that MON sticks with the same 4 even if players are carrying injuries or are jaded or out of form. Yes, continuity can be good but Dunne and Warnock's form suffered in the final 3rd of the season as they were carrying knocks. As for Carlos at right back, I really like Carlos (as a centre back) but he will never be a truly effective right back as he cannot pass and he cannot cross.

I wish Luke all the best and hope he finds a manager who appreciates his qualities.

[Mr_Dogg]

Ridgewell, Wes Brown, John O'Shea, Ivanovic, Carragher, Silvestre, Chivu, Corluka, Puyol,.

Centre backs who can and do play as full backs. It's not exactly bizarre in the world of football.

I do believe Cuellar is picked ahead of Young for his abilities to defend set pieces and his added height. A defenders function is to defend in the world of MON. It's not as baffling as people like to make out, you might just disagree that a RB needs more to their game then that but MON probably thinks the balance of the team is alright as we have an attacking LB as well 2 out and out wingers in the team.

edit: Just to add I would like Young to stay, I would like to see more rotation depending on the opposition and as has been said, he covers 2 positions very well so will be hard to replace.

[Jez]

There always seems to be a handy reason why this is not MON's fault.

MON's has his favourites, if your not willing to join the club you wont play, regardless of how good or bad you are. Heskey is a perfect example of that.

If we signed a better RB than both Young and Cuellar and he pissed MON off or didn't join the club he would be played.

Cracking.

[Mr_Dogg]

Is this a club within a club?

[HolteExile]

Bah, I thought his brother was murdered for some bizzare reason.

From memory, I think that's how it was reported at the time. Or there was at least a suggestion of foul play initially. But think they ruled it as a tragic accident in the end.

On to his career with us: Luke has -for the most part- been solid and dependable when picked. Never let us down, one of the best RB's I can recall over the last 20 years.

Not happy with his treatment at all, would be different if it was a good player keeping him out, or a promising youngster in the form of his life. But it's Carlos, FFS. The only (auxiliary) RB in world football with two left feet. Not CC's fault really, he's a stopper who can track, head and block but little else. He shouldn't be playing in a position that requires a fair degree of skill. Or any skill, in fact.

Best wishes to Luke going forward. Hope he finds a manager that believes in him and gets back in the England reckoning. He's plenty good enough, if that's what he wants.

[MR.Smalljob]

Like i said,Thomas sørensen got the same treatment from MON, maybe it was even worse

All this leads me to think that MON is the worst manager I can remember in this club

[lexicon]

Media sensationalist headline. "I’ll be sad if I have to leave." is the last sentence and the crux of the article.

[ChrisVillan]

All this leads me to think that MON is the worst manager I can remember in this club

Get a grip, man. I'm very critical of O'Neill but that's just silly.

[The_Steve]

Media sensationalist headline. "I’ll be sad if I have to leave." is the last sentence and the crux of the article.

Exactly.

[DeepDish]

I really think we should not let Young leave. He has played almost half of our league matches this season, and has been a valuable part of the team.

He should stay one more season, and then we can let him go.

[rjshare]

Ridgewell, Wes Brown, John O'Shea, Ivanovic, Carragher, Silvestre, Chivu, Corluka, Puyol,.

Centre backs who can and do play as full backs. It's not exactly bizarre in the world of football.

I do believe Cuellar is picked ahead of Young for his abilities to defend set pieces and his added height. A defenders function is to defend in the world of MON. It's not as baffling as people like to make out, you might just disagree that a RB needs more to their game then that but MON probably thinks the balance of the team is alright as we have an attacking LB as well 2 out and out wingers in the team.

edit: Just to add I would like Young to stay, I would like to see more rotation depending on the opposition and as has been said, he covers 2 positions very well so will be hard to replace.

in my opinion that is all total rubbish. young can head a ball as well as a full back needs to but carlos cant turn and tackle a winger like a full back should be able to. most wingers are quick with good feet but rarely seven foot giants so why do we need to prioritise countering their ariel threat? there is a lot more defending needs to be done from open play than there is from set pieces, and most other teams manage to defend their penalty areas with two centre halves so why should we need any extra?

if mon just wanted his full backs to really be centre halves who are good at heading and hoofing and nothing more then warnock wouldnt be getting picked at all would he? i'd love to see someone try and justify him picking davies, dunne, collins and cuellar at the same time and keeping four full backs on the bench. "but its for defending corners..."

how can anyone argue that playing a totally lopsided back four is a good way of balancing the team? we have the same two wingers alternating on the wings so the style of player that is behind them should be the same on both wings too, not a small overlapping full back on one side with a 6 foot 4 centre half with a number three wood for a right foot on the other!!

the opposition only have to look at the team sheet and say, ok, we'll concentrate on feeding the ball out to our nippy left winger today because he'll run rings round their right back - as was the case of jarvis for wolves a couple of months ago.

the funniest thing for me about the whole argument is that if i was forced to put one of our centre halves out wide right then i wouldnt use carlos anyway. collins would be my ideal choice as he is as good defensively but has much better ball control and can pass it a bit.