Continuing to Start Ashley Young May Cost Manchester United

Yesterday Manchester United fans witnessed one of their heaviest defeats of the Premier League era.

Going down 4-1 to bitter rivals Manchester City is a tough pill to swallow any day of the week, but with the fixture coming at such at early stage of a hugely transitional period at the club, the result would have left many Red Devils supporters doubting whether the side has any chance of retaining their league title this year.

In truth, the two sides looked a division apart over the first hour of the game, with City making United's defense look more like that of San Marino's than the 13-time Barclays Premier League champions. 

Every Sky Blue goal was appalling watching from a United perspective, with the goalscorers in literally metres of space when the ball came to them.

However, the failure to track the run of City's danger men does not fall solely on the shoulders of the champions' defensive unit.

While it is, naturally, imperative that the back four are able to stick close to a man and ensure that he has little to no time on the ball in the area, a lot of this relies on the help of the United wingers, who are there to provide backup for the full-backs and cover any dangerous runs into space.

Yesterday both Antonio Valencia and Ashley Young constantly neglected this duty. Valencia in particular was caught out twice, as he allowed the run of Aleksander Kolarov to fatally elude him, costing his team a goal.

While Young was not responsible for the conceding of a goal in the match (luckily for him), this kind of shoddy work ethic and inability to do his duties at the back is something that really has no place at one of Europe's elite sides.

Against Bayer Leverkusen, Young was dropped to the bench, and in his place Wayne Rooney was slotted onto the left-hand side of the field, with Shinji Kagawa taking Rooney's spot just behind Robin van Persie.

The resulting 4-2 demolition of a top Bundesliga side (currently just sitting one point behind both Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund after six games) should have been the wake-up call to David Moyes in regards to Ashley's inclusion in the starting XI.

Instead, he was bafflingly re-instated to the lineup. Admittedly, this may have been a direct result of RVP's absence from the match. With Moyes putting Rooney back behind the center forward (Danny Welbeck), it left a space on the left, which really only Young has the experience to fill for a Manchester Derby.

This wasn't the first game where Young looked far from his best, though. Against Liverpool it was once again poor work from the Englishman at the back, which cost United the corner that led to the Pool goal.

Dilly-dallying around with the ball in defence is never a wise decision, and against a Liverpool side who were at the time showing some amazing form, it would be an error that would cost United all three points.

Against Crystal Palace, Young made the headlines yet again for his diving antics. Firstly attempting to con referee Jonathon Moss to no avail (other than being booked for simulation), before eventually tricking the experienced official into not only giving United a dubious penalty, but also sending Palace center back Kagisho Dikgacoi from the field of play—ending the game as a contest.

While some may argue that this was a positive contribution, it came out of what is effectively cheating.

Aside from this questionable contribution, Young again looked sloppy and—against a side who may well not be in the league next year due to a lack of quality—seemed unable to carve out many chances going forward. 

The simple solution to this problem is to drop the No. 18 back down to the United bench. He is most effective coming on as a late substitute, completely fresh and able to run full-pace at an exhausted full-back.

The move would not only cater to this reporter's (and I'm sure most United fans') angst with the player, but also accommodate a position for Shinji Kagawa in the starting XI.

The formation that Moyes set out against Bayer Leverkusen was easily the strongest United side that the club currently has to offer.

It was no surprise that this game was by far and a way United's best showing so far this campaign.

It may be controversial, but Ashley Young is not a player who has earned a regular spot in the first team of the league champions.

There is already solid evidence to suggest playing a team without Young would have results in at least a few more points this season. Chances are, this will continue while he remains in the first XI.

Follow @Eddie_Edmonds