THE travelling Manchester United fans sang ‘Jose Mourinho’ as Ashley Young, wearing pink, swung a corner in for Marouane Fellaini to head towards Chris Smalling. The defender chested the ball, turned and half volleyed it into the roof of the Watford net as United went two up. That wasn’t expected against a Watford side who’d won their opening four Premier League games and were six points ahead of United going into the game. 

This all happened only 15 months ago but so much has changed. Watford have plummeted, while three of the four aforementioned individuals are now working away from United. Ashley Young, the great survivor, is still there. He’s avoided culls of managers because they need him and this week saw his 200th start in a United start. It’s unlikely to be 201 against his former club Watford on Sunday, but he could easily add to his 59 appearances from the bench.

Sunday is a must win for United and no excuses will be acceptable. Watford have won one of their 17 Premier League matches and are bottom, with only nine goals scored all season. United cannot continue beating the best and dropping points to the teams at the bottom – but look at the teams above Watford.  United have failed to beat five of the six teams immediately above them this season, the latest being Everton at the weekend.

Ashley Young could leave Old Trafford as early as next month. Nemanja Matic is also looking to leave Old Trafford but there has been no direct contact with Inter Milan despite speculation over a move to Serie A. [mail] #mufc #RS

— Manchester United Updates (@mnuupdates) December 19, 2019

That was the first of four league games against teams in the bottom half of the table. Watford, Newcastle and Burnley will follow before a game at Arsenal on New Year’s Day. Inconsistency is one reason United haven't been close to winning the Premier League since Sir Alex Ferguson stepped aside. They’ve only been top the table once in all that time – after a 2015 win at Watford. 

Young played that day but the backup options suggest he won’t be needed on Sunday. Luke Shaw is back from injury and started against Everton last week, while left-back Brandon Williams has been on the bench. The Mancunian is very highly rated but will be introduced slowly as Solskjaer attempts to smooth the callow edges and make sure he doesn’t decapitate a colleague with an overly enthusiastic tackle in training.   

While the future full-backs look to be Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Shaw and Williams, Young at 34, will be out of contract at the end of this season. No negotiations have taken place about an extension, but United have form for leaving things as late as possible to weigh up their options. That can annoy players like Ander Herrera, who initially wanted to stay, but United have been guilty of stockpiling underperforming players in the past.

Young was kept on because he’s versatile, experienced and was a mainstay in a dressing room which saw a lot of departures in the summer. Chris Smalling wanted to be starting 35 games a term and left for Roma because that was going to be unlikely. Young had no such demands. He knew his lane and was at a different stage of his career to Smalling – whose decision to leave was the right one for the player, United and Roma. 

Young knows what it’s like to win the league with United, he’s the most experienced player at the club – Manchester United’s captain no less – and the decision to keep him was vindicated when Luke Shaw was injured in August. Young came in as a left-back and started eight successive league games. United won only two and lost four of the league games in that run. 

53': ⚽️ Ashley Young
58': ⚽️ Mason Greenwood

Man Utd's oldest and youngest players on the field get on the scoresheet against AZ. pic.twitter.com/GPiY5r2Ehf

— Squawka News (@SquawkaNews) December 12, 2019

Let’s not pretend that most United fans would have him in their first eleven and he looked out of his depth against Barcelona away in April, but he’s been a decent pro worth keeping, not least since United are in three cup competitions and there are more than enough games for every player. United will play six times at Old Trafford this month alone.

That’s a month when Young managed to put United one-up against Alkmaar from Juan Mata’s cross – after another difficult first half when the Reds struggled to break down opponents at home. Young dedicated the goal to his grandmother. He played 90 minutes at right back against Colchester United midweek. Wan-Bissaka is United’s undisputed right-back but he can’t be expected to play every single game.

Other factors have helped Young stay. Antonio Valencia’s decline and departure saw him leave the club. Another right back, Matteo Darmian, was sold back to Italy. Timothy Fosu-Mensah didn’t develop as expected while on loan at Crystal Palace and Fulham before getting injured, while Diogo Dalot has been injured for all but the defeat at Newcastle this season. At every turn, Young can – and has – stepped in. Squads needs players like this.

If Young moves on as expected next summer, he won’t be a remembered as a club legend. Most players are not, especially when they play for teams that don’t win titles and the majority of his time at Old Trafford has been rough. That doesn’t mean he’s not been a decent professional. Young has also had a lot of downs when fans have criticised him – not without reason – after appearing to dive in matches. We’ve asked to interview for United We Stand fanzine a few times over the years, only for the request to be declined.

That’s a shame, because we could have seen other sides to him – though he did a podcast for the club media last week where he at least explained (for about the fifth time) that a bird didn’t shit in his mouth during a game against Swansea in 2014 where a photo appeared to suggest otherwise.

Young will travel back to the club where he was a hero before his move to Villa. He might add to the five [???] times he’s pulled a red shirt already this month – he might not. But he’s already shown why it had paid back Solskjaer and others who realised he was worth keeping and could, as they say in football, still do a job for his manager.